Poor picasso...

goldfish

goldfish

Member
I have had a picasso trigger now for almost 2 years. He's in a 75 fowlr and is starting to look "unhappy." He's never been aggressive towards anyone else in the tank and no one has ever bothered him. Lately, I've noticed him napping during the day which he has only done at night in the past. My niger trigger naps during the day (by that I mean finds a place and lays down), but picasso has just taken this strange hobby up. Today, he wasn't as interested in eating as he usually is. As we all know, triggers LIVE and LOVE to eat, so that has me a bit concerned.
I did a 20 gallon water change last night and all water parameters have checked fine. Anyone have any idea what might be going on? He looks fine too...nothing unusual about his body or fins. Help my little baby!! He was the first fish I had in my tank!!
 
mark-24

mark-24

Member
Well, it could just be that your trigger is getting old. And 2 years is about average life expectancy for saltwater fish, I think. The not eating part kinda worries me.
But does he look any different?
-Mark
[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Mark-24 ]
 
fishymissy

fishymissy

Member
Although I don't know what is wrong with your trigger, a water change certainly can't hurt anything and might help!
I can tell you one thing however, and that is that your trigger is not getting old!!!
One aquarium (public) over in France has records of some of their fish, their undulate trigger is 17yrs old and still going strong! I thought this might be of interest so here are some of the fish and ages:
Scribbled angel -12yrs
Lemonpeel angel -11yrs
Emperor angel-14yrs
Long-nosed butterfly-18yrs
Sailfin tang-17yrs
False percula-14yrs
there were alot more but I didn't write them all down! ;)
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
Thanks for your help guys. I did put in some romaine today for my veggie eating friends and he seemed to gnaw on that a bit. He DID eat today, but not as voraciously as he usually does. I'll keep an eye on him and let you know what's up.
Thanks again!
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
These two triggers have been in there since the beginning...its not a problem of stress. Picasso doesn't bother anyone..not even newcomers. He's very laid back and docile. I'll try and watch more closely this week and see what is going on. Thanks again for your help!
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
Sniff...sniff..(blowing my nose) :(
He is no longer with us. Got up this morning and he was...well...the "D" word. He spent a lot of time in his corner yesterday and ate very little. I cannot figure out what in the world went wrong. I have a niger in there with him who as I said before has been there since the beginning. Other tankmates are a golden moray, blue hippo and a domino damsel.
I know it was not stress or overcrowding, but obviously it was something. You would think if it were something like ich the blue hippo would have gone belly up before a hardy trigger. I'm really sad since he was the first fish I got after cycling. :(
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
I'm so sad. I called my lfs guy (who is phenomenal) and he thought the same thing. Maybe just got old and it was his time to check out.
There were no signs of anything on his body and my water readings checked out fine. If there is a parasite in the water then I'd assume the blue hippo would be ill too....oh well. I'll keep my eyes open to see what is going on in those 4 walls.
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
He was totally full grown. I got him almost 2 years ago and my lfs guy said he had had him "awhile." Did not elaborate on how long he had him....maybe it was just old age?
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
Eric,
They really were not cramped. They were there since the beginning, so they were totally used to each other etc. They never fought or bothered each other.
I tell you, this whole thing is a huge mystery to me. Triggers are normally very hardy fish and don't die easily. This whole scenario is just strange. I am thinking it just might have been old age since he stopped eating as much and "napped" more often than usual. My niger "naps" all the time and is doing just fine. Picasso never used to do that, so when he started hanging out in the corners and not eating much it was a sign that something was going on.
:( thanks for your help everyone
 
S

swguy

Guest
Sorry to hear about that goldfish. It might of just died of age.
 
fishymissy

fishymissy

Member
I'm sorry that your trigger died Goldfish :(
But again, it wasn't old age! Jeez, I have (FW) neons that are 4yrs old ! If an undulate trigger can live for over 17yrs, than I think a picasso could make it past the 2yr mark! There is something else going on in your tank that you are not aware of.
Sorry, don't mean to make a big tirade out of this, but so many people believe that fish only live a couple of years at best. Absolute nonsense!!!
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
What else could it be? No one else in the tank is affected (fragile blue hippo is just fine). Again, my lfs guy did not tell me how long he had the picasso before I purchased him, but he was a full grown adult when I got him.
I just don't know what else it could be. Everything else checks out just fine and everyone else is healthy as can be.
 
fishymissy

fishymissy

Member
There could be lots of reasons.....the first thing I thought of was maybe the niger has become sexually mature and some harrassment was going on that you were unaware of. The second was maybe your salinity fluctuates too much during the week. The next was maybe your temps fluctuates too much. It could of been a bacterial infection. Improper food, etc....
The thing is, when people say that a fish has died of old age, it gives them the excuse to not to really look at the situation. I am not trying to make you feel bad, or to lay blame. I am only trying to help you learn to investigate what happened so that it doesn't happen to you again.
Unfortunately in this hobby, when you learn from your mistakes, it usually involves the death of a fish. I have made my own mistakes in the past and no doubt will make more in the future, just (hopefully) not as many!
 
goldfish

goldfish

Member
Missy,
That makes lots of sense. Thank you! But, I was checking water parameters and salinity levels and never did they get out of range. My temp has stayed the same for months. I am not saying he died because of old age, but there is nothing else I can even remotely put my finger on to say was the cause.
All other fish are fine. Water readings are fine. All fish eat well--picasso started to slow down with eating the other day which was the red flag for me. I am not trying to "not find a cause" but I don't know what else to think. Your suggestions were very helpful too--it did make me think back during the week.
 
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