Emergency!!!! Picasso Triggerfish Dying!

[Alec]

I have a picasso trigger in a tank with a Miniatus Grouper, a Volitan Lionfish and a Moray Eel. Everything was going great until the LFS closed and I was missing 10 gallons of water out of my tank. My trigger stopped eating and now he's lying on the floor. I offered him his favorite meal (frozen silverside) but he just wouldn't eat it. I fixed the pH and turned on the protein skimmer but he just doesn't seem okay. What can I do to save his life?

 

[Waddi]

Im guessing its missing by evaporation???
Meaning your salinity has risen, in that case you need to bring it back up slow, with water which you cant get..... In this case i have no idea, hope someone chips in real quick, but you need to get that top off water quick and add it slow not to jump the salinity back up causing to much stress.

 

[Samhain]

Go to Walmart (they're 24 hours, so I know it's open) and get 10 gallons of distilled water. They don't carry RO/DI water, but distilled will do in a pinch, and it's what I'm doing until we get our RO/DI filter installed. At our Walmart it's 83 cents/jug. Good luck!

 

[BL1]

Is evap the reason that you're missing the water? If so, then you're way behind the power curve. Your water needs to be at a consistent level all the time, to keep your salinity stable. 10 gallons is a HUGE swing in salinity for a smaller tank.

As far as your fish goes, how long have you had him? The problem could be from stress, you've got 4 huge fish that really need a bigger tank.

 

[Alec]

I've had him for about 2 months. And I got the water because the LFS opened again yesterday. But he hasn't been doing good. All my other fish are doing fantastic.

 

[Alec]

OK Status update. My Picasso is still sick, but swimming a little bit more and his colors are starting to flare up. I have him in a 5 gallon bucket with an airator bubbler in there overnight. In the OTHER BUCKET, I have my moray eel who jumped out of the tank and was under my dresser for 30 minutes before I found him!!! Both are currently being reacclimated with a double airator bubbler in seperate buckets. Hoping for the best for the both of my family!!!!

 

[wontonflip]

So WAS the water loss from evaporation?? If so, go to walmart like sam said and get some distilled and get that salinity down. It's actually safe to lower the salinity a little bit faster than raising it (raising has to be done very slowly). What is your salinity right now? You're just giving us a partial picture here.

 

[Alec]

Sorry. YES it was from evaporation. I put R/O water I had in a bucket and it leveled the salinity out.

 

[parrotchute]

You shouldn't be letting so much water evaporate from the tank, that's ridiculous.
Also, those fish need a bigger tank, which is going to contribute to the animals' poor health.
It's kind of cruel, man.

 

[marcah]

+1 parrotchute.
not to mention with that eel in there you really need screening on the top of the tank..

 

[yote]

I have a picasso trigger in a tank with a Miniatus Grouper, a Volitan Lionfish and a Moray Eel. Everything was going great until the LFS closed and I was missing 10 gallons of water out of my tank. My trigger stopped eating and now he's lying on the floor. I offered him his favorite meal (frozen silverside) but he just wouldn't eat it. I fixed the pH and turned on the protein skimmer but he just doesn't seem okay. What can I do to save his life?

What does the LFS closing have to do with your tank being 10 gallons low from evaporation?? Have they been coming by and topping the tank off every day or have you been buying water from them on a daily basis?
In a 55 gallon,10 gallons of evaporation will put the salinity at lethal levels.While the fish MIGHT adjust to those levels and seem normal,that extreme level of salinity is going to effect the health of those fish.It'll destroy their internal organs most notably the kidneys and possibly the liver and intestines.
Then when you factor in the salinity shock from just topping the tank off with fresh water,those fish are going to die.Of course you can mix up 10 gallons of salt water to top the tank off with,then slowly lower the salinity from there,but that's going to prolong the effects from the hyper-salinity conditions.
Then factor in that Picasso Trigger,the Miniatus,and the Volitan in a 55.Your already big time overloaded with extremely aggressive fish.