Blue Spotted Jawfish doing barrel rolls and loss of appetite. Help please :).

[Brien H]

In December (12/01/12) I picked up a healthy looking Blue Spotted Jawfish. Upon acclimating him to my QT water he was given a fresh water bath as described on this forum, and then placed into the 10g QT with a charged filter pad from my DT. He was observed for a couple of weeks and ate like a pig. He started to show signs of Brook so he was treated with 5 Formalin dips as described on this forum and he was doing great. His white blotchy coat seemed to be improving but was still present so he was treated with Maracyn 2 to treat for any secondary infection. Throughout the entire process he was improving and eating like a champ. After the Maracyn 2 he was left untreated for 2 more weeks with as little stress as possible. During his entire quarantine stay the water quality remained controlled with regular water changes (full details below). As as final treatment before his planned eventual move to the display tank, I added PraziPro to the QT in the dose suggested on the bottle (liquid PraziPro). The next day he showed a loss of appetite and began to do barrel rolls in the QT. I changed 50% of the water and again the next day he still showed no interest in food, and continued to do barrel rolls and swim along the perimeter of the tank. When not swimming the perimeter of the tank or doing barrel rolls he is rather inactive just hidding in or behind a PVC pipe. Regular water changes have been maintained throughout the entire process to control water quality and to remove all traces of PraziPro. I've been feeding a carnivorous blend soaked in garlic with some vitamin C and beta glucan to stimulate his appetite and immune system. He still shows very little interest in food and is swimming erratically. I've also tried Mysid shrimp, Rod's blend food, and New Life Spectrum (I know not the best but I wanted to try other things since he wasn't interested in the normal carnivorous blend). I've tested the water and no ammonia or nitrite are present, yet I continue to do regular water changes to keep the best water quality possible. In another effort to treat him for a potential infection I treated with Kanaplex (2 level spoons per 10g, every 2 days, for 3 doses). He is showing no signs of improvement to this point. I forgot to mention I also add a capful of StressGuard every day.

The QT tank params are:
10g, HOB Aqueon 20 filter with charged pad from my display tank (charged in the display for months)
He is the only inhabitant in the QT and the QT is in my fish closet free from a lot of traffic.
Salinity 1.026 as verified on my Refractometer
PH 8.1 on my Hanna meter
Temp 77.5 deg
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-10

I'm at a loss. I quarantine all new arrivals. Corals and inverts have their own quarantine process and system. All new fish arrivals go through quarantine in a bare bottom tank, with a HOB sponge filter, heater, grounding probe, and PVC pipes for hiding places. The BSJF seemed great until the PraziPro treatment and to this day he is still not himself. The barrel rolls and loss of appetite started approx 2 weeks ago. I've observed him eating a piece of food here/there as I hide behind a corner watching him, but he definitely is not the curious Jawfish I am used to. Does anyone have any suggestions on things I can do to help him out, or any help diagnosing what is going on? Physically he has his color and fins/tail look fine. He does look a bit skinny due to his loss of appetite but I find poop every couple of days and have witnessed him eating, although not as much as I am used to. He used to eat right out of the turkey baster and eat all the food. Now he just looks at it. The barrel rolling and erratic swimming behavior also worry me.

Thanks in advance
Brien

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

Man, if he lives after two weeks of barrel rolling, I'd say there is still a chance but its slim to none. I don't know what will help but more water changes and maybe some carbon in your filter. If he shows no more signs of brook.

 

[PSU4ME]

Kuddos for follwoing all the treatments to the T....seems like you've done everything right (assuming the diagnosis was correct which we will assume).

2 things that I see. One is he has been through a ton of medication.......if he is ok now I would work to remove all medication from the water.......Is there a possibility that medications were mixed at all?

And two, do you have a bowl of sand in the QT? The BSJ likes to dig and "stay protected".......this might help him feel more comfortable and reduce his stress assuming he is stressed.

Other than that I can't think of anything to do different as his nutrition seems fine......I'd add sand (clean) in a bowl 4 inches or so deep and keep the water clean.

 

[Brien H]

Thanks I sure hope so. I've invested quite a bit of time doing things right (or so I thought). I've been doing a 30-50% change every day with PH, temp, and salinity matched saltwater. I'll run some carbon and he has no signs of brook really. His color and spots are pretty bright all things considered.

Is the barrel rolling a sign of neurological damage? Can anything be done to repair/ease this?

Thanks!

 

[Brien H]

Kuddos for follwoing all the treatments to the T....seems like you've done everything right (assuming the diagnosis was correct which we will assume).

2 things that I see. One is he has been through a ton of medication.......if he is ok now I would work to remove all medication from the water.......Is there a possibility that medications were mixed at all?

And two, do you have a bowl of sand in the QT? The BSJ likes to dig and "stay protected".......this might help him feel more comfortable and reduce his stress assuming he is stressed.

Other than that I can't think of anything to do different as his nutrition seems fine......I'd add sand (clean) in a bowl 4 inches or so deep and keep the water clean.

Thanks! I've tried to follow protocol and actually built my 180g tank based around having a BSJF in the future.

Yes he has been through a lot of medication. The formalin was to treat for brook. I actually planned to treat him with formalin regardless seeing as BSJF are prone to it from what I understand. I was worried about the formalin treatment but followed Lee's advice to the T and he seemed like he handled all 5 treatments well. The formalin treatments were performed in a separate bath containing 2gallons of his tank water temp/ph regulated along with good aeration from 2 airstones performed for 2-3 hrs prior to him going into the bath.

Good question on the mixed medications and one I should have addressed in my original post. Medications were not mixed as multiple large water changes were performed between each series of treatments. Sure there is a chance that a slight residual amount of Prazi was present when the Kanaplex was started, but I'm fairly certain this amount was negligible, although anything is possible.

The QT is bare bottom with just PVC for hiding spots. I'll add a bowl of silica sand and see if things improve.

Thanks so much for the advice. I know things aren't looking great, but he's hanging in there so I want to do what I can. I abstained from any medications for a bit and noticed no improvement.

 

[PSU4ME]

In my book, rolling isn't good I've seen this before in my clown which was in QT.....with high ammonia. Not saying that this is the case but.....

Could just be from a ton of medication too.......

 

[Brien H]

Yeah I definitely know things aren't looking great . All treatments performed were based on research with this fish, his state at the time of treatment , and doing what had worked for others. The only time he showed any signs of trouble was the day after a water change and prazi treatment, which has me baffled .