Midas Blenny won't come out or eat.

gmastr85 · Oct 21, 2015

Looking for some advice on my midas blenny. I've had him for 3 years without any problems. He lives in a little hole in my rock work. He is always out swimming around and always comes up for food. He's a very friendly fish. The past 3 days he hasn't left his hole, nor have I seen him eat anything. This is very unlike him. He is just sitting there looking out. He does look like he is breathing heavy. But he always looks like he's breathing heavy. I can't get a good look at him because he won't come out. And I can't move the rockwork because there are corals encrusted over the rocks above.

All my other fish are fine. All my levels are within acceptable ranges. I test twice per week.

Sorry I don't have any more info. I can't see any part of him except his face. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas?

melypr1985 · Oct 21, 2015

Have you added any new fish/inverts or corals recently? Are there any other symptoms you can see?

gmastr85 · Oct 21, 2015

The last time I added anything was the first week of September. A couple corals from Macna and 2 clownfish that are in a separate container but plumbed into the tank. So it's been about 6 weeks...

I can't see any other symptoms. He still has color and looks pretty much fine. Slightly elevated breathing is the only thing I can really see. He really looks completely content sitting in his hole. But I know something is up.

He had ick about 2 years ago because I saw him glancing. But he never had an issue with it. So I would assume he built up an immunity of some sort to it. When he had it he never stayed in his hole like this though. He just swam around as usual.

melypr1985 · Oct 21, 2015

If he's breathing heavy, something is in his gills. Even if a fish builds up a resistance, the parasite is still there mostly in the gills. If he's stopped eating and breathing hard that leads me to believe the parasite is winning the battle there. There are any number of reasons for a fish to all of a sudden start losing that battle- mainly stress. Their immune system weakens and the parasite starts getting the upper hand. I'll say that without being able to get him out or any other symptoms we could only guess at what it is. But..... no matter what it is you'll have to pull him out to treat it. If it's ick, which is very likely considering he already had it before, you would need to pull all the fish out - treat them and leave the DT fallow for 76 days to get rid of the ick completely with no return. The other option would be flukes which is easy to test for with a Fresh Water dip and it's easy to treat in the DT with prazipro.

You know... have you tried garlic in the food to entice him to eat? If you can get him to come out a little farther to eat then observe his body for other symptoms that would help. At a minimum he would be eating again.

gmastr85 · Oct 21, 2015

Thanks for the info. I used to use garlic but I haven't in a while... I'm out. I did try dipping the food in vita chem last night but no response from him. It could be flukes. Maybe I'll try treating the whole tank with Prazipro. I'll have to get some tomorrow at the local shop. It would be impossible for me to pull the fish out without ripping up my corals. 3 years worth of growth on some of them. I'd really mess it up. Strange I've never had flukes before but I guess he would be the one to get it; because he lives in the rockwork.

Humblefish · Oct 21, 2015

If you had ich 2 years ago, odds are its still in your tank. You just haven't been seeing symptoms because ich can be relatively mild (as parasites go) and it will come & go inside the fishes' gills. But something has changed in your tank to tip the odds more in the parasite's favor. Or possibly the clownfish from 6 weeks ago introduced a more aggressive strain of ich or some other disease (like flukes mentioned above.)

melypr1985 · Oct 21, 2015

gmastr85 said:
Thanks for the info. I used to use garlic but I haven't in a while... I'm out. I did try dipping the food in vita chem last night but no response from him. It could be flukes. Maybe I'll try treating the whole tank with Prazipro. I'll have to get some tomorrow at the local shop. It would be impossible for me to pull the fish out without ripping up my corals. 3 years worth of growth on some of them. I'd really mess it up. Strange I've never had flukes before but I guess he would be the one to get it; because he lives in the rockwork.

I know how you feel. I literally just ripped out all my rock work to get my fish out. I really know how it feels. My rocks will never look a pretty again. But my fish will be healthy. I also want to say that prazipro is supposed to be reef safe and most people dont have a problem with it.... except me. I dosed it in tank and all my sps faded and looked like poo. They recovered, but I have to mention it however small a chance.

gmastr85 · Oct 21, 2015

I completely agree. I'm sure it's still in my tank. I got it from a hippo tang and it was obviously ick. No other fish has issues with it. The occasional glancing but never any other symptoms. Either way I'm going to treat with Prazipro tomorrow and see if that helps. It says its reef safe.. Is it really?

melypr1985 · Oct 21, 2015

gmastr85 said:
I completely agree. I'm sure it's still in my tank. I got it from a hippo tang and it was obviously ick. No other fish has issues with it. The occasional glancing but never any other symptoms. Either way I'm going to treat with Prazipro tomorrow and see if that helps. It says its reef safe.. Is it really?

Despite my experience with it, I haven't heard of anybody else who has had issues with it. I didn't lose any of my corals or inverts, they just paled for a while. I ran lots of carbon and did water changes.

Humblefish · Oct 21, 2015

gmastr85 said:
Either way I'm going to treat with Prazipro tomorrow and see if that helps. It says its reef safe.. Is it really?

Technically, tube worms, feather dusters, bristle worms are most at risk. But anecdotal accounts suggest even these are minimally impacted. But as you see from @melypr1985's experience, sometimes unexpected things can happen when you mix a medication with corals/inverts.

gmastr85 · Oct 21, 2015

Okay I only have bristle worms. Maybe some small tube worms but nothing that I put in there purposely. Thank you both for the help I appreciate it!!!

gmastr85 · Nov 13, 2015

So just to update what is going on. My midas blenny is still alive. Looks fine. He has moved in the tank but is not actively swimming around at all. I thought he was lost but now I have a completely new theory. I don't think he ever had any parasites, flukes, or ick problems. I did treat the tank with prazipro but it made no difference.

He seems like he wants to swim around. He tries but cannot. Seems like his tail is damaged. It looks okay but he seems to have an issue with it. I really think he got tangled up in one of my vortech's. I think he has a damaged tail. I don't see any damage on his skin, but he just won't get out and swim. He wiggles up on the rock like he wants to swim, but cannot.

I've been hand feeding him for the past two weeks. He is eating just fine. Just won't swim in the water column to get it. So I've been putting pellets right next to him and he eats them.

Anyway thanks for all your help. I think he is going to pull through and be just fine. He just needs some more time to heal up and get that tail better. He seems to improve everyday though!