Algae Blenny Mouth open breathing.

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I tried to get a good shot of the belly in this.

I am not sure if the gills look okay. There is like a flap over them you can see in the video that I am not sure is normal.

This started a couple weeks ago where he would breath open mout, belly has gotten smaller and apetite seems to be reduced, but doesn't look like it is starving to me. It stopped chasing down the large TDO pellets it used to go nuts for about 2 weeks ago, and I rarely see it peck anything now.

I have prazi, but idk if I should assume a diagnosis yet.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The belly still looks huge to me - looks like it is more than just eating too much food, looks like it could be ascites (fluid build-up from organ failure). How long has you had the blenny?

Jay

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

The belly still looks huge to me - looks like it is more than just eating too much food, looks like it could be ascites (fluid build-up from organ failure). How long has you had the blenny?

Jay

The belly is a little smaller than it was, I've had him since late November

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Probably also worth mentioning, while it was more bloated before, this last 2 weeks it has been hiding most of the day, until today. He's hanging out at party rock wherw most of the fish are.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Probably also worth mentioning, while it was more bloated before, this last 2 weeks it has been hiding most of the day, until today. He's hanging out at party rock wherw most of the fish are.

My worry is that it isn't eating heartily, so the bloating isn't from food. That means ascites, and that is very serious. Ascites also causes rapid/labored breathing.

Jay

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

What course of action can I take? I am surprised because he was a dang balloon before this, is it possibly improving?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I too am wondering about internal fluid buildup . These fish have a specific diet which is often misinterpreted by many LFS and causes health and dietary issues. These fish are sold as algae eaters and are actually while algae are part of their diet, they are not actually algae eaters and have a high need for calcium and meats. If you ever noticed this fish during the day, it is generally pounding and gnawing on rock. It is to take its fang like teeth and shave the rock for calcium. It also needs meats such as chopped shrimp, chopped krill and similar meaty foods.
Through incorrect diet, they get fat and then health issues start.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What course of action can I take? I am surprised because he was a dang balloon before this, is it possibly improving?

Unlikely to get better on its if it is ascites, that results from kidney or liver failure and cannot be reversed. Hopefully it is something else, but I’m not sure what else it could be.
Jay

 

[Snoopdog]

I too am wondering about internal fluid buildup . These fish have a specific diet which is often misinterpreted by many LFS and causes health and dietary issues. These fish are sold as algae eaters and are actually while algae are part of their diet, they are not actually algae eaters and have a high need for calcium and meats. If you ever noticed this fish during the day, it is generally pounding and gnawing on rock. It is to take its fang like teeth and shave the rock for calcium. It also needs meats such as chopped shrimp, chopped krill and similar meaty foods.
Through incorrect diet, they get fat and then health issues start.

I did not know that, that is interesting and also sad because they are sold under that pretense.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I did not know that, that is interesting and also sad because they are sold under that pretense.

Unfortunately yes

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Unlikely to get better on its if it is ascites, that results from kidney or liver failure and cannot be reversed. Hopefully it is something else, but I’m not sure what else it could be.
Jay

I think you could be righr, and the evidently shrinking from my perspecti e may have been snap judgement, and its aparent overall reduction in size. He seems to be a little smaller than he was. But I am purely going off of my non-recorded overvations only held by memory.

He is swimming differently than he used to, and he has never sat on the top layer of rocks. Hes more graceful right now, but part of that may be that before he would only really swim to change spots or peck stuff. Now that he is swimming around it does seem that his "belly" might be just as large as it has been.

I have a mandarin that the blenny likes to cuddle up against, and i have not seen him do that at all in the last 2 weeks, so there are definitely behavior changes.

He's also changing color less, he used to match anything he sat on, from purpley dark to the white to a green, now he is mostly staying the color in the video.

Thank you for the help Jay, I was about to freshwater dip him and dose prazi straight to the display. But no other orfanism is showing any signs of issues and if its not something a fe dip will help with I don't want to stress him for no reason.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I too am wondering about internal fluid buildup . These fish have a specific diet which is often misinterpreted by many LFS and causes health and dietary issues. These fish are sold as algae eaters and are actually while algae are part of their diet, they are not actually algae eaters and have a high need for calcium and meats. If you ever noticed this fish during the day, it is generally pounding and gnawing on rock. It is to take its fang like teeth and shave the rock for calcium. It also needs meats such as chopped shrimp, chopped krill and similar meaty foods.
Through incorrect diet, they get fat and then health issues start.

