Help with Diamond Watchman Goby

[YoNight]

Looking for your opinion about my Goby. 4 days ago he/she stopped eating, stopped gobbling the sand, and has been breathing heavy and not moving around very much. I have had him for 1 year and tank is 4 or 5 years old at this point. He's been an absolute workhorse sifting the sand for the last year so its very out of character for him to just be sitting around breathing like this. Don't see any white spots on him.

Parameters:
Salinity 1.0255
Ammonia : 0
Mg: 1350
Ca: 430
Alk: 7.5
Phos: 0.2
Nitrate: 12
Temp: 79

Under white from yesterday


Under Blue from 2 days ago (but not looking too skinny at end of clip)


I did add a small clown 1 month ago. Currently everyone else is looking healthy and behaving normally. I don't think its O2 related as my skimmer makes a lot of microbubbles. LFS suggested he may have ran into the glass and bonked his head. But wondering what the experts here think and would recommend.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looking for your opinion about my Goby. 4 days ago he/she stopped eating, stopped gobbling the sand, and has been breathing heavy and not moving around very much. I have had him for 1 year and tank is 4 or 5 years old at this point. He's been an absolute workhorse sifting the sand for the last year so its very out of character for him to just be sitting around breathing like this. Don't see any white spots on him.

Parameters:
Salinity 1.0255
Ammonia : 0
Mg: 1350
Ca: 430
Alk: 7.5
Phos: 0.2
Nitrate: 12
Temp: 79

Under white from yesterday


Under Blue from 2 days ago (but not looking too skinny at end of clip)


I did add a small clown 1 month ago. Currently everyone else is looking healthy and behaving normally. I don't think its O2 related as my skimmer makes a lot of microbubbles. LFS suggested he may have ran into the glass and bonked his head. But wondering what the experts here think and would recommend.

Fish looks quite a bit thin. In addition, I dont believe water is an issue but rather something it ingested (can be a bristleworm as example) or gill issue such as flukes. I suggest isolation using fresh tank water and addition of air stone and treating with PraziPro or even General cure as a method of prevention of gill issues if applicable

 

[YoNight]

What are your thoughts on a fresh water dip at this point? I don't want to stress him out more than I have to if it it due to something he ingested. Feels impossible to know for sure. There are bristleworms in the tank/sand and under the rock where he resides at night.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What are your thoughts on a fresh water dip at this point? I don't want to stress him out more than I have to if it it due to something he ingested. Feels impossible to know for sure. There are bristleworms in the tank/sand and under the rock where he resides at night.

While FW dip can offer relief if flukes, when a fish is breathing heavy, it can impose additional stress however with an airstone may be a safe application

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What are your thoughts on a fresh water dip at this point? I don't want to stress him out more than I have to if it it due to something he ingested. Feels impossible to know for sure. There are bristleworms in the tank/sand and under the rock where he resides at night.

I wouldn’t try a dip, it likely won’t help and as mentioned, will be stressful.

The issue is that the other fish are all symptom-free. While that’s a good thing, it also means that the chances of this being flukes, a more easily treatable diseases or a water quality problems, to be less likely (flukes and water problems tend to show in multiple fish).

Just be sure that the fish aren’t starting to show minor symptoms - slower feeding or increasing breathing rate.

If it is for sure limited to just the goby, sorry, I don’t have a treatment idea for you….

 

[YoNight]

Spun up a hospital tank and moved him over. LFS closed since its labor day but was able to pickup some general cure at the pet store. Definitely getting weaker as its been 4 to 5 days without eating and other fish were starting to pick on him. Not looking great but we'll see how it goes. At least if anyone if anyone else shows signs they will get treated immediately or perhaps need to consider a general tank treatment.

 

[YoNight]

Unfortunately after two days in the hospital tank the goby die. While I'm definitely not an expert, I didn't see any worms/parasites in his gills, skin, or insides under the microscope. Everything looked consistent and clean/normal as far as I could tell. He was two days into the general cure treatment so not sure if I'd still see signs. However, a 1.6x4.0mm rather lumpy stone popped out near his vent when I opened him up. I'm thinking this getting stuck inside him not being able to be passed was probably the case of death. RIP Gobbles you will be missed.

 

[martin.a]

Unfortunately after two days in the hospital tank the goby die. While I'm definitely not an expert, I didn't see any worms/parasites in his gills, skin, or insides under the microscope. Everything looked consistent and clean/normal as far as I could tell. He was two days into the general cure treatment so not sure if I'd still see signs. However, a 1.6x4.0mm rather lumpy stone popped out near his vent when I opened him up. I'm thinking this getting stuck inside him not being able to be passed was probably the case of death. RIP Gobbles you will be missed.

Sorry to read this. RIP. As my shrink says: Stay positive. Honestly, as far as bad outcomes go, identifying digestive obstruction as the culprit was a positive outcome.