Harlequin tusk sick :( Help ASAP

[liz_au]

My harlequin tusk has been sulking for the past 5 days, I have tried to encourage him out for food with very little success.
he appeared today and I noticed his vent appears to be very inflamed, and the lower portion of his tail is a little raw from sitting on the ground in his cave for so long.
Any ideas what could be wrong with his pooper and how to make him better?
All water peramiters appear to be great, I am running zeo vit and doing weekly water changes, the only thing that appears off is the Kh is a little low (around 8) and the nitrates are still a little higher than I would like, (less than 5, but certainly not zero)
I have been dosing the food that I can get him to eat (raw prawns) in selcon and garlic guard. And I have also upped my dosage of ammuno vital
Any other recommendations?

Here is the best pic I could snag of his poor little vent.

http://i.imgur.com/UuinPqL.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated, he is my favourite little guy and I would hate to lose him :(

[Willito]

Looks like he is a little constipated. Do you feed exclusively on prawns? If so then that might be the problem. I alternate between algae pellets and prawns with my tusk and he's doing really good. For now I don't think there is much you can do but wait it out. Just keep your water extra clean to be on the safe side. They are quite hardy once established and those parameters you have shouldn't have much affect on the condition.

[liz_au]

I will try the algae pellets, thanks!

[Borderjumper]

I have no clue if this is even relevant, but back in the day when I had freshwater fish, we were always told to feed a few peas to a constipated fish. Regular old processed peas from a can.

[liz_au]

Ok, so he just came out of his hole and was swimming in a dizzy motion so I nabbed him while I could and popped him in a quarantine bucket in the sump, I noticed his anus is leaking blood.
So now I am thinking maybe he has a parasite? and if so what would be the best course of action?

[liz_au]

Too late :(

RIP Francouer

[intarsiabox]

Sorry to hear this.:sad:

[gregzz4]

Aw crap :sad:
Sorry to hear this

I know now is not the time for you to read it but, a balanced diet is important
Maybe it had nothing to do with his passing, but it's something to think about

Hope you find another to replace him :hug:

[liz_au]

Yeah I know, I normally fed him NLS pellets and raw prawn and he picked at the algae sheets when I put them out for the tang too, and ate all my smaller snails and crabs.
It was only when he was feeling sulky the only thing he would look at was raw prawn (or fresh snails but that gets expensive)


I just figured when it was suggested he was just blocked up it was the only thing I could think of as he visually looked in great health, and was quarantined and dipped both when he arrived at aquarium illusions, and when I got him home before he went into the tank and had been fine for 2 months.

Anyone have any idea what it would have been so it can be avoided in the future?