Bicolour Blenny doing backflips in the sand

[Reef_Sea]

Hey all my Bicolour blenny recently left its home due to it being to chonky for the hole, this was a few days ago now he has started to go pale and is doing flips in the sand? I inspected him and can’t see any white dots and he doesn’t do the flips against the rocks generally only the sand (unless he gets himself jammed).

Please see attached video, it almost looks like he is jamming his head down to bite something in the sand but I can’t tell.

They seems to still be eating and everything and no other fish are being aggressive to it that I have witnessed, I have tried to make it multiple new homes

 

[Reef_Sea]

Video

 

[Reef_Sea]

Hey all my Bicolour blenny recently left its home due to it being to chonky for the hole, this was a few days ago now he has started to go pale and is doing flips in the sand? I inspected him and can’t see any white dots and he doesn’t do the flips against the rocks generally only the sand (unless he gets himself jammed).

Please see attached video, it almost looks like he is jamming his head down to bite something in the sand but I can’t tell.

They seems to still be eating and everything and no other fish are being aggressive to it that I have witnessed, I have tried to make it multiple new home

Adding another video as it won’t let me attach two

 

[reefsaver]

It could be a few things brother. He could actually be feeding in the sand, it could be itching at parasites from that flipping thing you mention. Going pale usually isn't a good sign. I would thoroughly test the water parameters. Bicolour blennies do best with a varied diet of frozen meaty foods, pellets and marine algae.
Make sure it has enough places to hide. Watch him for a while and make sure there's no infection or injury.
I think that's the best I personally could do I'd love to hear others advice though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Adding another video as it won’t let me attach two

This fish is in some sort of shock and appears to be moribund in which it will likely not eat or swim normal moving forward. I cant tell if tail has bite marks which would suggest aggression and fish is slightly thin for a blenny

 

[Reef_Sea]

This fish is in some sort of shock and appears to be moribund in which it will likely not eat or swim normal moving forward. I cant tell if tail has bite marks which would suggest aggression and fish is slightly thin for a blenny

This is really sad news, i have no idea what could of happened he was fine in a hole up till a few days ago? Should i be worried about some kind of disease in the tank? I have been feeding them Mysis shrimp and algae pallets as well as a healthy supply of copipods and cyclopods into the tank, is there something i could of done different?

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is really sad news, i have no idea what could of happened he was fine in a hole up till a few days ago? Should i be worried about some kind of disease in the tank? I have been feeding them Mysis shrimp and algae pallets as well as a healthy supply of copipods and cyclopods into the tank, is there something i could of done different?

May be aggression, running into object, edema. .. . many possibilities. Diet fine but this fish needs vegetation in its diet and meats (LTS Fish frenzy contains many)

 

[Reef_Sea]

May be aggression, running into object, edema. .. . many possibilities. Diet fine but this fish needs vegetation in its diet and meats (LTS Fish frenzy contains many)

Can i do anything to make them more comfortable and possibly heal or is it already to late for them?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I flagged the other post as a duplicate.

From this video, I agree that this fish has neurological damage for some reason. The fish also seems to have edema (fluid in its tissue). I don’t think there is any cure for this, but it also won’t be contagious to other fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can i do anything to make them more comfortable and possibly heal or is it already to late for them?

Unfortunately not.

 

[cdemoss01]

I flagged the other post as a duplicate.

From this video, I agree that this fish has neurological damage for some reason. The fish also seems to have edema (fluid in its tissue). I don’t think there is any cure for this, but it also won’t be contagious to other fish.

How do you know there is fluid in its tissue?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

How do you know there is fluid in its tissue?

It just looked all over “fat” to me. That is a symptom of too much fluid in a fish’s tissue. In turn, that is caused by liver or kidney damage. It doesn’t look it, but it is very seriously, and not treatable….sorry

 

[Reef_Sea]

It just looked all over “fat” to me. That is a symptom of too much fluid in a fish’s tissue. In turn, that is caused by liver or kidney damage. It doesn’t look it, but it is very seriously, and not treatable….sorry

Any idea what may of caused it so I can avoid anything like this in the future?

 

[Reef_Sea]

To add to this I think I found a possible culprit for why they bailed out of its original hole (and the start of the downhill spiral that lead to this) there is now some kind of strange worm snail thing living inside of its original hole.

Bad photos sorry but it is all I could get, it has a weird outer shell like area and its body goes deeper into the hole, it also has like feeler tentacles/ mouth that comes out from under the harder area (it isn’t a actual shell but its spiky and looks more like hardened skin)

Is there a chance this attacked the blenny? Whatever it is?

 

[MnFish1]

To add to this I think I found a possible culprit for why they bailed out of its original hole (and the start of the downhill spiral that lead to this) there is now some kind of strange worm snail thing living inside of its original hole.

Bad photos sorry but it is all I could get, it has a weird outer shell like area and its body goes deeper into the hole, it also has like feeler tentacles/ mouth that comes out from under the harder area (it isn’t a actual shell but its spiky and looks more like hardened skin)

Is there a chance this attacked the blenny? Whatever it is?

The pictures are blurry - it could be - but it could also be that the worm took over the hole after the fish left. I would not think a 'bite' would cause the symptoms described without a significant wound (unfortunately, cannot see the video) - im going by your description.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Any idea what may of caused it so I can avoid anything like this in the future?

There are different causes for this, but bacterial infections are one cause. I see many cases caused by the fish being collected with cyanide, which in turn causes organ damage. However, that shows up within two months of being collected. Viruses can also cause organ damage.

 

[Reef_Sea]

There are different causes for this, but bacterial infections are one cause. I see many cases caused by the fish being collected with cyanide, which in turn causes organ damage. However, that shows up within two months of being collected. Viruses can also cause organ damage.

Thank you for your help and I appreciate the time you have taken to take a look. It is unfortunate that it isn’t something that they may heal from.

 

[Reef_Sea]

Unfortunately not.

Thank you for your help, it is unfortunate to lose a fish as always but thank you for taking the time to address them.

 

[Reef_Sea]

Hello all I wish to give an update in case someone comes across something like this in the future. My poor blenny unfortunately passed away today, I checked the body afterwards and found what looked like a chunk of something embedded into the head (just above the eyes) of him, it looked like a rock or something and it appeared to of done damage to the skull area (I don’t know fish anatomy very well but it was a clear dent that wasn’t present on the other side) so perhaps he impacted a rock hard at some point at the wrong angle.

 

[MnFish1]

Hello all I wish to give an update in case someone comes across something like this in the future. My poor blenny unfortunately passed away today, I checked the body afterwards and found what looked like a chunk of something embedded into the head (just above the eyes) of him, it looked like a rock or something and it appeared to of done damage to the skull area (I don’t know fish anatomy very well but it was a clear dent that wasn’t present on the other side) so perhaps he impacted a rock hard at some point at the wrong angle.

Thanks - updates are always helpful. Sorry about the fish