Sick Fang Blenny?

[Cole_Voeller]

Hello all,
So I have this Kamohara Fangblenny I got from ORA. I’ve had him for roughly a year now I believe. Just last night, I saw him laying in the sandbed, which is the first time I’ve ever seen him do this. It was night so I figured he was just sleeping weird like fang blennys do. However this morning, he is doing the same thing again. He’s moving, however very slowly, and he’s basically just staying right on top of the sandbed. I tried to feed him, but he was extremely slow, and the other fish got the food, so I’m going to target feed in second here. He appears to be gasping as well. 0 ammonia, 10 nitrates, 78.5 temp. Any ideas what the cause of this is, or what I can do for him??

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all,
So I have this Kamohara Fangblenny I got from ORA. I’ve had him for roughly a year now I believe. Just last night, I saw him laying in the sandbed, which is the first time I’ve ever seen him do this. It was night so I figured he was just sleeping weird like fang blennys do. However this morning, he is doing the same thing again. He’s moving, however very slowly, and he’s basically just staying right on top of the sandbed. I tried to feed him, but he was extremely slow, and the other fish got the food, so I’m going to target feed in second here. He appears to be gasping as well. 0 ammonia, 10 nitrates, 78.5 temp. Any ideas what the cause of this is, or what I can do for him??

To start with , the fish looks a bit thin- they are supposed to be golf ball shaped. What foods are you feeding and when is the last time you saw him eat?
Do you have a second kit to confirm ammonia level?
How are other fish breathing?

Also need better lighting (white intensity) and a video to clearly see the fish

 

[Cole_Voeller]

He normally eats like a pig, I guess I didn’t see how much he ate yesterday. I feed a mix of mysis and spirulina brine every other day, with vita chem, and spectrum pellets on the days in between. Don’t have a second kit, but this tank is well established, and all other inhabitants are doing completely fine. I’ll turn the whites up and take a video.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

To start with , the fish looks a bit thin- they are supposed to be golf ball shaped. What foods are you feeding and when is the last time you saw him eat?
Do you have a second kit to confirm ammonia level?
How are other fish breathing?

Also need better lighting (white intensity) and a video to clearly see the fish

Best I can get right now, he hasn’t moved from this spot.

 

[vetteguy53081]

He normally eats like a pig, I guess I didn’t see how much he ate yesterday. I feed a mix of mysis and spirulina brine every other day, with vita chem, and spectrum pellets on the days in between. Don’t have a second kit, but this tank is well established, and all other inhabitants are doing completely fine. I’ll turn the whites up and take a video.

Like a lawnmower blenny, they need a wide diet. Mysis is not enough. These are active fish that gnaw on rocks daily as they need calcium in their diet and a blenny with a pinched belly isn’t finding enough food.
Although most blennies needs algae to survive, its a myth that it can survive on algae alone. In addition to calcium, they also ingest detritus, and waste from coral including coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and fish eggs and tiny inverts, plus pieces of shrimp and plankton.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Best I can get right now, he hasn’t moved from this spot.

Yes, very thin and likely getting weak

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Like a lawnmower blenny, they need a wide diet. Mysis is not enough. These are active fish that gnaw on rocks daily as they need calcium in their diet and a blenny with a pinched belly isn’t finding enough food.
Although most blennies needs algae to survive, its a myth that it can survive on algae alone. In addition to calcium, they also ingest detritus, and waste from coral including coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and fish eggs and tiny inverts, plus pieces of shrimp and plankton.

His diet wasn’t just mysis, like I said above. I’ve personally never seen him pick at the rocks, he has always eaten well, and this is the first time he has looked thin in an entire year. I don’t feed shrimp or plankton, but everything else listed there is available. I recently added a royal gramma to the tank, who I didn’t quarantine unfortunately, as he had looked very healthy for the last few w weeks at my LFS. Is it possible that my Kamohara got flukes?

 

[vetteguy53081]

His diet wasn’t just mysis, like I said above. I’ve personally never seen him pick at the rocks, he has always eaten well, and this is the first time he has looked thin in an entire year. I don’t feed shrimp or plankton, but everything else listed there is available. I recently added a royal gramma to the tank, who I didn’t quarantine unfortunately, as he had looked very healthy for the last few w weeks at my LFS. Is it possible that my Kamohara got flukes?

I thought flukes but the fish thin override that thought. Can also be internal issue but in addition to thinning, you would see weird feces. Other signs with flukes would be swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

I haven’t seen weird feces, but I suppose I don’t see my fish poop very often. Hasn’t been swimming neat surface, definitely loss of appetite, don’t really see any other symptoms.
I tried spot feeding all foods I have on hand, he wasn’t interested in anything.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I haven’t seen weird feces, but I suppose I don’t see my fish poop very often. Hasn’t been swimming neat surface, definitely loss of appetite, don’t really see any other symptoms.
I tried spot feeding all foods I have on hand, he wasn’t interested in anything.

The blenny does seem thin to me as well. If the gramma brought flukes into the tank, it would be showing symptoms as well.
Jay

 

[Cole_Voeller]

The blenny does seem thin to me as well. If the gramma brought flukes into the tank, it would be showing symptoms as well.
Jay

I did kind of figure that as well. Is there anything I can do to get him eating again? He’s currently tucked himself under some rock in the back of his tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I did kind of figure that as well. Is there anything I can do to get him eating again? He’s currently tucked himself under some rock in the back of his tank.

Sorry - when a fish stops feeding due to some disease, that issue needs to be resolved to really get the fish started feeding again - food attractants, etc. just won't work. However, this fish being captive raised, and having been in your tank for so long, I really doubt that it is a parasite issue, unless a more recent fish addition brought something into the tank? If that happened though, the fish that brought the disease in would be showing symptoms.

Here is another thought - perhaps this blenny was gradually getting thinner over time, and then reached the point where it metabolized its liver for energy. That can cause issues like this.....

Jay