why do fish get very thin and die?

[Oscar Bravo]

I got a blue hippo about a month a go. I put it on my QT because it had some ich. Was always eating good and got the parasite out but still very thin. I put it on my main tank and continue to eat good for a week. Then one day to another I find him in the corner not eating and still very thin. Any treatment? I really think will do no good anyway.

 

[HotRocks]

Are you offering nori?

Adding vitamins like vitachem and selcon to high quality prepared frozen foods?

Tangs have an extremely high metabolism and need to be able to graze throughout the day.


How did you "get the parasite out"?

 

[Oscar Bravo]

I know pic sux but its just to show that today is just in a corner. I was giving him flake food for tangs. some times brine shrimp. So he was eating a lot. I heard that sometimes they use chemicals to catch them in the wild and this are the results after a month. (thin and weak)

I got the ick out with copper.

 

[Big G]

Brine shrimp have little to none nutritional value. Can you tell us what kind of copper you used and how the dosage was measured and tested?

 

[Oscar Bravo]

Seachem Laboratories Cupramine ever other day like it say. I probably did just a little over. After two weeks did a water change in my QT then did it a gain for two more weeks. instruction say to dose once and again in 48h and that's it.

No testing

 

[rkpetersen]

"Why do fish get very thin and die?"

1. Not eating at all or enough, especially for young fish. Some never catch up after being starved for transport.
2. Ongoing infection, typically intestinal parasites although not always.
3. Some unseen organ damage, like liver failure, due to toxins or pathogens, which makes it impossible to gain weight even if eating.

Those would be my top 3.

You could try to entice it by rubbing some selcon on a dry sheet of nori, until it's flexible, and then hanging it in the tank from a clip. Hepatus tangs go crazy for it, typically.

 

[Oscar Bravo]

HE is no longer eating

 

[Big G]

It's very easy to overdose Cupramine due to the small volume used. If, if that is what happened it could be liver damage. Because of this, many of us have switched to using the Hanna HL Copper Checker. It allows you to exactly dial in the therapeutic level without overdosing. Great investment. Especially with copper sensitive fish: some tangs, wrasses, puffers, etc. Best of luck with your beautiful fish.

 

[HB AL]

Sick fish, internal parasites, not enough nutritious food, are all possible reasons for a thin fish. Most often its because they are under fed.

 

[ca1ore]

You don't say how big the hippo is. I'm assuming it's quite small and unfortunately small ones are generally quite delicate. As already noted, could be starvation, collecting damage or some kind of underlying disease. While the hippo will certainly eat nori, it is unusual for a tang (and the only member of its genus) in that it is primarily a planktivore rather than a herbivore. Success for me with small hippos always meant frequent feedings of high fat foods like PE mysis.