Blue Hippo trouble

[jason sartain]

OK this is for the experts.
I've had this 6-7" hippo for about 1 month now and I have battled with ich since after the first week.She was eating fine in the DT and everything was going good until I noticed she seemed like she couldn't see anymore.I put her in my 75gal fuge by herself and it hasn't changed since then.

OK,the reason I think she can't see,she just stays around the bottom,and doesn't swim in the open at all.The reason I think she can not see is the fact that she just hangs around and doesn't pick at anything in the tank.The only way I am getting her to eat is to put her nori right where she stays all the time,and when she bumps into it with her nose,she eats it,otherwise she will not attack it like any other tang that I have.
I've been soaking her nori in garlic guard and Seachem metronidazole medication because I thought it was a bacterial infection of some sort.
Anybody ever had this problem before?
When I bought a Acillies tang,it did the exact same thing until it died.
I have a yellow,orange shoulder,vamengi,and naso tang and none of them have ever had any problems.
Param's are spot on,so I don't know what else to do.
Any help please,I don't want this fish to die.

 

[jennm]

Are the fish's eyes cloudy?

 

[jason sartain]

Jenn,no there not.If I put a flash light at her eyes they look normal.Also if I put my hand in the tank to feed her,she can tell and she moves to her "spot" in the tank.IDK

 

[lady sartain]

JennM;419467 wrote: Are the fish's eyes cloudy?

No, She does have the white ich spots and sometimes her blue color is very pale but her eyes are not cloudy.

 

[jennm]

Is the fish in the main tank or sump? I think the sump... is it alone in there?

Was there aggression by the others in the main tank?

Any physical symptoms? Still have ich etc?

Jenn

 

[jennm]

Is her color pale after the lights have been out? If so that's not unusual. It is unusual during regular "daylight".

I'd normally suggest checking for voltage but if the rest of the tangs are behaving normally, then it's likely not an issue because they'd all be weird - or most all of them.

The achilles - those are tricky fish to begin with... but the blue shouldn't be too hard to acclimate under normal circumstances, but sometimes they don't run with the big dogs and they are inclined to hide under rocks or in cracks. They can wedge themselves into crevices sideways - but all that is "normal" for them.

Have you quarantined and treated this fish? It's probably in order, particularly if there's still ich present. In fact all of the fish are probably carrying it now, even if they aren't showing it.

Jenn

 

[lady sartain]

I never saw any aggression in the main tank but the hippo didn't go up to eat when nori was put on the clip. The others are voracious eaters so they were instantly going up and grabbing the nori. Hippo does still show signs of ich and loss of color. It is eating when we put it right at the hippo. The only other occupants in the fuge are a few hermit crabs. There is also plenty of algae growing in fuge.

 

[jennm]

Hmmm. How long since you moved it to the fuge? I can see it taking a bit for it to get accustomed to new surroundings again... but not too long. Good sign that it's still eating, despite having to be "fed".

Not sure what to suggest other than QT and proper treatment. Sounds like there's more going on than ich, but not showing the typical symptoms of flukes, that can infest the eyes and cause visual impairment.

Jenn

 

[lady sartain]

Its been in the fuge for just over 3 weeks. So its had plenty of time to adjust to surroundings.

 

[jennm]

Then something else is amiss... don't know what though...

Jenn

 

[jason sartain]

dawgdude;419554 wrote: So do you have to put food in front of the hippos face every time? I had a fish do this once and it developed pop eye. I usually dont suggest it without knowing the problem but you might want to consider soaking the food in focus/metro with some HUFA to see if it helps. Very odd, I hope you can get it figured out.

Yes Charlie,we have to put the food in front of her face everytime,and then she just eats it if she bumps into it.
Will pop-eye make them blind?And can it be fixed with meds or is she doomed?

 

[smoothie]

I've seen fish do it with ich too when they cannot shake it. Stays in their gills and stresses breathing and damages their eyes from prolonged exposure to the point that they swim and act like zombies. Happened about 4yrs ago when my wife "suprised" me by dumping a powder brown into the tank. It would swim into the rocks and actually mutilated it's face.
Try getting more oxygen to the fish. May help

 

[jason sartain]

So mabye some airstones and normal ich treatment?Also did the BB make it in the end?

 

[smoothie]

No it did not and my wife felt horrible. Now I get nothing fish related as a present.
Ich medication may knock it off of the fish to give it time to calm and heal, but will no means cure the tank of it as you probably already know. Give it more of an appetite. Airstones could do nothing but help

 

[basscyn]

Is your temperature stable? Tangs can be sensitive to temp swings and ick can be the result.

Check your temp just before lights out and then again in the morning before lights on to be sure.

Just a thought.