Longnose Hawkfish broken???

[zum14]

So a few days ago I noticed my longnose hawk hanging out on the sand of my tank on his side, uh oh not good. Took a look, color was awesome, didnt really look like he was breathing hard. Got close, he flipped up and propped himself up and looked at me as if he was playing possum. I checked him over and noticed the top half of his front fin on the left side was clipped by something, not sure what did it, maybe one of those crabs I found or my six line as ive seen them go at it before. He still had the bottom of the fin they use for propping themselves up but the soft top part is gone. So he still ate and sort of swam a little off but my guess was from not having a full paddle on the one side was messing him up a bit. So at that point he was propping himself back up on my corals and such and moving around I thought he was going to pull through. Tonight looked pretty bad. Turned off all the pumps for feeding. He was perched on a coral. Dropped some food in and his head turned towards it. He took off and well the best way I can describe it is it looks like hes not using his tail anymore to swim. He seemed to be earlier but not tonight(maybe yesterday too). So with one bum fin and not using his tail hes looking really awkward trying to swim, going over backwards, doing circles, He took a couple pieces of food but shortly started a decent to the bottom where he rested, the next time I looked at the tank he was back up on the coral. He also seems to be breathing fairly hard today, harder then normal. I did a large water change this weekend but both the cardinal and 6 line look stellar, just the hawkfish having problems. Any ideas? Im a little worried about this now, I thought he was going to pull through this. Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

[zum14]

bump??

[christyf5]

I don't know what to suggest, it could be bacterial or could be predatory (ie a crab or something attacked while he was sleeping, I've lost a few fish that way). I don't know what you can really do at this point, IMO catching the fish and QTing him might just add to his already stressed state.

Its good that he's still eating (?) and could be that he's just wearing himself out trying to swoim with less than great steering and propulsion. I had a midas blenny lose his tail right down to the caudal peduncle (the meaty bit after the fin) and after figuring out that he shouldn't be swimming all the time he finally settled and half of it grew back after quite a number of months.

I don't know what to tell you, its kind of a crapshoot at this point and could go either way. I don't even know what to tell you to treat the fish with if you do decide to QT as you've mentioned his coloration is good.

So ya, basically this is a free bump. I hope he makes it!

[zum14]

Originally Posted by christyf5

I don't know what to suggest, it could be bacterial or could be predatory (ie a crab or something attacked while he was sleeping, I've lost a few fish that way). I don't know what you can really do at this point, IMO catching the fish and QTing him might just add to his already stressed state.

Its good that he's still eating (?) and could be that he's just wearing himself out trying to swoim with less than great steering and propulsion. I had a midas blenny lose his tail right down to the caudal peduncle (the meaty bit after the fin) and after figuring out that he shouldn't be swimming all the time he finally settled and half of it grew back after quite a number of months.

I don't know what to tell you, its kind of a crapshoot at this point and could go either way. I don't even know what to tell you to treat the fish with if you do decide to QT as you've mentioned his coloration is good.

So ya, basically this is a free bump. I hope he makes it!

Thanks for the kind words. Its really weird, he did eat again last night, but same thing again, Hes perching, watches the food then when he takes off after it hes only using his front fins to try to swim and not kicking with his tail at all, it does make it odd looking. There is nothing physically wrong with his tail either, just he doesnt seem to want to kick. One thing I was trying to figure out is maybe its due to the up in flow in my tank?? I only had 750GPH on my ocean motion and 2 300gph powerheads. I realize thats not enough for a 90 so I stepped the powerheads up to 1050gph koralia's a few days before all this started. Im looking at about 30X turnover now and its not a total sandstorm. Maybe he just hasnt gotten used to it yet?? Or was lazy before and its a workout now??? My other fish dont even seem phased by it though. I dunno, keep monitoring i guess. Thanks again.

[christyf5]

As long as he's eating, its difficult to watch him not be active but that would be the most encouragement that he'll make a recovery. I don't have alot of experience with hawkfish but they seem like kind of lazy fish, perching here or there and if there is a lot of flow they rely on their pectoral fins to balance them (much like blennies which I do have experience with, they're lazy buggers).

If he does have an issue with his tail, it may totally not be noticeable, there could be some nerve damage or a bit of damage to the bones leading up to it if he got it caught in something or whacked it against something. That will likely heal as well, just takes time. You'll just have to be patient and we'll hope for the best

[zum14]

Originally Posted by christyf5

As long as he's eating, its difficult to watch him not be active but that would be the most encouragement that he'll make a recovery. I don't have alot of experience with hawkfish but they seem like kind of lazy fish, perching here or there and if there is a lot of flow they rely on their pectoral fins to balance them (much like blennies which I do have experience with, they're lazy buggers).

If he does have an issue with his tail, it may totally not be noticeable, there could be some nerve damage or a bit of damage to the bones leading up to it if he got it caught in something or whacked it against something. That will likely heal as well, just takes time. You'll just have to be patient and we'll hope for the best

Awesome thanks! Agreed. It is nice to see him still go for food, even if its not with the passion he used to. Will continue to monitor.

[untamed]

I bet that one of the new pumps gave him a chop. If so, it is a physical injury. I hope he can heal. If he continues to eat, he may live a long life as a cripple.

[zum14]

Little bit of improvement tonight. Breathing slowed down a bit and I even watched him kick a few times. I dont think a pump got him as there all powerheads and caged off pretty good. Could be something got him though.

[christyf5]

Glad to hear he's hanging in there!