What do you do when your copperband stops eating?

[Reefering1]

I'm not saying to pull the plug, but it doesn't look good. If it were that skinny and eating, I would say it has a fair chance. But it's already skinny and going on a hunger strike= not good. From my experience, they can go for weeks on hunger strike. Most likely because of aggression

 

[Reefering1]

Maybe the video makes it looks worse than reality. Does the forehead look like someone pinched it? How does the "chest" area look?

 

[Punchanello]

Surprised to hear this.. She was eating like a champ just the other day, and I've only had her for 10 days or so..

Sorry mate. When they go down hill, they go down hill fast. They just don't carry a lot of fat. They don't store it like some other fish.

Watching the video, that area between the forehead stretching down to the fins (sort of the shoulder area) is where you would see more muscle and fat on a healthy CBB. It would have a thin but even elliptical shape from top to bottom when you look look at it front on. But honestly the difference between a well fed and emaciated one could be a couple of millimetres across the shoulders, and this looks much worse than that.

I think your best chance would be a QT, probably blacked out to keep stress down and regular easy feeds of its preferred foods with no competition.

 

[vetteguy53081]

She was facing the corner for several hours, now she's swimming around at least a bit.

Still no interest in any food options.

If I buy her clams tonight, can I buy any type of clam, or do they have to be something special.

I ordered her garlic guard (suggested by Dr. Reef), a 3d printed feeder, and some live brine shrimp.. Hopefully if I keep trying different things, she'll decide to start eating again.

Thank you for a clear video. Its a little dark in blue lighting. Fish is breathing heavy and is getting thin. I cannot be 100% but please take a look due to lighting and confirm if there are small dots on the fish which appears as ich ( Im not again 100%)
This fish is Not on deaths door but we need to assess what is going on. Last 12 hours, have you noticed any additional intimidation by any tankmates?

 

[exnisstech]

This fish appears to be on deaths door, look how skinny/ pinched it looks in the forehead area. I believe it's too late. Sorry for your loss

Do you think it's beak looks damaged? I have two here and neither that much if an upward curve.

 

[Reefering1]

Do you think it's beak looks damaged? I have two here and neither that much if an upward curve.

Idk, maybe a little more curved then I'm used to. But not unusually curved if that makes sense

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I'm not saying to pull the plug, but it doesn't look good. If it were that skinny and eating, I would say it has a fair chance. But it's already skinny and going on a hunger strike= not good. From my experience, they can go for weeks on hunger strike. Most likely because of aggression

Can I stick my purple tang in the sump? The most likely aggressor?

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Thank you for a clear video. Its a little dark in blue lighting. Fish is breathing heavy and is getting thin. I cannot be 100% but please take a look due to lighting and confirm if there are small dots on the fish which appears as ich ( Im not again 100%)
This fish is Not on deaths door but we need to assess what is going on. Last 12 hours, have you noticed any additional intimidation by any tankmates?

If anything she is facing way less aggression. The first day or two it was obvious and continuous. The last couple of days I don't notice anything at all.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Thank you for a clear video. Its a little dark in blue lighting. Fish is breathing heavy and is getting thin. I cannot be 100% but please take a look due to lighting and confirm if there are small dots on the fish which appears as ich ( Im not again 100%)
This fish is Not on deaths door but we need to assess what is going on. Last 12 hours, have you noticed any additional intimidation by any tankmates?

I don't see anything that appears to be Ick, and at this point I'm familiar with it.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

 

[Uncle99]

She was facing the corner for several hours, now she's swimming around at least a bit.

Still no interest in any food options.

If I buy her clams tonight, can I buy any type of clam, or do they have to be something special.

I ordered her garlic guard (suggested by Dr. Reef), a 3d printed feeder, and some live brine shrimp.. Hopefully if I keep trying different things, she'll decide to start eating again.

As far as the video goes, looks and acts like mine.
Mine don’t each much from the water, but pulls fallen PE Mysis from the rock work and sand.

I Catch mine eating from rock work at dusk and early lights out, early morning as well.

I don’t see any mechanical damage.

I can’t see any white dots on my end.

Except for not eating in the water, acts like mine.

Keep us posted.

 

[vetteguy53081]

With the brighter light , ich does not seem to be present. Im just looking at mine and yours has his mouth wide open. I dont see this fish showing interest at clams if introduced. I used Hikari 1/2 clam on the shell but certain store bought can be used. I suspect gill irritation but dont see the typical signs (yawning, shaking its head, sudden darting, etc)

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Uncle99]

I just checked mine and his beak is not open like yours. This could be concern.
I’ll compare better in the morning with lights on.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I just checked mine and his beak is not open like yours. This could be concern.
I’ll compare better in the morning with lights on.

She *can* close her beak normally.. It's almost open like she's panicking. My sense is that it's correlated with her high heart rate.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

With the brighter light , ich does not seem to be present. Im just looking at mine and yours has his mouth wide open. I dont see this fish showing interest at clams if introduced. I used Hikari 1/2 clam on the shell but certain store bought can be used. I suspect gill irritation but dont see the typical signs (yawning, shaking its head, sudden darting, etc)

@Jay Hemdal

If she was yours, what would you do. I'm at a loss for what to do next.. Brine, clams, garlic guard, and special feeder for her on the way, but I doubt that's going to do anything to solve this situation anyway.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If she was yours, what would you do. I'm at a loss for what to do next.. Brine, clams, garlic guard, and special feeder for her on the way, but I doubt that's going to do anything to solve this situation anyway.

normally, a 5 minute freshwater dip but with the breathing rate, i would not recommend it. Next option- PraziPro for flukes and gill irritation .
Jay will also chime in sometime early morning but if you have a pump and air stone- use it. The breathing rate is concerning.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

normally, a 5 minute freshwater dip but with the breathing rate, i would not recommend it. Next option- PraziPro for flukes and gill irritation .
Jay will also chime in sometime early morning but if you have a pump and air stone- use it. The breathing rate is concerning.

Her breath rate is something like 200+ bpm.. None of the other fish are exhibiting any signs of distress.

ph 8.2
Nitrates 40 :/
Phosphates 1.0 :/
Salinity 1.026

Don't have an ammonia checker, but I just ordered one. Also don't have an airstone. Repositioned power heads and return to make more surface ripples.

 

[Pink Reef]

She was facing the corner for several hours, now she's swimming around at least a bit.

Still no interest in any food options.

If I buy her clams tonight, can I buy any type of clam, or do they have to be something special.

I ordered her garlic guard (suggested by Dr. Reef), a 3d printed feeder, and some live brine shrimp.. Hopefully if I keep trying different things, she'll decide to start eating again.

I give mine the small white clams fresh from the grocery store

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ugh, what I see is that the CBB is so emaciated that it has developed systemic problems, causing the rapid breathing.
What happens with fish is that they don’t store fat like mammals do. When they don’t get enough food, they start using their internal tissue for energy, starting with the liver. At some point, the damaged liver causes other disruptions with the fish and they die. They cannot rebuild their liver, so even if you managed to get the fish to eat, it will still have a damaged liver, sorry!

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Ugh, what I see is that the CBB is so emaciated that it has developed systemic problems, causing the rapid breathing.
What happens with fish is that they don’t store fat like mammals do. When they don’t get enough food, they start using their internal tissue for energy, starting with the liver. At some point, the damaged liver causes other disruptions with the fish and they die. They cannot rebuild their liver, so even if you managed to get the fish to eat, it will still have a damaged liver, sorry!

Thanks for this analysis. So nothing is worth trying as a remedy? Do I just wait for her to die now?