# Elephant Nose Dying



## krissytina (Aug 19, 2013)

about 6 hours ago i noticed a thin mucus on my elephant nose's trunk, that went away and now its bright cherry red. he's been very listless..floating around...running into things, even dive-bombed the bottom a few times. I have no idea what is wrong with him. 

46 gal bowfront 
ph 7.5
ammonia 0 
nitrites 0 
nitrates 20
temp 78 

i called my local fish guy, he said the heater or filter could be throwing voltage and stressing him out. told me to turn off lights and unplug heater.. i did that for a few hours. he also said it could be a bacterial infection and told me to dose the tank with melafix. I left for an hour or so and returned, he is laying on his side near the back of the tank, labored breathing and the end of his nose is brighter red. 

is there anything i can do to save him? anyone have any idea what happened?


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## krissytina (Aug 19, 2013)

hard to see the red nose in the pic...he just moved from the plant he was laying in...swimming around a little now..bouncing all over decor..i think he's just floating in the current


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## krissytina (Aug 19, 2013)

He didn't make it through the night


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## snowghost45 (May 13, 2013)

Sorry to hear about the loss of your elephant nose. I had two of the little buggers and they jumped out of my tank. I still can't believe they managed to jump out through the small opening where my filter was at. I have used melafix successfully but only when I dose immediately. My experience has been once fish are sick like that treating them with meds as soon as possible is the only way to save them.


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## choutman (Mar 6, 2012)

sorry about your fish


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## sivakv (Aug 6, 2010)

They are picky eaters, eat live ones, and that too only the food that can go through its mouth. It typically sucks in its food, does not have mechanism to open mouth and eat, hence need to feed him something like brine shrimp fresh hatching, or live blood worms. I had one, they are supposed to be extremely smart, and can precisely jump out of a tank through gaps. . I had one, lost him before i could figure out how to feed him, the LFS who sold it, said it eats freeze dried blood worms, but even though it tried to eat, it was not eating. Guess he misunderstood too.


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## krissytina (Aug 19, 2013)

he loved brine shrimp. i dosed the tank immediately when i saw the mark on his nose. my contact LFS guy looked at pics and we think something bit his nose. he was extremely social..followed me as i viewed the tank and came right to my hand. he was my favorite  I'm guessing my indo datnoid bit his nose..they would play tag a lot. i do not think my angelfish has a large enough mouth to bite that far down on his nose. he was the first fish in the tank..now that he's gone the hierarchy is disrupted..the other fish have not acclimated yet.


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