blue line trigger - Page 2

JennM · 10-16-2006, 08:20 AM

Respectfully disagree about Pimafix and Melafix... they seem to be effective in freshwater but useless in saltwater in my experience. Melafix is tea tree oil and just gunks up the water.

Please post your tank parameters. Is the skin sloughing off? Is the fish otherwise eating and behaving normally? You mentioned it was doing so on the 14th but how about now? I've not seen anything quite like that and it's hard to tell from the pictures just what is going on there.

It's NOT ich. It's not Lymphocystis, it's not flukes.

Can you see anything raised on the skin? Are there scales protruding?

Fungus is very rare in saltwater - it does occur but very rarely.

If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's likely bacterial in origin - but even that's just a semi-educated guess. I'd likely quarantine and try some antibiotics - Kanamycin or Neomycin or other gram-positive and gram-negative antibiotic. I'd likely spike the food with it if the fish is still eating - most effective to get the medicine into the fish rather than just into the water.

Are any of the patches reddish under the white? If yes, then it's most likely bacterial.

Triggers are pretty hardy so if you can catch it before it's too far gone you stand a good chance of saving the fish. Keep a close eye on other tankmates in case they get it too.

Any more info you can post will be helpful - closer picture, better description of what he's got... I'm in and out today but I'll try to keep an eye on this thread.

DO NOT TREAT your main tank with antibiotics and if you go that route be sure to do the full course of treatment, or the bug may become resistant to the medicine and come back with a vengeance. This is extremely important.

Jenn

creativereasons · 10-16-2006, 08:35 AM

well i know its not a spreadable condition cause he has been like this for ablout 3 weeks. I was going to start a qt tank but at the time i was gone and it was just my wife taking care of the fish.The skin is not sloughing it looks more like when a fish is deprived of air they turn solid white thats what he is doing but he had plenty of oxygen. The tank last week was at 160 in the nitrates due to the fact my sand died so i took all that out and its at like 20. everything else is fine.As far as him eating or anything he still eats (alot) swims fine.There is no redness no raiseing of the scales no swelling or anything of that nature in fact u can still see his blue lines its only the yellow that is turning white.the other tankmates which include huma huma valintine puffer and a damsel. Now i do educated guess to what but not for sure i had a dog face puffer who got curious when oone of the other fish knocked the end off of my filter he got sucked up into it and died the next day now i was told that when a puffer dies they put off a toxin wheater that is true or not is two different things, but i figured it would have affected all my fish instead of one but who knows all fish act and handle things differently.

VWD · 10-16-2006, 08:35 AM

Thanks For posting Jenn, I know You are better when it comes to the treatments. I have never had to treat my own fish with it, but only have had people come to the store and tell me what they used. And I will also say to creativereasons to follow JennM advice over mine,

I hope You can get this guy healthy again,
I

JennM · 10-16-2006, 09:11 AM

Normally then I'd think it was a colour change going from juvenile to adult colouration but as far as I know that species doesn't change.

Not sure what to think then. I'd probably watch and wait a bit more then.

If your puffer had nuked the tank, everything would be dead - so that did not happen (thankfully). I've had the same thing happen with a large puffer in a 1000g and it didn't happen... but it *can*. Still tetrodotoxin would have wiped it all out right away - I don't think the two situations are connected.

I'll try to find some time this afternoon to research that specie a bit more but right now I'm up to my ears in invoicing and I have to go out in an hour or so... ah the joys of LFS ownership - you'd be amazed at how much paper it takes to keep the fishes swimmin'.

Jenn

creativereasons · 10-16-2006, 09:36 AM

the only thing i know it that the yellow turns to a bluish color as an adult but i have no clue he was yellow and blue when i bought him.Also i have my lfs asking his trigger supplier what it could be and as far as research goes i have tried but wasn't to sucessful cause from what i can find which isn't much doen't tell alot about them .