Midas Blenny not doing well

[Miami Reef]

A few months ago I purchased a Midas blenny. I treated him with copper and 3 prazi treatments. He was doing amazing. Swimming, hiding in his rocks, eating. A normal fish.

A few days ago I see him sitting near the bottoms. He hasn’t eaten since. I tried giving him a freshwater bath but he didn’t tolerate it at all so I terminated it.

I just set up a 10 gallon QT but he’s still not doing well. He has a ripped tail and he’s breathing kind of slow.



He can swim but he prefers to swim while maintaining contact with the floor.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Miami Reef]

53 BPM

 

[A Young Reefer]

I would just recommend to not touch it since it’s already stressed enough. By doing so it will only worsen it.
hopefully someone will reply soon.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The fish seems lethargic and thin. You dosed copper- at what level did you treat copper using what test kit?
Did you mix prazi with the copper? How long did you treat fish with prazi and did you do water changes?
Do note also that prazi will reduce both oxygen and appetite
Do add air stone for added o2
Lastly, what is your ammonia and nitrate level?

 

[Miami Reef]

Copper power 2.5ppm. That was a few months ago and I didn’t add any fish to the tank since. There’s no chance a disease came back since everyone was treated together.

I did not treat this fish with any medicine recently. He completely QT while back and he’s been healthy until a recently.

 

[Tcook]

Was he being harrased by another fish? He needs a hiding spot in QT to reduce stress. Midas is a meat eater, not algae. Right?

 

[SlugSnorter]

53 BPM

do not touch your animals unless absolutely needed, it stresses them a very large amount. That goes double for a sick fish...

Params? tank age? new additions? Tankmates? symptoms (heavy breathing, spots, etc)

they need both algae and proper meaty food (preferably frozen, not pellets)

Theres a chance that fish is now moribound...

 

[rmorris_14]

EMERGENCY - Midas blenny dying?

So my midas was fine literally a couple hours ago. I come back and his anal cavity is just black and he is on the sand bed. Ive had him for a few months and he has been eating everyday and super active. What is this and what can i do? Did he get constipated or something? Its slightly bulged and...

www.reef2reef.com

Check out this thread. Sorry about your fish. I hope you get to the bottom of the issue and it pulls through.

 

[MnFish1]

A few months ago I purchased a Midas blenny. I treated him with copper and 3 prazi treatments. He was doing amazing. Swimming, hiding in his rocks, eating. A normal fish.

A few days ago I see him sitting near the bottoms. He hasn’t eaten since. I tried giving him a freshwater bath but he didn’t tolerate it at all so I terminated it.

I just set up a 10 gallon QT but he’s still not doing well. He has a ripped tail and he’s breathing kind of slow.



He can swim but he prefers to swim while maintaining contact with the floor.

Most blennies swim while maintaining contact with 'something' - in this case it looks odd because its glass. I would suggest to you perhaps

1. Flukes - prazipro
2. A bacterial infection due to the ripped tail/bullying (broad spectrum antibiotic)
3. Did you add anything new to the tank after the Blenny - and could that fish have given something to him
4. Any other tank changes?

He looks like a cute fish. Breathing slowly - could be a sign of 'giving up' - or a sign that its not something like flukes or velvet.

If there is any more information you can give - appreciate it - and sorry about your fish

 

[Miami Reef]

Thanks guys.

Touching the fish didn’t do him any harm. I need to show you guys how he is swimming because I want to give you guys as much information as possible.

Any new fish/coral must go through strict QT before entering the tank. There is no cross contamination whatsoever.

I never had long term success with a midas blenny. This may very well be the last one I purchase unless I can find out what went wrong. I didn’t know others are also having this problem.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks guys.

Touching the fish didn’t do him any harm. I need to show you guys how he is swimming because I want to give you guys as much information as possible.

Any new fish/coral must go through strict QT before entering the tank. There is no cross contamination whatsoever.

