Lawnmower Blenny rapid decline

yanni · May 8, 2023

Hey all,

I came home from work to find my lawnmower blenny hardly moving, acting super lethargic to the point where I can pretty much pick him up, and the nassarius snails are climbing over him :/

he is hardly swimming, more just dragging himself around the sand. Ate a few pieces of mysis, but hardly touched anything else, which he normally LOVES. he is definitely not himself, can’t even swim to this usual hiding cave. I’m not sure what the heck is going on. Breathing is fairly rapid, although clowns are fine, eating breathing and swimming normally. If anyone has any questions please ask, I’ll give every answer I can. I love the little guy

parameters are
pH: 8.2
No3: 10
Po4: 0.08
Cal: 440
Mag: 1400ish
Alk: 10
SG: 1.025

No white spots to report, nothing else seemingly off appearance wise. He’s a little dull is all

Jay Hemdal · May 8, 2023

How long have you had the blenny?

Any fish that allows snails to climb on it is pretty far gone. There likely isn’t any treatment that will help at this point.

The blenny looks a bit thin, but I’ve seen worse.

Jay

yanni · May 8, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
How long have you had the blenny?

Any fish that allows snails to climb on it is pretty far gone. There likely isn’t any treatment that will help at this point.

The blenny looks a bit thin, but I’ve seen worse.

Jay

Since early February this year, for around 3ish months then. He came pretty skinny, but we fed him every few days and he slowly developed a small belly, but it was definitely there. He seemingly deteriorated overnight

Do you have any clue what it may be? I am quite upset, as is my partner about it. We love the little guy.

Jay Hemdal · May 8, 2023

yanni said:
Since early February this year, for around 3ish months then. He came pretty skinny, but we fed him every few days and he slowly developed a small belly, but it was definitely there. He seemingly deteriorated overnight

Do you have any clue what it may be? I am quite upset, as is my partner about it. We love the little guy.

Sorry, no. Rapid breathing and being moribund are just general symptoms of a problem, they don’t point to any specific cause - kind of like telling your doctor you don’t feel well.

The main thing is damage control - watching the other fish closely for signs of issues.

I reread your post - it ate some food, that is unusual for a moribund fish. Do you have a hang on the side isolation chamber you could move the fish to? That way, you could target feed it.

Jay

yanni · May 8, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry, no. Rapid breathing and being moribund are just general symptoms of a problem, they don’t point to any specific cause - kind of like telling your doctor you don’t feel well.

The main thing is damage control - watching the other fish closely for signs of issues.

I reread your post - it ate some food, that is unusual for a moribund fish. Do you have a hang on the side isolation chamber you could move the fish to? That way, you could target feed it.

Jay

Yeah thought the eating considering his condition was an insular sign. Could it be he is starving, or starved, and the little bit of food was enough to perk him up again?

I don’t have a iso chamber, although I could source one if needed

Jay Hemdal · May 8, 2023

yanni said:
Yeah thought the eating considering his condition was an insular sign. Could it be he is starving, or starved, and the little bit of food was enough to perk him up again?

I don’t have a iso chamber, although I could source one if needed

The issue with fish getting thin is that don’t have much fat storage. They then utilize liver tissue for energy when they are starving. Then, even if they feed again, the liver is too damaged, and they die. However, that mostly applies to fish that weren’t eating all along, and this one has been eating.
Jay

yanni · May 8, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
The issue with fish getting thin is that don’t have much fat storage. They then utilize liver tissue for energy when they are starving. Then, even if they feed again, the liver is too damaged, and they die. However, that mostly applies to fish that weren’t eating all along, and this one has been eating.
Jay

Ah that’s so sad. I see.

Should I just observe for the moment and try feed each day? Or would you advise a different course of action

Jay Hemdal · May 8, 2023

yanni said:
Ah that’s so sad. I see.

