Midas Blenny - won't come out of his rock?

pbrown · Feb 8, 2023

For the last 3 days my Midas Blenny (long term resident) has not come out of his rock. Normally he is like a puppy and greets me in the morning, look for attention etc. I watched him during feedings, and he wasn't taking in food that I could see. His cave is one of my base rocks so it's not easy at all to pull out of the tank without totally disassembling the entire structure. Plus, many of the corals have migrated across rocks so damage would ensue (not an option). I did try to wiggle the rock to "untrap" Midas if he was stuck. I don't think he is stuck as yesterday he did move up and down in the rock a bit. I also tried to blow a bit of air with a pipet under the rock to spur him to exit the rock. He didn't exit but hunkered down.

Today I used a pipet and fed him a good 8-10 pieces of brine shrimp. He is eating but not doing well. I am starting to see some heavy breathing.

Tank levels are stable:
Phos .o5
Nit .10
1.025- 1.026
CA 435
MG 1350
KH 9
very stable tank...not a lot of fluctuations
temp 78.8

All other fish and corals are doing really well. Just not Midas....
All fish have consistently been friendly. I work from home and watch the tank daily often...never seen bad interactions between the fish or other inhabitants. No new fish. All fish/inhabs have been in tank for over a year. Some longer. We have been home/no vacations or changes in the room etc.

I would attach a pic but all you will see is his little head and bright blue eyes.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lavey29 · Feb 8, 2023

Well it seems like either something in the tank is stressing him or he has an illness. Since you said he is eating what you give him I wonder if another fish is stressing him. I am finding that as fish mature in my tank they seem to get a little more territorial and feisty. For well over a year they all seemed to be friends with no issues but now that they have reached adulthood they seem to be wanting to show who is the boss in the tank a little. Perhaps that is going in with yours also since you have not changed anything for quite awhile?

pbrown · Feb 10, 2023

I have been viewing the tank at different times of the day and everybody is peaceful. There is an occasional spat between the two clownfish where one will wiggle it back end at the other… but that’s it. The Blenny is typically very social with his human family and his tank mates.

Blenny ate some food again today, he was more perky this morning and then tired out mid-day putting his head on a rock to rest I’m the afternoon. I decided to treat the tank with a reef safe holistic ick/parasite treatment yesterday. Since he was more alert this morning it might have helped. He had labored breathing as the day progressed. Everyone else is still doing great.