I never had long term success with a midas blenny. This may very well be the last one I purchase unless I can find out what went wrong. I didn’t know others are also having this problem.

I'm going to let the blenny experts weigh in. I'm gonna say - 2 things -
1. I had a plate sized discus literally floating belly up - swollen - 3 days ago - I thought it was a goner - I was not going to put a needle in. Next day - it was fine. Today - one of the healthiest discus In the tank - was dead - also plate sized - i.e. sometimes you just dont know.
2. I'm glad you are QTing. In the situation you are in - I would suggest some live food - and antibiotics. see if you can get it to eat - I might not waste time on the usual garlic etc.

I think you're doing all you can do - IMHO - this might be a case of a 'so-called' moribund fish - that no matter what you do - will not do well. IDK.

 

[Miami Reef]

I'm going to let the blenny experts weigh in. I'm gonna say - 2 things -
1. I had a plate sized discus literally floating belly up - swollen - 3 days ago - I thought it was a goner - I was not going to put a needle in. Next day - it was fine. Today - one of the healthiest discus In the tank - was dead - also plate sized - i.e. sometimes you just dont know.
2. I'm glad you are QTing. In the situation you are in - I would suggest some live food - and antibiotics. see if you can get it to eat - I might not waste time on the usual garlic etc.

I think you're doing all you can do - IMHO - this might be a case of a 'so-called' moribund fish - that no matter what you do - will not do well. IDK.

I culture live white worms and he isn’t even eating that either. I just feel guilty because I feel like I’m doing something wrong but there’s no evidence of the illness.

 

[MnFish1]

I culture live white worms and he isn’t even eating that either. I just feel guilty because I feel like I’m doing something wrong but there’s no evidence of the illness.

I think some fish die - I think you shoudl consider the source od your fish - but - a ripped tail does not just occur. I.e.. I think treat that with broad spectrum antibiotics

 

[rmorris_14]

I culture live white worms and he isn’t even eating that either. I just feel guilty because I feel like I’m doing something wrong but there’s no evidence of the illness.

I 100 percent feel you on this. It’s a rough situation to be in and not having a clear sign as to what is going on makes it so much worse. Hugs!!!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

53 BPM

I tried to take a count on its respiration rate, and got 60 BPM, so similar to yours. What is the photo of the pipette showing?

The fish is a bit thin (but I've seen a lot worse with some Midas!) I just responded to another thread about a black belly on a midas. This one also seems to have a dark spot there. I'm sorry, but I don't know what that is, but I wonder if it is a symptom of something?

I'm really "down" on some species, common in the pet trade, that just have lots more problems than I would expect. Gold midas are right up there for a species that seems to do well at first, but then have issues later on....In fact, I stopped acquiring them, because I couldn't get appropriate longevity from them....I wish I knew that the issue(s) are....sorry!

Jay

 

[Miami Reef]

He’s still alive.

It looks like he’s having problems with with mouth. He keeps “adjusting it”. I fed white worms and he managed to suck and then blow it right back out 3 times! He’s very lethargic and he is looking at the food with his eyes, but just won’t make the effort to eat. He wants to eat and he’s interested in it (his eyes are moving like a chameleon).

He is staying at the bottom and occasionally moving but he seems to be leaning towards the left side and constantly needs to readjust himself.

 

[Miami Reef]

Oh, he just swam for 1 second then went back down. That’s the first time I saw that.

 

[Miami Reef]

Look at his belly. It’s much more black/blue. He looks like he’s dying but he’s not (at least not yet) this was just him leaning towards the left side. He looks more situated currently.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Some fish have black peritoneums, I wonder that if under some conditions (i.e., being thin) that shows through the body wall on these fish? I ran a Google image search, some of those images show this as well. Another possibility is bile from the gallbladder is leaking out. Many times, starving fish will have huge gall bladders that can burst. I usually see that during post mortems.....

Jay