I found this out when he came out of QT into the display, about 3 days in I got TDO pellets, and soon as they hit the wayer he went berserk chasing them all down, he loved those things, he ate them more than any algae product I added, but snacked all day on other algaes.

Actually, now that I am thinking about it, I am pretty sure he was eating dinos at some point. Is there a chance that osteoporosis and some other unidentifiable type could cause organ failure thay will allow it to live another 4 months? That would have been the last chance he had to eat them.

Also, he's never showed any interest in meats, only tdo pellets and algae.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

He pecked at some algae on the glass this evening where he is resting. Right in top of the gyre, so close to the surface of the water by the lid when i open it his eye pop up out if the water.

I love this fish, I am so bummed out.

I am pretty sure he is on his way out. Never stops open mouth breathing. His resperation rate hasn't gotten worse or anymore labored though.

I started my UV back up during lights iut tonigh to run it for a few weeks just in case. Removed the recirculation on the CO2 scrubber to keep O2 a little higher for him.

If there is anything I should do beside let him live out the rest of his time in tank, let me know. He doesn't seem stressed and cuddled with the mandarin this evening a little bit, so I don't think its suffering enough yet for me to consider euthanasia.

Feel free to let me know any of yalls opinion. I am prepared to deal with the outcome of an in tank death, lots of tongan nassarius in case I miss it for quick cleanup, heavy on chaeto for nutrient spike, but should have no problem getting him out if he does pass.


Poor guy, probably going to burry him, when he passea he's been a favorite of the kids since he made it to the display. :'(

A closer video of his gills incase there is something else thay might be resolvable. I see posts of blennys with the same distended abdomen, so i am crossing my fingers it isn't organ failure, but it seems the symptoms fit.

 

[Reef.]

I too am wondering about internal fluid buildup . These fish have a specific diet which is often misinterpreted by many LFS and causes health and dietary issues. These fish are sold as algae eaters and are actually while algae are part of their diet, they are not actually algae eaters and have a high need for calcium and meats. If you ever noticed this fish during the day, it is generally pounding and gnawing on rock. It is to take its fang like teeth and shave the rock for calcium. It also needs meats such as chopped shrimp, chopped krill and similar meaty foods.
Through incorrect diet, they get fat and then health issues start.

What foods would provide calcium? The bones in the krill?

 

[vetteguy53081]

What foods would provide calcium? The bones in the krill?

Coral rock and rubble and dead coral skeleton

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I just feel like pointing it out in case it is going unnoticed, the tissue of the gills on the blenny, they look almost closed with thay fairly transparent tissue.

I have been trying to look through vlenny videos to see if thays a common feature of their gills, and I do not see it on other lawnmowers. I don't see any videos that clearly display them close enough, but a few I come accross look like they are more open.

I am provably just grasping at syraws here, but want to check.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

He's still hangin in there. If anyone has a minute to watch the second video I posted in here, let me know what you think, I still haven't come accross of a video of a lawnmower blenny with gills that look like that to me, but it could just be me misinterpreting what I am looking at.

 

[Reef.]

Coral rock and rubble and dead coral skeleton

Hope the op doesn’t mind me asking these questions…

So to be clear, as I have just got a Tail Spot Blenny, can food not supply the needed calcium? do I need to supply coral rock and dead coral?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hope the op doesn’t mind me asking these questions…

So to be clear, as I have just got a Tail Spot Blenny, can food not supply the needed calcium? do I need to supply coral rock and dead coral?

Its not a matter of needing to supply it, as its generally available in most aquariums as we all have rock of some form and in some cases coral skeleton already. If you look at analysis on food containers, there is little to know calcium listed.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Blenny is still alive, we watched him a lot last night and he made 1 peck at some algae.

If anyone can look at the second video I posted to let me know if there is anything obviously wrong with the gills, let me know what you tjonk.

Thank you