Sick Boxfish

[Boonie]

I have had my yellow juvenile boxfish for approx. 6 months in an older setup. Right from the beginning he got along with the others, not shy at all. Fed just as aggressivly as all the other fish(from the top of the tank) and loved to swim with the group. I am alternating the food between Frozen Brine Shrimp, Wards Flake, and Formula 1 reef mix, and Sea Weed in a feeder clip for snacks. Suddenly he went to one of the caves (where he has never gone) and stayed in there. He was not eating the food I put in but was grazing some algae off the rock and substrate. Today he stopped eating all together, he is out of the cave but just hovers in one spot approx. 1/2 inch off the subsrtate. He is also turning darker. I have tried to feed the others and then feed him but he wants nothing to do with it. I also tried some new food thinking he was just bored with it, but there was no luck. My water is fine, all the other fish are fine, and he does not have any of the typical marine disease symptoms. Does anyone have any advice before he dies. He is already pretty weak.

[rshimek]

Boonie,

The folks in this forum can give better information than I can.

Good luck.

[FMarini]

Hi:

this is an interesting but perplexing case, as its always hard to identify what's going on when a fish suddenly stops eating and gets weak.. So it reads to me that a few things may have happened. None of which maybe your fault and most likely something that will either reverse or get worse.

So I think a few things.....

stress. you mentioned you moved it into a new tank...new tankmates?, new everything? what's your water chems like? particularly. ammon, nitrIte, nitrAtes? I assume this is a Fo tank? crushed coral, wetdry etc?

have you added any water , chemical or supplement to the tank. New foods? any other fish showing any distress signs.

Does this boxfish have sunken sides?

So my concerns are a few things....even thou he was eating ravenously, he may not have been getting enough of or the correct foods. Many of these exotic fish have strange food requirements, and will eat lots of food, but be lacking a certain food which they need. Also I recall reading about worms in some of these fish, and the possibility of needing deworming.



So what does the box look like today?

More info might help

frank