Hi guys,
I was just wondering if anybody has come across a similar problem to what I noticed today with my spotted mandarin and how concerned I should be about it.
Tank is 29 gallons, has been established for four and half years. All parameters stable. pH on the low side at 7.9 but I am not keeping sensitive corals and the fish never seem to mind. Spotted mandarin is a female I've had for a couple of months and she's been fine the whole time. She eats copepods, lobster eggs and frozen brine shrimps. She hasn't lost any weight and is behaving normally. Breathing rate and effort appear normal but her gills do not move on the right hand side as they do on the left, and instead I can see what seems like an air bubble going up and down under her skin. Left hand side looks fine with the gills moving in and out as would be expected.
I am reasonably sure that this is a new problem, not a long-standing one, as I kept a really close eye on her and her eating habits when I first got her and I think I'd have noticed the issue earlier. Here's a video where you can see what I'm talking about:
Any advice welcome, if you need anymore information let me know.
EDIT: having looked at her under other angles, the 'hole' portion at the back of the gill definitely exists on both sides. And looking at her from above and behind, she looks reasonably symmetrical. There's just doesn't seem to be as much movement of the operculum over the gill on the right than the left. I may just be worrying needlessly but I would still welcome a second opinion.
I was just wondering if anybody has come across a similar problem to what I noticed today with my spotted mandarin and how concerned I should be about it.
Tank is 29 gallons, has been established for four and half years. All parameters stable. pH on the low side at 7.9 but I am not keeping sensitive corals and the fish never seem to mind. Spotted mandarin is a female I've had for a couple of months and she's been fine the whole time. She eats copepods, lobster eggs and frozen brine shrimps. She hasn't lost any weight and is behaving normally. Breathing rate and effort appear normal but her gills do not move on the right hand side as they do on the left, and instead I can see what seems like an air bubble going up and down under her skin. Left hand side looks fine with the gills moving in and out as would be expected.
I am reasonably sure that this is a new problem, not a long-standing one, as I kept a really close eye on her and her eating habits when I first got her and I think I'd have noticed the issue earlier. Here's a video where you can see what I'm talking about:
Any advice welcome, if you need anymore information let me know.
EDIT: having looked at her under other angles, the 'hole' portion at the back of the gill definitely exists on both sides. And looking at her from above and behind, she looks reasonably symmetrical. There's just doesn't seem to be as much movement of the operculum over the gill on the right than the left. I may just be worrying needlessly but I would still welcome a second opinion.
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