What the heck happened to my trigger?

[seanoman]

thanks for the encouragement michika! It does sound like an infection more and more now. Is there a particular type of antibiotic that would be best for treating it? I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it's still ok when we get home and we can start treating it. I will keep trying with the clams and nori like you suggested and add an airstone and see how it goes. Also, the fish is currently being housed in our salt water mixing tank, which is a 75 gallon tank but is only about half full right now. I have an empty 10 gallon that I could quickly set up, would that be horribly small for it? I don't really want to contaminate that tank if I don't have too.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by seanoman

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?

You should phone all the fish stores as you will run around trying to find it and lose time.
As Mardel has many products make sure it is Saltwater Maroxy that they have.

[michika]

I think it would probably be best for it to stay in the 75g since it is such a big fish. However I definitely see where you are coming from with being concerned about contamination.

I'm looking at the Seachem website and their available medications and Paraguard is looking like a good catch all type medication. You can click on the link to see all the medications. I'm pretty sure its widely carried but I'm not too sure about that.

What is the triggers behavior like now? Still hiding?

[muck]

Ive gotten stubborn Triggers to eat by dangling a silverside on fishing line in the tank. Poke a hole in the body just above the tail and tread the fish line through and dangle in the tank just like Nori. Worth a try...

[VFX]

Sean I have some Paraguard at home if you want to come over & get it.

I'll be around after 7.30pm

Maybe combine it with some antibiotic treatments & see if things get better.

.

[seanoman]

michika- the trigger's a little more active now that it's in a quiet tank but it doesn't swim around too much, it kinda just stays in one area of the tank, but it's not hiding. Do you think that it would be possible to treat it in that tank and then do a REALLY thorough clean of it after the treatment is done? I'd still be a little leary about doing it though.

muck-thanks for the tip, I will try the clams again first and if all else fails will try the silverside idea.

VFX- thanks for the offer, but I think I will just go and quickly pick some up after work so at least I have it on hand.

[seanoman]

got home from work, and there's good news and bad news. The good news is that it's still alive and the bad news is that it doesn't look any better. I plugged an airstone in right away and we are off to get some meds for it and some fresh clams to hopefully entice it....wish me luck!

Has anyone ever used a large rubbermaid container as a QT tank?? We have a pretty big one at home that I was thinking of using...do you think that this'll work?

[michika]

Glad your trigger is still around and swimming!

I'd worry that moving your trigger to the rubbermaid would be stressful to the trigger, but other then that I don't have any objections. I use a large rubbermaid as a sump right now and its done me well for some time.

[VFX]

I mix my new salt water in a Rubbermaid... should be fine but like Catherine says, moving him may be extra stress he doesn't need right now.

Good luck with him.

Hope he makes it.

.

[dsaundry]

I have some of this if you want to try it...worked great on my clowns
http://www.polyplab.com/medic.html