Whats wrong w/ my fish??

[fishguy_8]

My male lyretail anthias has been acting a bit odd lately...he was acting fine before....ate pretty well very active swimmer....but yesterday and today he kind of just tastes his food and spits it out... it doesnt matter what the food is it doesnt seem as if he's that interested...brine shrimp, marine cuisine, flake, krill pellets etc...and he hasnt been too active either...tonite after spitting his food out while everyone else in the tank was darting around, he decided he'd just go rest in his fav. cave. water levels are the same as usual, all visible markings look normal...no unusual blotches or bite marks...today i saw him bat his body against the sand today three or four times too. just a little concerned about my buddy.
Jon

[rayjay]

Without being able to see, it's a shot in the dark, but a good chance that the gills are internally infested with parasites.
I would probably put the fish in a hospital tank, lower the salt level to 1.001 slowly, leaving it there for about 15 minutes, then raising it to 1.008 for about one month. Treatment should also include vitamin additives. I use vit. B complex one day, and vit. C the second day, and then repeat every two days.
(I use drug store vitamins)

[Northman_with_reef]

I think a freshwater bath would be a good idea too.
Make sure that the fresh water has the same pH temp etc.

If it is parasites, they'll blow up because they dont have osmosis systems and are unable to adjust to a different specific gravity.

Good Luck.
-Thomas