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Sick undulated triggerfish (Health; environment?) 10/20/08 Hi Bob, <It's actually Neale today!> I have had my Undulated Triggerfish for the past year and a half, give or take a few months. The other day when I came home from work I found her lying on her side on the bottom of the tank. <Hmm... while Triggers sometimes adopt unusual resting poses, particularly when they're wedged into crevices, if the fish is out in the open resting on the sand, then that's not at all typical.> She has always been a very skittish fish and usually hides whenever anyone comes near the tank. <Triggers generally aren't skittish when settled; indeed, they're usually at least curious about things outside the tank, and sometimes outright aggressive. Do review environmental factors. Fish commonly become nervous when kept in too-small a tank, when exposed to poor water conditions, or when subjected to loud noises such as TV sets or banging doors.> She has also always been a great eater and hasn't come out to eat since I found her like that. I nudged her with a wood dowel to see if she was just being lazy, and she swam to her usual cave/archway she hides in. She doesn't seem to be breathing heavy or anything like that and there are no color changes. <If there aren't any external symptoms, then I'd strongly suspect water conditions.> She is in a 30 gallon tank with a yellow tang, I realize this is way to small for the tang, and will be way to small for the trigger also. <Far, far too small for this fish. Even a tank three times this size would be of dubious value for this large, highly territorial trigger.> I am in the process right now of upgrading to a 90 or 150 gallon tank. <Suspect all will be well once the fish is moved into a cycled 150 gallon system, pending proper acclimation of course. Wouldn't waste your money on a 90 gallon system. The price difference between that and the 150 gallon system will be small, but the advantages of the 150 gallon system over the smaller tank are substantial.> The tang is still very active, although also skittish whenever anyone comes by, and eating great. I checked the parameters and found that everything was pretty good. Ammonia=0, Salinity=1.022, Temp=76, pH=8.2, Nitrite=<0.2, and Nitrate=20. <Well, apart from the salinity being a bit on the low side, the nitrite level is dangerously high. Few marine fish will tolerate continual exposure to detectable levels of nitrite. Frankly, there's either zero nitrite (safe) or non-zero nitrite (unsafe). Review in particular filtration, though I suspect the size of the tank will make providing proper filtration difficult.> I usually do a 5 gallon water change every two weeks so that is in the plans for next week. <For an overstocked tank with large, messy fish, this isn't a terribly generous water change.> When I read through the FAQs the only thing I found that was close was someone whose Niger Trigger had that problem due to a high pH. I don't think that is my problem and the rest of the time, it seemed that you advised to just wait and see what happens due to the triggers being such tough customers. <Well, it's true that the Balistidae have remarkable levels of hardiness, even compared to freshwater fish, let alone marines. But the cards are stacked against you here, and I don't see any advantages to delaying the aquarium upgrade.> The only thing that has been different was I fed her some silversides a few days ago which I hadn't done in a long time, could those fish have gone bad and made my trigger ill? <It's conceivable, but good quality frozen foods should be safe for, say, three months after being opened if kept in a deep freeze.> I've had those frozen silversides for about 4 months at least and haven't fed them in 1-2 months. She gets fed krill or squid mostly at least once a day or every other day, and twice a day with Algae flake stuff for the tang. Any help would be greatly appreciated, sorry this was so long. Also, she is not lying on the bottom anymore and is upright in her cave, she just hasn't come out. <Suspect this is more a reaction to steadily deteriorating environmental conditions as the fish is growing and getting bigger. Likely to get worse with time, so do pull forward the aquarium upgrade if possible. In the meantime review filtration, and concentrate on why you're getting incomplete processing of the nitrogen cycle. You should have zero nitrite, but that's not the case, so something is amiss. Likely not enough capacity for biological filtration. Perhaps not enough live rock or else the canister filter being used is too small or has not properly serviced. Cheers, Neale. Triggerfish/Health 8/8/06 Hello, <Hello Brent> I am writing to you because I am in a situation where I feel asking for help may be the best thing to do at this point. I purchased a 3 1/2 inch Undulated Trigger 3 days ago. After the usual acclimation period I added him to his 75 gallon new home. Quarantine was skipped because this tank is due to be stripped and redone in the near future and my 30 gallon QT tank is occupied. All seemed to be the norm and after a few hours I tended to my regular maintenance. I have a Aqua-C Remora pro w/ Mag 3 for a skimmer. I removed the sponge from the pump to clean it and never thought twice about it being a problem. I left it off while I did other things and eventually took a nap. After waking up and checking on my new pet I found him stuck to the intake of the Mag/3. Like an idiot I reached in to help him without first turning off the pump. More than half of his one side is now a big hickey. He seems to be active. His color (minus the sore) is normal. I would think that this fish would be well on the road to recovery except he hasn't eaten. I have offered cut shrimp, krill, formula one, trigger formula, squid and Mysis shrimp. Here are my water readings. Temp 78 SPG 1.023 ph 8.3 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 or lower The tank is fully cycled and the only other fish is a 3 stripe damsel. I have added 10 teaspoons of Epsom salt. What else if anything can I do? <Give it a little more time. Once the trauma period is over the appetite should return if no internal injuries to the fish occurred. James (Salty Dog)> Brent Failing Undulate Trigger ...No, failed aquarist. - 2/15/2006 Hello. <<Hello Amber.