Flame Hawkfish mystery death

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Hey everyone, I'd like some insight into this issue.
A friend of mine got a Flame Hawkfish a couple days ago, and he said that it's been acting normal until last night. It was apparently breathing rapidly, and was hiding. It seemed less interested in eating and somewhat unable to reach the food.

I have a photo of it, it doesn't look like it had any spots or slime on it. I'm not sure what advice to give him about what to do, whether he should treat the other fish preventatively (for what?), so if anyone has any advice or info about what could have killed his fish, it would be greatly appreciated.

I had a Midas Blenny a while back that died in the same way, doing fine for a couple days but then sudden death with a huge white blotch on areas of its tail and stomach. I've heard that Midas Blennies can be afflicted with 'sudden death', and maybe Flame Hawkfish are too?
If anyone could help diagnose what happened, it would be great. Again, I have no idea what to suggest.

Thanks.

I know this isn't the best image, I'll see if he has any others or if he just flushed the body.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey everyone, I'd like some insight into this issue.
A friend of mine got a Flame Hawkfish a couple days ago, and he said that it's been acting normal until last night. It was apparently breathing rapidly, and was hiding. It seemed less interested in eating and somewhat unable to reach the food.

I have a photo of it, it doesn't look like it had any spots or slime on it. I'm not sure what advice to give him about what to do, whether he should treat the other fish preventatively (for what?), so if anyone has any advice or info about what could have killed his fish, it would be greatly appreciated.

I had a Midas Blenny a while back that died in the same way, doing fine for a couple days but then sudden death with a huge white blotch on areas of its tail and stomach. I've heard that Midas Blennies can be afflicted with 'sudden death', and maybe Flame Hawkfish are too?
If anyone could help diagnose what happened, it would be great. Again, I have no idea what to suggest.

Thanks.

I know this isn't the best image, I'll see if he has any others or if he just flushed the body.

Typically, a picture of a dead fish does not offer any clues - fish change post mortem, and those changes are dependent on how long the fish has been dead. In this case, the fish is pale, but that may have been caused by those changes.

Rapid breathing can be due to a variety of things - water quality, flukes, protozoans or even bacterial diseases. Flame hawks are prone to developing fluke infections. However, those usually show up more slowly, over a week or two time.

If there are other fish in that tank, they need to be observed closely for the next couple of weeks for similar symptoms, in case the hawkfish had something contagious.


Jay