Fang blenny with face/mouth injury

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

I don't know how in the world I managed to miss the damage to this fish's face/mouth, but I just got home from the store and notice something is very wrong. I had mostly a side view of him in the shop and thought he looked good, so I told them to bag him up before anyone else could buy him. The store was packed with customers, and I've been trying to find one of these fish for a while. I didn't take as long as I normally do studying a fish before I buy it, and now I'm upset with myself and worried for the fish.

Difficult to get photos, but I did what I could with him still in the bag:

What's going on with him? More importantly, how should I treat him? It's a Meiacanthus atrodorsalis blenny that otherwise looks good; no marks on the body or fins. I don't know if he's able to eat ok, b/c he's still in the bag while I figure out a game plan. I have a few different meds on hand, so hopefully I can do something to help him.

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 11, 2017

Id try to get him out of the bag sooner than later. Are you running a QT?

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

Yes, I QT everything. Typically, I do tank transfer method before putting fish into a QT tank for another 4 weeks. In this case, I'll want to deal with the problem at hand before I worry about TTM.

The store I bought him from adds oxygen to the fish bags, so he's fine in there for a little while. If he needs a medicated bath of some sort, it'll be easier to go from bag to dip than catching him out of the QT. Of course, it is Saturday night, so there might not be too many qualified people online to advise, in which case I'll put him in the QT and figure out a plan.

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 11, 2017

Flashy Fins said:
Yes, I QT everything. Typically, I do tank transfer method before putting fish into a QT tank for another 4 weeks. In this case, I'll want to deal with the problem at hand before I worry about TTM.

The store I bought him from adds oxygen to the fish bags, so he's fine in there for a little while. If he needs a medicated bath of some sort, it'll be easier to go from bag to dip than catching him out of the QT. Of course, it is Saturday night, so there might not be too many qualified people online to advise, in which case I'll put him in the QT and figure out a plan.

Sounds like your prepaired

#reefsquad

melypr1985 · Mar 11, 2017

It looks like an injury. I would do an acryflavin bath and then put him straight into QT with antibiotics. Something wide spectrum will do. A methyline blue bath might be useful as well, but the acryflavin will be important.

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

Relieved to say I have those meds on hand, so I'm working on the acryflavin bath now. Thank you, Meredith!

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

KanaPlex is the antibiotic I have, so that's what he's going into in QT.

I don't have methyline blue, but it sounds like that one is less important/useful here.

melypr1985 · Mar 11, 2017

Flashy Fins said:
KanaPlex is the antibiotic I have, so that's what he's going into in QT.

That should work. I just hope he is capable of eating.

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

melypr1985 said:
That should work. I just hope he is capable of eating.

Same! I'm going to try feeding him in a few.

4FordFamily · Mar 11, 2017

Great advice given by melyphr as always

Humblefish · Mar 11, 2017

4FordFamily said:
Great advice given by melyphr as always

+1

Flashy Fins · Mar 11, 2017

So far, he's too freaked out to eat with me staring at him. I swirled food around and tried hiding, but he knows I'm there. Walking away doesn't help me, b/c then I can't see if he's consuming anything or not. I'll try again tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Flashy Fins · Mar 17, 2017

Wish I was here to give a happy update, but not so. I believe the fish is unable to eat. Since the antibiotics are re-dosed every 2 days, I've put him in fresh, clean water each time. When moving him, I've done it as gently as possible with a clear tupperware container, and he's never seemed bothered by it. I've also used that opportunity to toss heaps of food in the container with him, in the hopes I'll witness him eating. On Tuesday, I saw him go for a mysis, but it came right back out of his mouth; I don't think he's able to close down on anything. He didn't try again.

Thursday, he was noticeably weak when swimming and seemed to have the same trouble eating. A cyclops literally fell into his mouth, then fell right out. In the tupperware, I had a good view of him and saw he was emaciated. I considered attempting to feed via a pipette down his throat, but I don't think what I have is slim enough, and it seems risky. Even if it worked, it's not a realistic long-term solution. At this point, I am wondering if euthanizing would be the kindest thing.

The things that look like flukes on his body are pieces of food that landed on him. You can see he's surrounded by cyclops and mysis and yet mostly uninterested, perhaps aware of his inability to swallow anything or possibly too weak to care. I can't see any way to remedy the feeding situation.

Flashy Fins · Mar 17, 2017

I typed that post hours ago and held off posting till I could get photobucket working (never did, but I found another image host). In the meantime, the fish expired.

If anything is to be learned, it's that I need to slow down when I see a fish I want in a store and really study every inch of it before telling them to bag it. I don't think this mouth injury happened while the fish was in an oxygen-filled bag on his way home to me - that seems akin to injuring yourself while inside a balloon. I let excitement get the best of me when shopping.

These aren't great pictures, but I took them on Tuesday to show the slight improvement of his wound. He basically had a hole in his face, so it's no surprise he couldn't close down on food. You can see one side of his face is much darker than the other. I thought it was camouflage coloring at first, but I noticed the same color difference was present each day, so it was more likely a terrible bruise. Poor guy.

40B Knasty · Mar 17, 2017

That's unfortunate. Sorry to hear. Nothing you could have done about that one. Next time get the skinny on the fish. How long has it been there, look for wounds, tankmate behavior, if they are 100% eating, and health. Personally I look and walk away. Give it an hour or so. Come back. See if they change from the last time you see it. Even just drive away and come back tomorrow, because 3 mistakes of a $50 fish. You could have just got a $180 fish adding up gas, fish, and taxes.