Blenny injured by tang

[Schmidt Aquatics]

Hey,

Woke up to a really sad situation this morning. My tailspot blenny has an injury. My kole tang has been showing aggression toward him for a while, likely because they compete for algae. Mostly the tang will chase him into a hole in the rockwork, if he grazes algae too much. My blenny now has a large cut/injury underneath his top fin, and it shows white discoloration, which might be an infection?

He is still active and swimming as normal.

Does my blenny have any chance of surviving, and is there anything I can do? (Sorry for bad picture quality)

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey,

Woke up to a really sad situation this morning. My tailspot blenny has an injury. My kole tang has been showing aggression toward him for a while, likely because they compete for algae. Mostly the tang will chase him into a hole in the rockwork, if he grazes algae too much. My blenny now has a large cut/injury underneath his top fin, and it shows white discoloration, which might be an infection?

He is still active and swimming as normal.

Does my blenny have any chance of surviving, and is there anything I can do? (Sorry for bad picture quality)

Did this show up all at once, or did the white area grow over time?
Is the blenny still eating?

If the white area is getting larger, that implies a bacterial infection that the fish isn't fighting off well. To treat that, you would need a second, small tank and then dose that tank with a gram negative, broad spectrum antibiotic like Neoplex. There really are not any antibiotics that you can add to your main tank.

The other issue, more long term, is what to do with the two fish so that it doesn't happen again - that typically means separating them.

Jay

 

[Schmidt Aquatics]

Did this show up all at once, or did the white area grow over time?
Is the blenny still eating?

If the white area is getting larger, that implies a bacterial infection that the fish isn't fighting off well. To treat that, you would need a second, small tank and then dose that tank with a gram negative, broad spectrum antibiotic like Neoplex. There really are not any antibiotics that you can add to your main tank.

The other issue, more long term, is what to do with the two fish so that it doesn't happen again - that typically means separating them.

Jay

It showed up all at once, he never had anything untill now, always fat, healthy and curious little fish. But often harassed by my tang.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I wouldn't try treating it then, that can add extra stress and this fish may well heal on its own. However, the tang is going to be an on-going issue I think. Can you try adding more hiding places, and two algae feeding stations at one time so they don't have to fight over it?

Jay

 

[Schmidt Aquatics]

I wouldn't try treating it then, that can add extra stress and this fish may well heal on its own. However, the tang is going to be an on-going issue I think. Can you try adding more hiding places, and two algae feeding stations at one time so they don't have to fight over it?

Jay

Neither my two spot bristletooth tang or tailspot blenny are very fond of algae feeding stations - they only eat microalgae, mostly diatoms, and otherwise algae pellets, mysis and spirulina flake foods. In fact, they wont touch any nori I put in.
The tang also still shows aggression towards him after heavy feeding, so I think the tang just considers him a constant threat.
There are also plenty of hiding places, rocks and caves, but the blenny refuses to hide more than only very briefly, and sometimes he will pick back at the tang to scare him off - hes a brave little guy.

The white discoloration has now spread to the blenny head, so it seems like its developing rapidly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Neither my two spot bristletooth tang or tailspot blenny are very fond of algae feeding stations - they only eat microalgae, mostly diatoms, and otherwise algae pellets, mysis and spirulina flake foods. In fact, they wont touch any nori I put in.
The tang also still shows aggression towards him after heavy feeding, so I think the tang just considers him a constant threat.
There are also plenty of hiding places, rocks and caves, but the blenny refuses to hide more than only very briefly, and sometimes he will pick back at the tang to scare him off - hes a brave little guy.

The white discoloration has now spread to the blenny head, so it seems like its developing rapidly.

The injury appears superficial, and you will need to as Jay mentioned allow it to heal and isolating the tang in an acclimation tank or separate QT tank will offer the blenny its best chance otherwise isolate blenny into QT tank with added aeration and neoplex to prevent further infection

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Neither my two spot bristletooth tang or tailspot blenny are very fond of algae feeding stations - they only eat microalgae, mostly diatoms, and otherwise algae pellets, mysis and spirulina flake foods. In fact, they wont touch any nori I put in.
The tang also still shows aggression towards him after heavy feeding, so I think the tang just considers him a constant threat.
There are also plenty of hiding places, rocks and caves, but the blenny refuses to hide more than only very briefly, and sometimes he will pick back at the tang to scare him off - hes a brave little guy.

The white discoloration has now spread to the blenny head, so it seems like its developing rapidly.

Ugh, If it is spreading and you aren’t able to mitigate the aggression, I do think you will need to isolate the blenny and treat with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex or kanaplex.
Jay