Citron Goby in trouble (video included)

[JayFish4004]

Unfortunately my citron goby has taken a turn for the worst over the last few days. He has been breathing heavily and is doing an odd thing with his mouth that almost makes it feel like something is stuck in there (see video).

I have several other fish in the tank all doing fine, and nothing new has been added in over a year. I believe water quality and disease can be ruled out.

He has historically been an incredibly healthy eater of mysis and pellets, and this has happened once before maybe several weeks back and he eventually snapped out of it and started eating again, but this has been the longest Ive seen him go without eating which has been maybe 3-4 days.

My current thinking is old age or something is stuck in his mouth, I got him as an adult almost 2 years ago.

What do you guys think?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Unfortunately my citron goby has taken a turn for the worst over the last few days. He has been breathing heavily and is doing an odd thing with his mouth that almost makes it feel like something is stuck in there (see video).

I have several other fish in the tank all doing fine, and nothing new has been added in over a year. I believe water quality and disease can be ruled out.

He has historically been an incredibly healthy eater of mysis and pellets, and this has happened once before maybe several weeks back and he eventually snapped out of it and started eating again, but this has been the longest Ive seen him go without eating which has been maybe 3-4 days.

My current thinking is old age or something is stuck in his mouth, I got him as an adult almost 2 years ago.

What do you guys think?

Tough to see, but is the fish really fat?
There may be a systemic issue with fatty liver disease here, but I usually see that in large predators.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately my citron goby has taken a turn for the worst over the last few days. He has been breathing heavily and is doing an odd thing with his mouth that almost makes it feel like something is stuck in there (see video).

I have several other fish in the tank all doing fine, and nothing new has been added in over a year. I believe water quality and disease can be ruled out.

He has historically been an incredibly healthy eater of mysis and pellets, and this has happened once before maybe several weeks back and he eventually snapped out of it and started eating again, but this has been the longest Ive seen him go without eating which has been maybe 3-4 days.

My current thinking is old age or something is stuck in his mouth, I got him as an adult almost 2 years ago.

What do you guys think?

Other than a little labored breathing appearance appears good
Is fish eating?
Any unusual body imperfections?
What is ammonia- nitrate- ph level?

 

[Cheezle]

For what it's worth, my citron goby stopped eating for about 2-3 weeks and would hide when I fed. Had heavy breathing and would stay in the same spot (on my pectinia) all day every day unless disturbed. One day they kicked out of it, no idea how or why but he's back to being the star of my tank.

I'm jealous yours eats pellets, mine only eats meaty food. Hopefully yours pulls through!

 

[JayFish4004]

Tough to see, but is the fish really fat?
There may be a systemic issue with fatty liver disease here, but I usually see that in large predators.
Jay

He is well fed but I dont think hes fat

 

[JayFish4004]

Other than a little labored breathing appearance appears good
Is fish eating?
Any unusual body imperfections?
What is ammonia- nitrate- ph level?

Unfortunately he hasn’t eaten in 3-4 days now. No body imperfections.

Just got my ATI results back today and everything is in good shape. Ammonia is zero, nitrates are 20, ph is 8.3.

 

[JayFish4004]

For what it's worth, my citron goby stopped eating for about 2-3 weeks and would hide when I fed. Had heavy breathing and would stay in the same spot (on my pectinia) all day every day unless disturbed. One day they kicked out of it, no idea how or why but he's back to being the star of my tank.

I'm jealous yours eats pellets, mine only eats meaty food. Hopefully yours pulls through!

Really hoping thats the case with mine - we’ve had him for almost 2 years now and he is definitely a favorite. We had such bad luck before him too with getting malnourished citron gobies from online vendors. Citrons are by far my favorite type of nano fish.

He was ferocious with the pellets and only preferred the large pellets, wouldnt eat the small ones they were a waste of his time haha. Hoping we can get him eating again.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately he hasn’t eaten in 3-4 days now. No body imperfections.

Just got my ATI results back today and everything is in good shape. Ammonia is zero, nitrates are 20, ph is 8.3.

See if you can obtain live brine shrimp or rotifiers- they rarely turn these down

 

[JayFish4004]

See if you can obtain live brine shrimp or rotifiers- they rarely turn these down

I think its more than a food thing - he was obsessed with tdo pellets for almost 2 years.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I think its more than a food thing - he was obsessed with tdo pellets for almost 2 years.

While TDO pellets contain protein, it’s not a proper or complete diet as meats are are essential as mentioned

 

[JayFish4004]

While TDO pellets contain protein, it’s not a proper or complete diet as meats are are essential as mentioned

He eats PE mysis as well - good news is he has started eating again. No idea what the deal was there.

 

[JayFish4004]

For what it's worth, my citron goby stopped eating for about 2-3 weeks and would hide when I fed. Had heavy breathing and would stay in the same spot (on my pectinia) all day every day unless disturbed. One day they kicked out of it, no idea how or why but he's back to being the star of my tank.

I'm jealous yours eats pellets, mine only eats meaty food. Hopefully yours pulls through!

Same thing happened to Solly although only about 5-6 days vs a couple weeks - he’s been eating again last few days. Thought he was a goner for sure, really happy to have him back

 

[JayFish4004]

For what it's worth, my citron goby stopped eating for about 2-3 weeks and would hide when I fed. Had heavy breathing and would stay in the same spot (on my pectinia) all day every day unless disturbed. One day they kicked out of it, no idea how or why but he's back to being the star of my tank.

I'm jealous yours eats pellets, mine only eats meaty food. Hopefully yours pulls through!

Here are a few feeding videos if interested - mostly Biota fish with a few wild caughts.

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[Cheezle]

Here are a few feeding videos if interested - mostly Biota fish with a few wild caughts.

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Great videos and beautiful tank, thanks for sharing! I just lost my flametail blenny due to similar circumstances, he stopped eating and just wasted away. Unfortunately didn't pull through whatever was happening like our citrons

Mine will eat flakes but I can't seem to get him to bite at the pellets, did you do anything to get him into them or did he just always like to munch on them?

 

[JayFish4004]

Great videos and beautiful tank, thanks for sharing! I just lost my flametail blenny due to similar circumstances, he stopped eating and just wasted away. Unfortunately didn't pull through whatever was happening like our citrons

Mine will eat flakes but I can't seem to get him to bite at the pellets, did you do anything to get him into them or did he just always like to munch on them?

Thanks! Sorry to hear that - I can’t stand losing fish - Ive been at this for 30 years now and it still doesn’t get easier. Especially the ones you are fortunate enough to get to spend a long time with.

I have had a lot of bad luck with citrons - either getting them emaciated or they wont eat, but with Solly he ate the day I got him in the mail from SeahorseSavvy. It might’ve helped that a lot of other fish also eat them. He’ll pick them up off the rocks too but took him a long time to do that.

Citron gobies are my alltime favorite fish - their personalities are so unique and they’re just so entertaining with the way the go about their day. Solly even sits on our frogspawn which is adorable haha