G. miliaris near death...HELP

[riccio]

OK, I don't know what is going on, but I am definately worried. The last few weeks my Brazilian golden (G. miliaris) has refused to eat, and the last few days has become very listless. He will lay motionless at times, even upside down, and then get a burst of energy and act normal. Breathing, coloration, and his physical appearance are all normal, as well as the water parameters. The only thing that has changed is a drop in temperature from 80 to 75 about four months ago (on purpose). I have not supplemented or medicated in the tank. The two fish and golden dwarf moray I have in with it are all doing well. I purchased this eel full grown three years ago and it has been with me through thick and thin, anyone have any ideas????
I have a 12g QT (small, but all I have available at this time) set-up that I may put it in just to see if there is something going on in the main tank that I'm missing. Hopefully someone can shoot some suggestions my way, this guy is looking worse by the hour.
I just spoke to a very credible LFS that I frequent and they suggested it may be intestinal blockage, which is usually fatal. Anyone hear of this before?
Thanks, Chris

 

[beth]

Take a good look at this fish thru a magnifying glass [if you can] to see if you not any problems. Look for swollen or red gills, slow or faster breathing, eroded fins, cloudy eyes, raised scales, really give the fish the once over visually.
Can you post a picture of the fish?

 

[riccio]

Hi Beth, thanks for replying. I put him into QT yesterday and looked him over, but didn't notice anything wrong. Today, however, I've noticed some skin peeling at the very front of his mouth (there's nothing for him to scrape it up on it QT). All other physical characteristics are normal, breathing, tail, gills. To be honest I can't tell if his eyes are the same as always or not. I feel like I might be looking for them to be cloudy even though they are not? Does that make sense??? His behavior is still the same, very lifeless at times, but he's still alive which I'm very happy about.
I've gone ahead and treated the QT with Furacyn (a general antibiotic) because of the skin peeling. Here are two pics, the first is months old, the second is of this morning. If you need anymore info/pics, please lmk.
Thanks, Chris

 

[beth]

His eyes seem sunken in the first picture. Is he still eating? What is this fish's diet and nutrition régime? Have you noticed him scraping at all on rocks, etc? Does the QT have a hiding place for him? Essential for eels.

 

[beth]

I am going to copy this over the Aggressive forum to see if eel owners have any insight, so follow this thread at that location as well.

 

[reeftank27]

hi, i had a snowflake with similar problems, wouldnt eat basically looked dead but was still alive, i put him in a 10 gallon with a peace of pipe so he could hide but anyways i put copper and quinide hcl for a week and he started eating again, i couldnt believe it..well just thought i would try to help, he looks like a great eel..jason

 

[riccio]

Jason, thanks for the info. I'm hesitant with the copper, and not familiar with quinide hcl, but I will look into both suggestions.
Beth, the first pic is actually when he was healthy and doing well, that's how the eyes always look with this guy. As for eating, that stopped a couple of weeks ago. Feeding regime is Selcon soaked silverside twice a week. Sometimes other raw seafood if I have it in the house.
The QT has a piece of pvc. I don't know if he scraped himself while in the display tank or not. Nothing has changed over the last couple of days. He's still alive, but not his regular self at all.
Some other medications I have in the house are Pipzine, Formalin, Cupramine, and Maracyn. Would you recommend using any of these at this time (keeping in mind that Furacyn is still in the tank)?