What's wrong with my trigger?

[goby2]

For about a month, my niger trigger has been hiding in the rocks and not eating. I never see him swimming around and he won't come out to eat. I can't see anything wrong with him visually(ich, fungus,etc.).

He shares a 220 gallon tank with a yellow tang and a small grouper. The tank is very understocked and I don't think nitrates, phoshates etc, are the problem.

This problem started after an ich infection that affected all the fish, which happened after I shut down my smaller tank and put the contents into the 220. The other fish are doing great. I've had the trigger for about a year.

Any ideas what could be wrong with him?

 

[Anonymous]

What is your temp and salinity?

 

[Anonymous]

Are you saying that you transferred the contents of a smaller tank to this tank as in you added the smaller tank inhabitants to this tank? Or the trigger came from the smaller tank?

How long has the trigger been in that tank?

What are your readings for Nitrates, ammonia, nitrite etc ...

 

[jlneng]

I had a black trigger do the same thing. Make sure that you are rotating enough water on a weekly basis,10-20%

 

[goby2]

Are you saying that you transferred the contents of a smaller tank to this tank as in you added the smaller tank inhabitants to this tank? Or the trigger came from the smaller tank?

How long has the trigger been in that tank?

What are your readings for Nitrates, ammonia, nitrite etc ...

The trigger and a couple other fish were transfered from my 55 gal to the 220 gal. He has been in there for about three months.

temp- 76F
Salinity- 1.024

 

[goby2]

anyone? :?

 

[Anonymous]

Any chance one of your other two fish is hassling him? I have known occasional yellow tangs that were aggressive.

Have you tried live brine shrimp? Live blood worms?

How does his stomach look, nice and plump, or pinched in?

Is the new 220 in a high traffic area of the house? Perhaps he is scared of movement he sees outside the tank. Have you sat far away from the tank and spied on him for a long time to see if he comes out when he thinks the "coast is clear"?

 

[Anonymous]

Are you saying that you transferred the contents of a smaller tank to this tank as in you added the smaller tank inhabitants to this tank? Or the trigger came from the smaller tank?

How long has the trigger been in that tank?

What are your readings for Nitrates, ammonia, nitrite etc ...

The trigger and a couple other fish were transfered from my 55 gal to the 220 gal. He has been in there for about three months.

temp- 76F
Salinity- 1.024

 

[goby2]

Sorry I took so long to reply.

I tested the water and the nitrates were pretty high at about 20 ppm. They werent anywere near that high when the problem started.

All othe water parameters were negligeable.

I did a 90 gallon water change to reduce the nitrates a couple days ago, but the trigger still hasn't moved.

The other fish arent bothering him, and his stomach looks just as full as ever.

The tank isn't in a high traffic area, and the other fish seem just fine.

 

[goby2]

any guesses? anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

Did you clean the glass lately?

Some fish don't like their reflection...


How about other fish additions, could it be being picked on at night? I had that happen once with a huma huma trigger, it picked on another fish, but only at night with all the lights off, it took a flashlight and some patience to catch him at it.

When you say all other water parameters were neglidgible, you mean ammonia and nitrite were 0 right?

 

[Anonymous]

If he looks healthy and has a plump belly, and this has been going on for a while with no decline in health, I would think you could rule out disease.

I wonder if he feels insecure in the much larger tank that is relatively vacant. Perhaps some dither fish could help him to feel more at ease. Many fish don't like swimming out in the open without other fish to assure them that there are no predators around.

 

[goby2]

good idea. I might pick up some chromis tomorrow and see if it works.