murfman
04/17/2006, 07:26 PM
I bought a Sargassum Trigger fish about a month ago. I was bitten by the Trigger itch after seeing last month's tank of the month and seeing that he had two Crosshatch Triggers in his tank. Upon seeing them, I imediately started researching Triggers, after all, they are reef safe, right? When the $400 price tag hit me and I awoke from the sucker punch that knocked me out I saw a link to other Triggerfish that were similar in temperment.
I saw the Sargassum at one of the LFS and the $100 price tag hit me, but by now, my glass jaw had turned into plexi glass and I was able to withstand the punch. The fish was this beautiful gray with blue jaw lines and olive dots all over his body. To my dissmay, he had been bought by a fellow reefer from this forum. I spoke with the LFS owner and he said that he would order two when he went to LA and San Diego to meet with the wholesalers. This was on a Sunday. On Tuesday, I got a call from that same reefer that bought the first Sargassum, telling me that my Sargassum was in and that he was buying the second one to try and get a breeding pair.
I rushed up there to look at my new baby and wanted to take it home right away. The wife of the LFS persuaded me to wait until the fish had at least stabilzed from the trip and was eating. I promised to return the next day, I knew my fish was fine and would be joining my reef.
I picked up my new baby, after seeing it eat and brought it home like a new papa. I aclimated it more than any other fish or invert I have ever owned and finally put him into the tank. He immediately ran for cover and I did not see him, much for a couple of days. When I approched the tank, he would slowly move into his cave and keep a distant eye on me.
After about 4 days, he was out and swimming around the tank eating fine. He was not as timid and seemed to be doing real well.
Fast forward to Last Sunday (not yesterday) I noticed him with an opaque white dorsal fin and said to myself, OHohhhh! I left him in the tank and immediately notified that other reefer of what I had found. I thought it was fin rot and he thought it might be an injury suffered from my Pacific Sailfin Tang. I told him that I never noticed any agression from either of them. He told me that it could be happening at night, when the lights were out.
I watched the Trigger and he had the slime coat sluffing off his body, and his eyes were almost completly white with an opaque covering. I lucked out and found him at the bottom of my tank on the left, under the hammer coral being cleaned by the Cleaner Shrimp. I thought he had passed and when I touched him with the net, trying to catch him, he didn't move. I touched him again and he flew into the net and I had caught him, wooohoooo. I put him in the sump and he immediately hid under the protien skimmer. I left him there for two days and he would not eat or move, unless I forced him out.
I had procurred all the hospital equipment and medicines from the reefer who had the other two Sargassums and immediately set it up and stabilized it. I tried to give him a fresh water dip but that only lasted 9 minutes, he was in big time distress and laying on the bottom so I pulled him and put him in a 5 gallon bucket with some nitrofurizone. I had a heater and bubble wand in there to aggitate the water and keep it at the same temp as my main tank. The nextday, I tried to feed him, to no avail but he did look much better. The white on the eyes was gone and the slime coat was coming back, things were looking up. I put him in another 5 gallons of methyl blue and nitrofurizone to kill anything and went to dinner. I pulled him out of the MB and put him in the 1st 5 gallons with NF and left him there again over night. He was looking real good the next day and I cut a piece of pvc and put it in there for a cave and moved him to the QT tank. I made sure that all temps were within .2 of eachother before I did so. He ate the first night and I started water changes the next day, 30%. He ate yesteday, before I did a water change and today when I got home from work, he was laying on the bottom of the tank, dead.
I tested the water and the ammonia was at 2ppm. I have no idea how accurate this is as he could have been there dead for a while, causing the high ammonia reading. All other perameters were normal.
Loosing a fish, I can't sat that all fish are the same 'cause my green chromis don't have near the attatchment as some of the others, is tough. I have lost fish before, hell, I lost my Naso tang the week before I noticed the Sargassum's fin, just found him in the rocks one morning before work. I wondered "what am I doing wrong? What is wrong with my tank?" I immediately tested and everything was within perameters and all the corals and livestock seemed fine.
When the Sargassum got sick, I made every conserted effort to save him and I failed. Maybe I should have been even more vigilent to the water conditions, I was running the QT with live rock and filter media that is kept in a sump/fuge so it is bacteria laden. I thought this and water changes would be enough. Maybe as a lesson, you should check the water perameters morning and night and more if you have the time.
