Forktail Blenny Bloated

chiefifd · Nov 14, 2021

Hi all......
I have a photo/photos of my Forktail Blenny. The Blenny seems bloated to me, he's still eating but was hanging vertically in a corner of the aquarium for a bit. It's where he usually sleeps, but one of the clownfish was nipping at him a bit. I fed the fish to distract the clownfish, it worked and the Blenny started after the food too. Now the Blenny is swimming around like he normally does without anyone picking on him.
My water is Ph 8.25, Alk 8.3, Mag 1450, Phos .05, nitrates between 5 & 10 I think (Hanna Nitrate checker coming tomorrow) Cal 430, temp 77 to 78.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 14, 2021

chiefifd said:
Hi all......
I have a photo/photos of my Forktail Blenny. The Blenny seems bloated to me, he's still eating but was hanging vertically in a corner of the aquarium for a bit. It's where he usually sleeps, but one of the clownfish was nipping at him a bit. I fed the fish to distract the clownfish, it worked and the Blenny started after the food too. Now the Blenny is swimming around like he normally does without anyone picking on him.
My water is Ph 8.25, Alk 8.3, Mag 1450, Phos .05, nitrates between 5 & 10 I think (Hanna Nitrate checker coming tomorrow) Cal 430, temp 77 to 78.

Hi, it's tough to make out details in fish photographed under blue light. It might help if you posted a short video taken under white light.

In any event - there may be two separate issues; the bloating and the clownfish nipping at it. The bloating can be eggs, or an intestinal blockage. If the clownfish nipping is causing fin damage on the blenny, they may need to be isolated from one another.

Jay

chiefifd · Nov 14, 2021

Here's a quick video... I'm not seeing any fin damage.

chiefifd · Nov 14, 2021

The Blenny has had a bloated belly for about one week, but tonight is the first time I noticed him hanging vertically when the lights were on.
Thanks for any suggestions..

Jay Hemdal · Nov 14, 2021

chiefifd said:
Here's a quick video... I'm not seeing any fin damage.

Sorry - something is wrong with the video, it is only 10kb, like it’s just a thumbnail or something.
The hanging out in the corner could be stress from aggression, is the fish breathing fast? Tough to see on these blennnies, I know!

Jay

chiefifd · Nov 14, 2021

No, actually he looked fine a few minutes before when I fed the tank. He was eating and swimming quite normally. Then he retreated to the side of the tank. Not breathing hard, I've had the blenny for about 6 months and never had an issue with him being picked on. I have a wrasse in QT now so I don't have access to a second QT tank. I'm working all day tomorrow, hopefully, he'll come thru tomorrow. Maybe I'll keep the lights off tomorrow to keep things a little quieter.
Thanks for your interest & time Jay

chiefifd · Nov 18, 2021

Hi Jay....
Three days with no tank lights on, and a few light feedings. The Forktail Blenny is back to itself! No other treatments were given.
It must have been constipated or......a similar symptom.
Hope these photos show up better.
Thank you!
Ed

Jay Hemdal · Nov 18, 2021

chiefifd said:
Hi Jay....
Three days with no tank lights on, and a few light feedings. The Forktail Blenny is back to itself! No other treatments were given.
It must have been constipated or......a similar symptom.
Hope these photos show up better.
Thank you!
Ed

Cool beans! I'm not sure what that was - could have been constipation, or it could have been eggs that eventually were released.

Jay