>> I have a four year old Undulate Trigger. He was recently moved (December) into a larger tank (40 gallons). <<This fish reaches a foot in length. He needs a tank at LEAST double this.>> All of his familiar shells/ornamentation was moved with him. About a month went by before the algae started to show ("normal" levels that have never bothered the fish here before); the algae were a mix of the green and the red. Recently, the red algae began to "GROW" into membrane-like coverings throughout the tank. This obviously did not make trigger happy. <<Poor water quality is bugging him more, I 'm sure.>> Last Thursday I physically removed as much of the algae as I could while I prepared to do the water change/ maintenance (I know I should have changed/cleaned the filter sooner, but was out of carbon). <<Not a compelling reason to skimp on maintenance.>> Between Friday and Saturday, I cleaned as much as I could while I prepared the new water/ treated it with buffer and Prime. I took a water test on Saturday, and the Nitrite/Nitrate were off, everything else was within ideal range. <<What does 'off' mean. Please give numbers. If you were detecting nitrIte, something is very wrong in your tank. You need to move your trigger into larger quarters.>> I had plans to do a 25% water change, clean filtration etc. on Monday. <<Had plans? Did you?>> Alas, Sunday Morning, trigger was not as vigorous as usual. He came out of his shell only once for a quick nip and that was all. <<He is being poisoned by his own waste. I'd be ornery too.>> Sunday night, he wouldn't come out to eat, and was 'gasping' and looking generally stressed.. I did a quick 10% water change. <<Not nearly enough to keep toxins down.>> Monday afternoon the Trigger was lying down outside of his shell, breathing rapidly, and otherwise NOT swimming, even when I tried to 'nudge' him. <<Bad idea, will only stress him further.>> I broke down the filtration (a magnum 350 with activated carbon), cleaned the hosing, did the 25% water change, put a bubbler in to give him more Oxygen. Tuesday morning the only change was he is lying on the sand floor on the opposite end of the tank.. He is not breathing as rapidly and does not look as stressed, but his color is darker than normal, and he still will not swim or eat that I can see. <<Doesn't sound any better to me.>> I took water test, showed ammonia ideal, Nitrite .5, Nitrate 40, PH and Alkalinity, showed high. <<These subjective terms 'ideal, high' mean nothing to me. Please give numbers. NirtIte showing is a sign of terrible water quality, and a lack of appropriate cycling bacteria.>> I have new water again to do another 10% water change today (Wednesday) & to remove as much red algae as I can.. Is there anything else I can do for this fish?? <<Yes. Do LARGE (75%+) water changes as many times per day as needed to keep ammonia and nitrIte at 0, while you go buy a larger tank.>> I don't see any white spots or other discoloration, and frankly.. I am out of ideas. <<It's quite obvious what the problems are here.>> Any advice would be helpful at this point. Thank you. Amber A. <<Lisa.>> Re: Failing Undulate Trigger ...No, failed aquarist. -
2/15/2006 You know, I e-mailed you looking for help and advice..
NOT for mockery and debasement! <<I did not mock you,
Amber.>> Obviously we are aware that the Trigger will need larger
quarters. <<Was not even mentioned.>> We have a 150 gallon
tank that will be his future home; we are currently researching
equipment & environmental choices to see which would be the best
options. <<Awesome.>> When I say that ammonia is ideal, it
is because on the quick-strip test that is the readout option! There
are no numbers! <<Ah I see, hence the confusion.>> I
realize nitrite and nitrate are bad... if you were reading my e-mail,
you would have noticed I took IMMEDIATE steps to rectify those levels!!
<<I did read it; I simply feel/felt that larger water changes are
in order. Nothing rude in that.>> There was no need to
mock my maintenance methods... the scheduled maintenance was not due
until the last week of the month... so it is understandable that I did
not have carbon on hand. <<I did not mock you, just stated that
lack of carbon is not a reason to let water quality slide.>> But
gee, thanks for all your great advice! <<Although you are being
sarcastic, you're welcome. If you set aside the fact
that you think I mocked you, you will see that I suggested larger
quarters/water changes, and that these are quite helpful. I am sorry,
but there is no other answer to give you.>> Meanwhile this
trigger is very lethargic.. probably starving...and I'm doing water
changes every day (I only did 25% because the action was stressing the
fish more!) <<Even if so, reducing the toxins in his water is the
main concern here, and will kill your Trigger if not corrected.>>
So I'll continue doing daily water changes, with hopes this fish
will pull through, without any helpful information/advice from you.
<<Sorry you feel that way, but not
true. Lisa.>> Amber A.
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