Clown Trigger Eating Problem

[voksbug]

Hello,

I have a 5 inch Clown trigger in a large (600 gal) that tries to eat but ends up spitting the food up. There is no outward sign of disease; however, he is wasting away. Still a strong swimmer and goes after food aggressively; however, once he takes a bite or two he backs up quickly and spits the food out. This has been going on for about 2 weeks.

I have tried every type of food that I have locally: Squid, clam, crab, shrimp (mysis and brine), silver sides, pellets, and Nori. He goes after it quickly every time but shys away after the first bite or two and spits the food up.

Has anyone else experienced something like this with any of their fish? Is there something I can do?

Thank you
- Steve.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This may be a sign of gill injury or symptom such as flukes.
Have you changed any foods?
You can try soaking food in garlic extract but also see if it’s breathing rate has increased, gills have become inflamed or ammonia has risen

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello,

I have a 5 inch Clown trigger in a large (600 gal) that tries to eat but ends up spitting the food up. There is no outward sign of disease; however, he is wasting away. Still a strong swimmer and goes after food aggressively; however, once he takes a bite or two he backs up quickly and spits the food out. This has been going on for about 2 weeks.

I have tried every type of food that I have locally: Squid, clam, crab, shrimp (mysis and brine), silver sides, pellets, and Nori. He goes after it quickly every time but shys away after the first bite or two and spits the food up.

Has anyone else experienced something like this with any of their fish? Is there something I can do?

Thank you
- Steve.

How long have you had the fish?

Sounds like a blockage that is keeping it from swallowing food. I assume you’ve tried feeding it small bits of food?

Blockages can be from previously swallowing a rock or some other object. That will cause a sudden onset of symptoms. Other blockages develop from tumors, including goiter. Those tend to develop slowly over time.

This won’t resolve the issue, but here is an article I wrote on tube feeding fish. Triggers, being pretty large and tough, are good candidates for this.

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[voksbug]

This may be a sign of gill injury or symptom such as flukes.
Have you changed any foods?
You can try soaking food in garlic extract but also see if it’s breathing rate has increased, gills have become inflamed or ammonia has risen

Thanks for responding. I haven't changed food. I've also used a garlic soak for the food. The behavior came on suddenly about 2 weeks ago. Yes, he does have increased respiration which I forgot to mention.

 

[voksbug]

How long have you had the fish?

Sounds like a blockage that is keeping it from swallowing food. I assume you’ve tried feeding it small bits of food?

Blockages can be from previously swallowing a rock or some other object. That will cause a sudden onset of symptoms. Other blockages develop from tumors, including goiter. Those tend to develop slowly over time.

This won’t resolve the issue, but here is an article I wrote on tube feeding fish. Triggers, being pretty large and tough, are good candidates for this.

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks for the information Jay. I'm certain it is some sort of blockage because you can tell he really wants to eat. Despite still being food motivated, he is very thin. I fear he does not have much time left. Your article is very good; but I don't think I can source what I need to do a feeding. Still looking into it though.

I'm going to try a fresh water dip in the hope I see Flukes. If that is the case, I will treat with medication. Is thee anything else you think I should try? Thank you again.

 

[FilthyFifty]

Try the freshwater dip and see if it is flukes. If that doesn’t work I always entice my fish with garlic extract like stated above by soaking the food in it. Also something I use to get the fish back to a health state is aminos. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and your trigger comes back to full health.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the information Jay. I'm certain it is some sort of blockage because you can tell he really wants to eat. Despite still being food motivated, he is very thin. I fear he does not have much time left. Your article is very good; but I don't think I can source what I need to do a feeding. Still looking into it though.

I'm going to try a fresh water dip in the hope I see Flukes. If that is the case, I will treat with medication. Is thee anything else you think I should try? Thank you again.

If fish is breathing heavy, I would reconsider freshwater dip which offers relief for flukes and not a treatment. At Minimum aerate the water but realize FW dip is a risk

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the information Jay. I'm certain it is some sort of blockage because you can tell he really wants to eat. Despite still being food motivated, he is very thin. I fear he does not have much time left. Your article is very good; but I don't think I can source what I need to do a feeding. Still looking into it though.

I'm going to try a fresh water dip in the hope I see Flukes. If that is the case, I will treat with medication. Is thee anything else you think I should try? Thank you again.

Flukes just don’t cause a fish not to be able to swallow its food. It could have flukes, but that isn’t the core issue here. Also, only one species of fluke will show visibly in the dip water unless you use a microscope.

 

[voksbug]

Update: WE FOUND THE ISSUE AND SAVED THE FISH! The Clown trigger swallowed a Reef Bacto Ball that did not break down. After trying everything and it looked like the fish was extremely weak I decided to do a hail Mary and pull him out to probe inside his mouth. since my daughter has better vision than me, I let her do the operation. To our surprise she a found the a Fauna Marin Reef Bacto Ball in the back of the throat.

It has been a week and the clown trigger is eating like mad. He’s almost back to full weight.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with information. I would never have thought to probe his throat without the recommendationI would never have thought to probe his throat without the recommendation!