Will I get another expensive fish like this? Who knows, at this time, no, I won't. I won't add any more livestock to the tank, until some dies off and at this rate, it won't be long before that happens.
Sorry for such a long post but I think this is more of a therapy for me vs. actual information for you. If you take something away from this, great. If not, that is fine too.
I saw the Sargassum at one of the LFS and the $100 price tag hit me, but by now, my glass jaw had turned into plexi glass and I was able to withstand the punch. The fish was this beautiful gray with blue jaw lines and olive dots all over his body. To my dissmay, he had been bought by a fellow reefer from this forum. I spoke with the LFS owner and he said that he would order two when he went to LA and San Diego to meet with the wholesalers. This was on a Sunday. On Tuesday, I got a call from that same reefer that bought the first Sargassum, telling me that my Sargassum was in and that he was buying the second one to try and get a breeding pair.
I rushed up there to look at my new baby and wanted to take it home right away. The wife of the LFS persuaded me to wait until the fish had at least stabilzed from the trip and was eating. I promised to return the next day, I knew my fish was fine and would be joining my reef.
I picked up my new baby, after seeing it eat and brought it home like a new papa. I aclimated it more than any other fish or invert I have ever owned and finally put him into the tank. He immediately ran for cover and I did not see him, much for a couple of days. When I approched the tank, he would slowly move into his cave and keep a distant eye on me.
After about 4 days, he was out and swimming around the tank eating fine. He was not as timid and seemed to be doing real well.
Fast forward to Last Sunday (not yesterday) I noticed him with an opaque white dorsal fin and said to myself, OHohhhh! I left him in the tank and immediately notified that other reefer of what I had found. I thought it was fin rot and he thought it might be an injury suffered from my Pacific Sailfin Tang. I told him that I never noticed any agression from either of them. He told me that it could be happening at night, when the lights were out.
I watched the Trigger and he had the slime coat sluffing off his body, and his eyes were almost completly white with an opaque covering. I lucked out and found him at the bottom of my tank on the left, under the hammer coral being cleaned by the Cleaner Shrimp. I thought he had passed and when I touched him with the net, trying to catch him, he didn't move. I touched him again and he flew into the net and I had caught him, wooohoooo. I put him in the sump and he immediately hid under the protien skimmer. I left him there for two days and he would not eat or move, unless I forced him out.
I had procurred all the hospital equipment and medicines from the reefer who had the other two Sargassums and immediately set it up and stabilized it. I tried to give him a fresh water dip but that only lasted 9 minutes, he was in big time distress and laying on the bottom so I pulled him and put him in a 5 gallon bucket with some nitrofurizone. I had a heater and bubble wand in there to aggitate the water and keep it at the same temp as my main tank. The nextday, I tried to feed him, to no avail but he did look much better. The white on the eyes was gone and the slime coat was coming back, things were looking up. I put him in another 5 gallons of methyl blue and nitrofurizone to kill anything and went to dinner. I pulled him out of the MB and put him in the 1st 5 gallons with NF and left him there again over night. He was looking real good the next day and I cut a piece of pvc and put it in there for a cave and moved him to the QT tank. I made sure that all temps were within .2 of eachother before I did so. He ate the first night and I started water changes the next day, 30%. He ate yesteday, before I did a water change and today when I got home from work, he was laying on the bottom of the tank, dead.
I tested the water and the ammonia was at 2ppm. I have no idea how accurate this is as he could have been there dead for a while, causing the high ammonia reading. All other perameters were normal.
Loosing a fish, I can't sat that all fish are the same 'cause my green chromis don't have near the attatchment as some of the others, is tough. I have lost fish before, hell, I lost my Naso tang the week before I noticed the Sargassum's fin, just found him in the rocks one morning before work. I wondered "what am I doing wrong? What is wrong with my tank?" I immediately tested and everything was within perameters and all the corals and livestock seemed fine.
When the Sargassum got sick, I made every conserted effort to save him and I failed. Maybe I should have been even more vigilent to the water conditions, I was running the QT with live rock and filter media that is kept in a sump/fuge so it is bacteria laden. I thought this and water changes would be enough. Maybe as a lesson, you should check the water perameters morning and night and more if you have the time.
Will I get another expensive fish like this? Who knows, at this time, no, I won't. I won't add any more livestock to the tank, until some dies off and at this rate, it won't be long before that happens.
Sorry for such a long post but I think this is more of a therapy for me vs. actual information for you. If you take something away from this, great. If not, that is fine too.