What the heck happened to my trigger?

seanoman · #1 06-19-2008, 05:56 AM

Almost 2 weeks ago, I posted a thread and some pics of our new sargassum trigger....we were so excited to get it and it has been nothing short of a nightmare!! We still have not been able to get the fish to eat for us after trying everything that we can think of. The other night when we were doing our water change we lifted up the rock that it had been hiding under for a few days to see if it was still alive, it was but this is what it looks like now:

Does anyone know what this is and is there anything that we can do for it? We have removed it from our main system and it is currently in a tank by itself. PLEASE HELP US!!

Marlin65 · #2 06-19-2008, 06:13 AM

Not sure what that is but a dip in some medication might help. If you have him in a QT there is a lot of stuff you can add to get rid of bad stuff.
Hopefully someone might know what that is to guide you in the right direction.
Looks like some sort of fungus to me.

naesco · #3 06-19-2008, 06:27 AM

See the Coral Beauty post. I would use both as it may be both bacterial and fungal.

Was the trigger eating when you bought it?
What are the parameters of the tank.
If it is hiding it is stessed. Stay away from the tank except to feed and water change, and add an air diffuser to help increase the oxygen level.

seanoman · #4 06-19-2008, 03:51 PM

naesco- we got the trigger from someone, not from a pet store and they hadn't had it very long either but that had said that it was eating. Our water parameters are really good, I checked them the day before yesterday and nitrates were at 0, phosphates are at 0, ammonia was at 0, pH was at 8.1. So nothing out of the ordianry there. Can you get medication at any pet store to treat this kind of thing?

michika · #5 06-19-2008, 04:04 PM

Would it be possible to describe the head injury more? Is it like a scab, discoloration, or maybe even an open wound with flaking skin?

seanoman · #6 06-19-2008, 04:10 PM

michika- it is like a scab but there is also skin discoloration around the scab as well. It's really wierd looking, I have never seen anything like it. It doesn't look like a wound to me but more like an infection of sorts.

michika · #7 06-19-2008, 04:22 PM

Is the area raised? It could be a wound that got infected. Is the whole thing bumpy or is it just a single area? I'm leaning more along the lines of an infection of sorts at this point.

1. Gotta get it eating, what have you tried at this point?
2. Need to figure out if its a fungal, or other type of infection
3. Treat the fish

If you can get closer photos of the injury we might be able to tell you what kind of infection it resembles. You also may want to try sending some photos to wet web media, or starting a thread on RC for more feedback.

seanoman · #8 06-19-2008, 04:57 PM

The area does not look raised really, other than the flaking skin (or what looks like skin). It doesn't look bumpy really, just more flaky and the discolored area isn't bumpy. It might be an infection caused from a wound, 4 or 5 days ago, we noticed that it had a little scrape in it's nose, so we night be getting somewhere here.

As for food...what haven't we tried. So far, we have tried frozen mysis, krill, and brine shrimp. Also, we have tried clams on a half shell, formula 2 flake, nori and cyclopeeze. We have been soaking the frozen food in garlic as well. I have been dosing the tank with Vitamin C too to try and give the fish a boost. I'm kinda at my wits end with this fish, something should be appealing to eat by now you'd think.
I will try to get better pics when I get home but the location of the tank that it's in, makes it awkward to get a good shot. I also have 2 different threads going on RC right now, but no one on there seems to be much help yet.

michika · #9 06-19-2008, 05:00 PM

Your description is very good. I'm leaning towards infection, and maybe you want to treat with an antibiotic. Certain fungal infections on fish tend to me more raised and fluffy in appearance which isn't what you are describing in the least.

Do you know what the previous owner fed it? If I were you I'd add in that extra airstone, and probably start treatment with an antibiotic. In the mean time I'd maybe try clams on the half shell, nori on stick (my triggers in the past loved this), maybe live ghost shrimp. Its also possible that the fish just isn't hungry because of the infection.

Your doing all the right things, and I really hope this pulls through for you.

This is from liveaquaria about fungal infections in marine fish; "Most fungal infections have a characteristic white fluffy appearance and are commonly known as 'cotton wool disease.' As the fungal infections worsen, they may take on a gray or even red appearance." Since this only happened in about a week I'm doubting its fungal. (link)

Interior_Reef · #10 06-19-2008, 05:05 PM

Hey Sean,

My Sarg took a few days to eat, but when it started, it was hard to get him to stop. Like Michka said, i would try the clam, or even shrimp, From superstore.

Good luck, i hope he makes it.