what the heck happened to my sharknose goby???

Cantusaurus · Apr 19, 2021

Hi. I have no clue what happened, but when I was feeding my tank today my sharknose cleaner goby looked like this (in the following images). I had him for about a week in a breeder box in my tank before releasing him. He acclimated well to the breeder box, and ate in the first couple days. He would eat flakes, and frozen ROE, and Cyclopods, (along with hatched Baby Brine Shrimp). I let him out of the box 3 days ago, and he looked great. It seemed like no one was bothering him. I have 2 clowns, purple firefish, and 1 blue green chromis. All have been established for a while. Zero signs of disease. When I got the goby he wasn't skinny, and I fattened him up even more. But I am shocked! I didn't notice any of this last night. I looked at the tank this morning, and I don't know if I saw anything on him, but I wasn't looking closely. I didn't notice it until he started going for the food I fed. I have some seachem metroplex. Should I soak some frozen food in that for him? He is still eating and looks active. I am just shocked what this is. If it is another fish attacking him or disease related. I don't think any fish would attack him. My larger clown has been showing slight dominance toward my chromis (they've been in the tank together for about 5 months though, and their around the same size and swim together so I don't think it would be the clown). If anyone knows or has a theory that would be appreciated.

Jay Hemdal · Apr 19, 2021

The photos aren’t really clear enough to see much (yep, I know - little fish are almost impossible to photograph). I think I see some ripped fins and then white diffuse spots on its body. I’d say tankmate aggression - fish can be pretty sly, while you are watching them, they are on their best behavior. Also, it just takes a few bites to cause damage, so you may never see the fighting. One trick is to set your phone to video the tank, then leave the room. Review the video to look for fighting. I’d suspect the clown.
I don’t see metroplex being of any benefit.
Could there also be a disease component to this? Yes, the white spots on the body could be an issue, no way to tell for certain though.
Jay

Tamberav · Apr 20, 2021

His back fin looks torn so potentially aggression. I also would look up flukes and lympho and see if those look similar.

Cantusaurus · Apr 20, 2021

Yeah. When I was looking at him at first I had believed it was aggression since he looks like he had been roughed up. But I started to notice it looked like things sticking out, and the fins had that as well. I really don't think any of the fish in my tank would do that. They really don't seem to pay him any attention. I took another photo which is better. I did a freshwater dip on him for about 4 minutes (with a Ph buffer). And I soaked some Seachem Metroplex in food and fed it to him since it wouldn't hurt, and I put him back in the tank in a breeder box. I will send a better photo momentarily.

Cantusaurus · Apr 20, 2021

Tamberav said:
His back fin looks torn so potentially aggression. I also would look up flukes and lympho and see if those look similar.

I looked at possible diseases and parasites and lympho does seem possible. I'm not sure if it's flukes, but I'm not 100% sure. This was after I did a freshwater dip on him (and I did it in a larger container this was just filled with tank water so I could analyze him better and get a photo to find out what parasite/disease it is.
It's weird because even with the disease he still was moving around normal and even going after food with all the other fish.

It's just strange because he looked perfectly fine for a while. No signs of stress or disease. He was eating. Got fat. Even colored up even nicer. Fed live food too, and put selcon and garlic with the frozen and live food too.

Jay Hemdal · Apr 20, 2021

Tough to get a size reference on the fish, but those seem too large and raised up to be marine ich. Another possibility that I’ve seen on gobies of this genus are mucus plugs. These develop when the mucus producing cells in the fish’s skin become overactive and start producing a column of mucus. I’ve never heard a definitive cause for this, but I’ve seen it in tangs an gobies. Usually people just say they are “stress related”. There isn’t a treatment, but they aren’t always fatal and sometimes go away on their own.
If the fish is really small, then the spots could be ich....
Jay

Cantusaurus · Apr 23, 2021

UPDATE: After the dip the protrusions or parasites on his face seemed to go away (completely 2 days later). Each day he was improving gradually (in terms of his appearance). His behavior went back to normal like half a day after the freshwater dip. And now.... HE looks like he made a FULL RECOVERY!! He could still have a bit of the disease, but he should be able to fully overcome it since externally he looks completely fine. I'm still going to keep him in the breeder box for at least 3-4 days, and keep using Seachem Metroplex with the food I feed him.

- Freshwater dip seemed to work. I've done it once before with one of my clownfish (who had ich). The clown looked the same for a couple days, but then gradually got better after that. So I think they do work, but a Ph Buffer IS A MUST since the Ph in freshwater would most likely add more stress to the fish.
- The metroplex seemed to help (I have no clue much though). I put a little bit of metroplex in the Freshwater dip with the Goby.
- And metroplex definitely seems reef safe. Corals seem unfazed. My hermits all seem fine since they are constantly scavenging along with my peppermint shrimp.
Final Verdict: I think the disease was Lympho (Lymphocystis). I'm not sure though by any means.
But I am very happy the Goby overcame the parasites (or crossing my fingers he will finish off the disease and beat it since it could still be lingering).

Jay Hemdal · Apr 23, 2021

Cantusaurus said:
UPDATE: After the dip the protrusions or parasites on his face seemed to go away (completely 2 days later). Each day he was improving gradually (in terms of his appearance). His behavior went back to normal like half a day after the freshwater dip. And now.... HE looks like he made a FULL RECOVERY!! He could still have a bit of the disease, but he should be able to fully overcome it since externally he looks completely fine. I'm still going to keep him in the breeder box for at least 3-4 days, and keep using Seachem Metroplex with the food I feed him.

- Freshwater dip seemed to work. I've done it once before with one of my clownfish (who had ich). The clown looked the same for a couple days, but then gradually got better after that. So I think they do work, but a Ph Buffer IS A MUST since the Ph in freshwater would most likely add more stress to the fish.
- The metroplex seemed to help (I have no clue much though). I put a little bit of metroplex in the Freshwater dip with the Goby.
- And metroplex definitely seems reef safe. Corals seem unfazed. My hermits all seem fine since they are constantly scavenging along with my peppermint shrimp.
Final Verdict: I think the disease was Lympho (Lymphocystis). I'm not sure though by any means.
But I am very happy the Goby overcame the parasites (or crossing my fingers he will finish off the disease and beat it since it could still be lingering).

That definitely isn’t lymphocytis. I’d still say mucus plugs - and those can go away on their own, and so any treatment given then seems to work.
Jay