Canary Blenny Swim Bladder Disease?

jhadaway · Jun 12, 2023

I did lots of reading yesterday but I haven't found anything that really nails down my situation. My waterbox 100.3 is almost 2 years now and is doing great minus some gha and those !@#$%^& aiptasia. I do biweekly water changes of 24 gallons and use all4reef. My chemistry has been stable for a long time and isn't an issue. On Saturday, Tweety my canary blenny was fine and eating well as always. I noticed Sunday that he was struggling to swim and was floating. I have seen this before with fresh and saltwater fish and is usually a few hours before death. I wrangled him up and put him in a isolation box with a pvc elbow in it for some privacy. He has been swimming/floating around and pins himself between the pipe and the wall every so often to rest. He has no spots on him at all, no damage and looks completely normal outside of being a little pale. He didn't take food on Saturday but he ate well yesterday and is still kicking this morning much to my surprise. This tank is full of ORA and DR Reef fish and went fallow for 70 some odd days 8-9 months ago. No new additions to the tank and everyone else is alive and well. I can't imagine after what I went through with velvet many months ago that this is a parasite so I'd rather not go down that path first. Can this be some kind of bacterial infection or should I chalk this up as "it is what it is"? I really couldn't find a definitive answer online and I don't want to start throwing chemistry at an already sick fish. Besides, how is he eating and swimming around as if nothing is wrong? It's so strange.
Has anyone out there seen this. I'd hate to loose him.

Thanks,
JOe

fishguy242 · Jun 12, 2023

#fishmedic

Jay Hemdal · Jun 12, 2023

jhadaway said:
I did lots of reading yesterday but I haven't found anything that really nails down my situation. My waterbox 100.3 is almost 2 years now and is doing great minus some gha and those !@#$%^& aiptasia. I do biweekly water changes of 24 gallons and use all4reef. My chemistry has been stable for a long time and isn't an issue. On Saturday, Tweety my canary blenny was fine and eating well as always. I noticed Sunday that he was struggling to swim and was floating. I have seen this before with fresh and saltwater fish and is usually a few hours before death. I wrangled him up and put him in a isolation box with a pvc elbow in it for some privacy. He has been swimming/floating around and pins himself between the pipe and the wall every so often to rest. He has no spots on him at all, no damage and looks completely normal outside of being a little pale. He didn't take food on Saturday but he ate well yesterday and is still kicking this morning much to my surprise. This tank is full of ORA and DR Reef fish and went fallow for 70 some odd days 8-9 months ago. No new additions to the tank and everyone else is alive and well. I can't imagine after what I went through with velvet many months ago that this is a parasite so I'd rather not go down that path first. Can this be some kind of bacterial infection or should I chalk this up as "it is what it is"? I really couldn't find a definitive answer online and I don't want to start throwing chemistry at an already sick fish. Besides, how is he eating and swimming around as if nothing is wrong? It's so strange.
Has anyone out there seen this. I'd hate to loose him.

Thanks,
JOe

Can you post pictures/video?
What other fish are in with it?

One thing that can happen is a transient injury - the fish hit a rock or something and is temporarily stunned///with some recovering and some not. The starting to eat again is a good sign.

Jay

jhadaway · Jun 12, 2023

fishguy242 said:
#fishmedic

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you post pictures/video?
What other fish are in with it?

One thing that can happen is a transient injury - the fish hit a rock or something and is temporarily stunned///with some recovering and some not. The starting to eat again is a good sign.

Jay

I can try a video tonight but my acclimation box is pretty coralined up. I have a McCoskers Wrasse, Tomini Tang, Orchid Dottyback, Pajama Cardinal, Bangai Cardinal, Blue Chromi and a Banded Coral Shrimp. The only tank aggression I see from time to time is between the tang and the wrasse. The wrasse is a real turd. I haven't seen anyone ever bother the blenny. He's usually very active in the water column.

Looks like I should stay the course and see if he heals? I'll keep him in the box out of the current.

Thanks!

vetteguy53081 · Jun 12, 2023

jhadaway said:
I can try a video tonight but my acclimation box is pretty coralined up. I have a McCoskers Wrasse, Tomini Tang, Orchid Dottyback, Pajama Cardinal, Bangai Cardinal, Blue Chromi and a Banded Coral Shrimp. The only tank aggression I see from time to time is between the tang and the wrasse. The wrasse is a real turd. I haven't seen anyone ever bother the blenny. He's usually very active in the water column.

Looks like I should stay the course and see if he heals? I'll keep him in the box out of the current.

Thanks!

If a lot of coralline, try a top down video

jhadaway · Jun 13, 2023

Its blue but i hope you get the idea. He’s eating great and i still don't see anything visually. He still uses the pipe for rest. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
jOe

Jay Hemdal · Jun 13, 2023

jhadaway said:
Its blue but i hope you get the idea. He’s eating great and i still don't see anything visually. He still uses the pipe for rest. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
jOe

Sorry - I can’t make out any details in the video, it is too blue.
Jay

jhadaway · Jun 21, 2023

This guy is still going. Broad spectrum antibiotic didn't change a thing. Now there is what looks like a hole on its bottom. Hopfully these shots will help. Maybe somebody has an idea of what this is.

Thanks
Joe

Jay Hemdal · Jun 21, 2023

jhadaway said:
This guy is still going. Broad spectrum antibiotic didn't change a thing. Now there is what looks like a hole on its bottom. Hopfully these shots will help. Maybe somebody has an idea of what this is.

Thanks
Joe

Well, the pics are still pretty blue. The location tells me that the fish's cloaca/anus is involved. I've seen prolapses fairly often, but those protrude, and this isn't doing that.

I don't suppose you've seen the fish passing any feces?

This doesn't seem to be an external issue, so I wouldn't expect that an antibiotic bath in the water would help very much, but what antibiotic did you use, and for how long so far?

Jay

jhadaway · Jun 21, 2023

I did neoplex and focus for 5 days soaked in different foods. I haven't seen feces but he eats like a pig three times a day. Frozen foods. i will have to pull him out for another treatment. I ticked off my coral and my alk hit 10.5. His belly is concaved and red. He”s no better no worse.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 22, 2023

jhadaway said:
I did neoplex and focus for 5 days soaked in different foods. I haven't seen feces but he eats like a pig three times a day. Frozen foods. i will have to pull him out for another treatment. I ticked off my coral and my alk hit 10.5. His belly is concaved and red. He”s no better no worse.

The trouble with just mixing some antibiotic in some food is you can't get the dose right except by pure chance. We have tools here to do medicated food correctly, but it is tough to do:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish Weight Calculator / Medicated Fish Food Mix Calculator

If you follow threads on the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis forum, you know that whenever oral medication is the recommended treatment, @Jay Hemdal cautions that achieving the proper dosage is critical to success. He often refers to his article Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods. That...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay