Blenny's belly bubbling and wriggling?

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Hi everyone,
My algae blenny has been in QT for just over a month, he was transferred due to bullying and stopped eating at the begining of this week. I noticed him hanging out in the corner of the tank and the belly is wriggling and bubbling? It also looks almost raw? He wasn't being bullied, he was the bully.

Edit: There have been no treatments, he's lost weight, and is not even interested in life brine.

Leslie Tabor · Oct 3, 2018

@Humblefish any thoughts?! This is kinda freaky!

Oldsalt01 · Oct 3, 2018

My former Starry’s belly used to do something like that after he ate, but nowhere near that level. That’s kinda creepy. Intestinal worms? How long have you had it in your tank?

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Leslie Tabor said:
@Humblefish any thoughts?! This is kinda freaky!

Oldsalt01 said:
My former Starry’s belly used to do something like that after he ate, but nowhere near that level. That’s kinda creepy. Intestinal worms? How long have you had it in your tank?

I'm glad even others consider it creepy! Is sure freaked me out!!

I got him 8-18-18 and he's been in observational QT ever since. About a week or two after I got him, he was really bullying one of the other fish so I was advised to remove him and try again and hope that he 'resets' so he was in my frag tank and he was eating fine in there. He was moved back to this QT on the 9-22-18 and I haven't noticed him eat since. He hasn't bullied anyone since, though I have seen him try to nip at one fish but only when it swam right in front of his space when he was in 'his' spot. I've tried flakes, pellets, frozen, algae sheets, adding vitachem and nothing. I just bought adult brine from LFS today and he's watched them swim right by his face.

All other fish in QT are behaving normally and I haven't noticed any signs of disease though I do admit I'm a novice and might just be missing something.

norfolkgarden · Oct 3, 2018

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

Sometimes when a fish has internal worms their belly swells and they quit eating. I'd consider putting him into a QT and treat with General Cure. If it is worms, and they can get big, you can also add plain USP Epsom Salts 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon of tank water, to help move out the dead worms.

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Big G said:
Sometimes when a fish has internal worms their belly swells and they quit eating. I'd consider putting him into a QT and treat with General Cure. If it is worms, and they can get big, you can also add plain USP Epsom Salts 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon of tank water, to help move out the dead worms.

Okay so I have this on hand and can go to the store to get something else tomorrow if I need. I have epsom salts, they seem to be graded for human consumption is that good enough do I need something a bit more serious? Are there any medications I should or could be doubling up on?
The water in the tank right now has a bit of Reef Flux in it, I did a water change from DT, I'd say about half of the water in QT is from DT which had the stanard 1 capsule per 10 gallons.

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Also he's been in the same tank as the other fish, and they all came from the same system so it's probably best to just treat them all right?

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

starypotter said:
Also he's been in the same tank as the other fish, and they all came from the same system so it's probably best to just treat them all right?

Yeah, the darn fish eat each other's poop. It's a worm feast

You've got what you need there. General Cure is metro & prazi. Though the dose of prazi in GC is a bit lower and easier on the fish at 2.0 instead of Prazipro's suggested dose of 2.5. So you can adjust the dosage of Prazipro down to 2.0 if you want to and it will work just fine.
And yes, plain old unscented Epsom Salts are what you want.

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Big G said:
Yeah, the darn fish eat each other's poop. It's a worm feast You've got what you need there. General Cure is metro & prazi. Though the dose of prazi in GC is a bit lower and easier on the fish at 2.0 instead of Prazipro's suggested dose of 2.5. So you can adjust the dosage of Prazipro down to 2.0 if you want to and it will work just fine.
And yes, plain old unscented Epsom Salts are what you want.

Excellent, now I've wanted to start copper as well, I have a Hanna checker and the coper power. I know that there is one other medication that you can dose at the same time as copper but the name is escaping me at the moment. Would you consider that to be advisable I know that you shouldn't if a fish isn't eating so I'm going to guess no? I want to say that I remember it being general cure but that liquid prazi can't be dosed at the same time as copper? And can you think of any interactions with reef flux?

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

Don't know about mixing Reef Flux with Prazi or Metro. Perhaps @Humblefish can help us here.
Here's a link with lots of our commonly used meds, copper guidelines for mixing or not: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/medication-compatibility-guide.313491/#post-3862527
Not a big fan of mixing copper and meds unless absolutely necessary.

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Big G said:
Don't know about mixing Reef Flux with Prazi or Metro. Perhaps @Humblefish can help us here.
Here's a link with lots of our commonly used meds, copper guidelines for mixing or not: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/medication-compatibility-guide.313491/#post-3862527
Not a big fan of mixing copper and meds unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you for that link! I found that once and couldn't remember where I'd seen those things before. I'll wait it out for @Humblefish before I add anything to the tank just in case.

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

starypotter said:
Thank you for that link! I found that once and couldn't remember where I'd seen those things before. I'll wait it out for @Humblefish before I add anything to the tank just in case.

Yeah, good call. Not a big fan of mixing meds. I always assume bad things will happen. I know in humans, the fluconazole is not to be mixed with Erythromycin. So caution is the word here. Or run some carbon and water change.

wesman42 · Oct 3, 2018

I have seen people mix prazi and copper in dire times...so I know it can be done. But....I feel like this is different than mixing two antibiotics.

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Big G said:
Yeah, good call. Not a big fan of mixing meds. I always assume bad things will happen. I know in humans, the fluconazole is not to be mixed with Erythromycin. So caution is the word here. Or run some carbon and water change.

Oh yeah I'm not about to mix anything until I get the okay from the expert. I don't have any salt water made right now but I could start some mixing if I need. How long would you say I need to run carbon for?

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

wesman42 said:
I have seen people mix prazi and copper in dire times...so I know it can be done. But....I feel like this is different than mixing two antibiotics.

This isn't dire I agree, honestly my biggest concern is the reef flux that's already in the water.

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

This will remove it:

Screen Shot 2018-10-03 at 7.25.45 PM.png

starypotter · Oct 3, 2018

Big G said:
This will remove it:

I'll make sure I pick some up tomorrow then thank you, how long would you say that needs to run to be safe?

Big G · Oct 3, 2018

starypotter said:
I'll make sure I pick some up tomorrow then thank you, how long would you say that needs to run to be safe?

That will depend on the water flow through the bag Purigen. The higher the flow, the faster it works. A reactor type chamber and a high flow pump would be the fastest. If you are laying it in a HOB filter it would take longer. 24-48 hours would be fine. The nice thing about Purigen is you can recharge it and use it over and over again. Very similar to their other product Cuprisorb for removing copper. Rechargeable. Good products.

cmcoker · Oct 3, 2018

Sounds like you have got some good advice.. all I could think about watching that video was the Spaceballs Alien about to pop out and start singing...