Should I just observe for the moment and try feed each day? Or would you advise a different course of action

I don’t like to suggest treatments without having at least some idea what the problem is - so supportive care is the only option I can come up with, sorry.
Jay

vetteguy53081 · May 8, 2023

yanni said:
Hey all,

I came home from work to find my lawnmower blenny hardly moving, acting super lethargic to the point where I can pretty much pick him up, and the nassarius snails are climbing over him :/

he is hardly swimming, more just dragging himself around the sand. Ate a few pieces of mysis, but hardly touched anything else, which he normally LOVES. he is definitely not himself, can’t even swim to this usual hiding cave. I’m not sure what the heck is going on. Breathing is fairly rapid, although clowns are fine, eating breathing and swimming normally. If anyone has any questions please ask, I’ll give every answer I can. I love the little guy

parameters are
pH: 8.2
No3: 10
Po4: 0.08
Cal: 440
Mag: 1400ish
Alk: 10
SG: 1.025

No white spots to report, nothing else seemingly off appearance wise. He’s a little dull is all

Agree- this fish is in trouble as it has become thin and often a decline in health to the point it wont remain stable or able to eat and swim normal. Often when thy become thin, its due to poor diet and even feeding off its own liver. The issue is, the challenge is making sure it gets enough to eat. You can tell by looking at the abdomen, which should be a golf ball shape. A blenny with a pinched belly isn’t finding enough food.
Although this blenny needs algae to survive, its a myth that it can survive on algae alone. In the wild, they circle around coral branches and sponges scraping their way on the bottom and you may notice they pound and gnaw on the coral, and eat detritus, and waste from the coral, coral skeleton, sand, and fish/snail eggs and small snails.If a blenny is not getting enough calcium carbonate in its diet, it will rapidly deteriorate.

yanni · May 8, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I don’t like to suggest treatments without having at least some idea what the problem is - so supportive care is the only option I can come up with, sorry.
Jay

No problem mate. TLC it is. Will feed slowly and try pick up a iso box tomorrow, see if I can nurse him back to health. Should I add a little rubble or something for him to hide in within the chamber?

yanni · May 8, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Agree- this fish is in trouble as it has become thin and often a decline in health to the point it wont remain stable or able to eat and swim normal. Often when thy become thin, its due to poor diet and even feeding off its own liver. The issue is, the challenge is making sure it gets enough to eat. You can tell by looking at the abdomen, which should be a golf ball shape. A blenny with a pinched belly isn’t finding enough food.
Although this blenny needs algae to survive, its a myth that it can survive on algae alone. In the wild, they circle around coral branches and sponges scraping their way on the bottom and you may notice they pound and gnaw on the coral, and eat detritus, and waste from the coral, coral skeleton, sand, and fish/snail eggs and small snails.If a blenny is not getting enough calcium carbonate in its diet, it will rapidly deteriorate.

Yeah I think you commented on my original post when I first got the blenny and he wouldn’t eat. We moved him to mysis and he loved it. Still caught him pecking at rocks, and gnawing on coral skeleton within the rock, but it must not be enough.

He did have a small belly the last month or so. I was target feeding him twice per week mysis, and I was letting him get pellets throughout the week, and he’d be gnawing at the rock/eating film algae and small gha sprouts. I thought that was enough, his belly slowly started growing and I thought all was well, he just needed some more time to grow his belly. Confused as to where I went wrong

Jay Hemdal · May 8, 2023

yanni said:
No problem mate. TLC it is. Will feed slowly and try pick up a iso box tomorrow, see if I can nurse him back to health. Should I add a little rubble or something for him to hide in within the chamber?

Yes, and make sure it can’t jump out.
Jay

yanni · May 9, 2023

Unfortunately he passed this morning

. Thank you everyone for all the help, I tried my best but it just wasn’t enough. I don’t think I managed to get him eating early enough to make a difference. Feeling super discouraged, between this, GHA, and lobophora I can’t get rid of, I don’t know what to do. Sucks

Jay Hemdal · May 9, 2023

Sorry to hear.
For what it’s worth, there are some common fish that I just won’t buy - they just have too many issues. Lawnmower blennies are one of those.
Jay

yanni · May 9, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry to hear.
For what it’s worth, there are some common fish that I just won’t buy - they just have too many issues. Lawnmower blennies are one of those.
Jay

Really appreciate your help though. Just sucks. I’ll most likely be avoiding them in future

j90ramos · May 10, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry to hear.
For what it’s worth, there are some common fish that I just won’t buy - they just have too many issues. Lawnmower blennies are one of those.
Jay

Do you mind saying the other ones. So maybe i can stay away as well.
Thanks

Makara23 · May 10, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry to hear.
For what it’s worth, there are some common fish that I just won’t buy - they just have too many issues. Lawnmower blennies are one of those.
Jay