Engineer goby suddenly floating.

[Slocke]

#fishmedic
One of my engineer gobies was out and about and looking normal earlier today. I saw it eat a few pellets too. Now its floating and hardly alive. I've had it over a year and though its never ate as much as I would like unlike my other one it seems fat and has had good color. No other fish seems affected and haven't changed anything in months. I did recently add a lionfish though. IS there anything I can do? What could cause a fish to suddenly become buoyant?

 

[vetteguy53081]

#fishmedic
One of my engineer gobies was out and about and looking normal earlier today. I saw it eat a few pellets too. Now its floating and hardly alive. I've had it over a year and though its never ate as much as I would like unlike my other one it seems fat and has had good color. No other fish seems affected and haven't changed anything in months. I did recently add a lionfish though. IS there anything I can do? What could cause a fish to suddenly become buoyant?

Ant squabble with another tankmate?
Hard to tell on my phone but fish appears slightly thin?
Pellets is not a complete meal as this fish also needs meats. . . LRS Fish frenzy being its favorite. There are other factors that could have caused this such as impact damage, constipation and such

 

[Slocke]

Ant squabble with another tankmate?
Hard to tell on my phone but fish appears slightly thin?
Pellets is not a complete meal as this fish also needs meats. . . LRS Fish frenzy being its favorite. There are other factors that could have caused this such as impact damage, constipation and such

Thanks. It’s quite rotund and very squat compared to my other one. It seems to only get fatter while the other one has grown much longer.

I feed it a mix of fresh seafood as well as the pellets. It also gets random frozen cubes as that’s what I broadcast. Saying that it is very shy and rarely comes out for food. I try and leave food in the mouth of its burrow if it doesn’t come out.
It’s the first one in this video:

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks. It’s quite rotund and very squat compared to my other one. It seems to only get fatter while the other one has grown much longer.

I feed it a mix of fresh seafood as well as the pellets. It also gets random frozen cubes as that’s what I broadcast. Saying that it is very shy and rarely comes out for food. I try and leave food in the mouth of its burrow if it doesn’t come out.
It’s the first one in this video:

Mine is super shy and yours in the video look better than mine !!

 

[Slocke]

Oh and the only aggression is very occasionally from the other goby from what I’ve seen.

 

[Slocke]

Mine is super shy and yours in the video look better than mine !!

Yeah but that’s why I’m so surprised. Maybe it being out was a warning sign. That video was a week ago and I hadn’t seen anything other then it’s head peeking out in several months before that.

Should I try and sink it?
I could put it in an acclimation box.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah but that’s why I’m so surprised. Maybe it being out was a warning sign. That video was a week ago and I hadn’t seen anything other then it’s head peeking out in several months before that.

Should I try and sink it?
I could put it in an acclimation box.

Acclimation box would be safer than trying to force it down. Inspect when you catch for any injury, cloudy eyes, etc

 

[Slocke]

Acclimation box would be safer than trying to force it down. Inspect when you catch for any injury, cloudy eyes, etc

Alright done
Was very weak. Eyes seemed fine. Very pale body but don’t if that’s just night colors.
Guess I’ll just see if it’s alive tomorrow

 

[Slocke]

Well it didn't survive the night. Still buoyant/floating and appeared completely healthy. Fins in tact and no Maybe some redness around the anus and the gills but its hard to tell. Its been over a year since I've lost a fish in that tank. Any theories on what could have happened @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal ?

 

[Cell]

Was it completely fine after the heater incident?

 

[Slocke]

Was it completely fine after the heater incident?

Different tank. This one has had no incidents or changes in a very long time.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Well it didn't survive the night. Still buoyant/floating and appeared completely healthy. Fins in tact and no Maybe some redness around the anus and the gills but its hard to tell. Its been over a year since I've lost a fish in that tank. Any theories on what could have happened @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal ?

Sorry to hear. Anas inflamation can be constipation or infection and red gills are injury-flukes or infection.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well it didn't survive the night. Still buoyant/floating and appeared completely healthy. Fins in tact and no Maybe some redness around the anus and the gills but its hard to tell. Its been over a year since I've lost a fish in that tank. Any theories on what could have happened @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal ?

Sorry - I read through this thread earlier and didn't have any ideas. I don't keep this species anymore, it's been decades since I had one (40+ years). The only thing I can say is that although they are a shoaling species when young, as they mature, they get pretty territorial. I see some damage on the belly and tail of this fish. I wonder if the other one trashed it?

Jay

 

[Slocke]

Sorry to hear. Anas inflamation can be constipation or infection and red gills are injury-flukes or infection.

Sorry - I read through this thread earlier and didn't have any ideas. I don't keep this species anymore, it's been decades since I had one (40+ years). The only thing I can say is that although they are a shoaling species when young, as they mature, they get pretty territorial. I see some damage on the belly and tail of this fish. I wonder if the other one trashed it?

Jay

Thank you both.

Well I certainly hope its not flukes or something else contagious. Looking up causes of buoyancy issues makes me more inclined to think it was some kind of gastro intestinal issue (or internal infection?) though I wouldn't be overly surprised if the other goby attacked it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you both.

Well I certainly hope its not flukes or something else contagious. Looking up causes of buoyancy issues makes me more inclined to think it was some kind of gastro intestinal issue (or internal infection?) though I wouldn't be overly surprised if the other goby attacked it.

Intestinal is the high suspect on my behalf or as mentioned up front, physical damage