Fang Blenny Swimming odd

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

I have a yellow fang blenny (captive bred) in a mostly-FOWLR tank (there is a single coral, a toadstool also captive bred). Today I noticed odd swimming behavior. The fish is swimming vertical and upside down and seems to be struggling. There are no apparent signs of illness or injury. I've moved it into a QT.

The fish typically swims in the upper 1/3 of the tank. It does go to the top of the water when eating, but normally is very active. Since I've had it it has shown occasional flashing behavior, but there have been no other signs of parasites (normal colored poop, no white spots, etc.). I did treat the tank with Ruby Rally Pro for a wound on the killifish. I've had the fish since October -- it was introduced in November at the same time as the basslet. I have see the fish eating, and feed Fish/Reef Frenzy plus Can o' Cyclops and have a brine shrimp dispenser.

The video shows the upside down swimming (sorry for the out of focus section). I've also attached two photos.

Everyone in the tank is captive bred. The last introduction to the tank was the pavo damsel in January.

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef (only one coral, mostly plants)
Aquarium water volume 55 gal
Filtration type HOB
How long has the aquarium been established? 1.5 years
Other inhabitants: coral beauty angelfish, blackcap basslet, pavo damsel, starry goby, blue mandarin, clownfish (pair), court jester goby, killifish (egg hitchhiker, jerk), peppermint shrimp, assorted hermit crabs, emerald crab, tuxedo urchin, giraffe starfish, toadstool coral

Water quality
Temperature 78
pH: 8.0
Salinity / specific gravity 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate 20

#fishmedic

(video link if embed doesn't play: )

SlugSnorter · Feb 23, 2023

Maybe swim bladder disease? lets see what the experts have to say.

Sharkbait19 · Feb 23, 2023

Is this the first time you’ve noticed it swimming weird?
Nothing looks wrong with the fish besides the off swimming, so any parasite can likely be ruled out.
Hopefully others can chime in with what the problem is. I’d guess it has to do with the swim bladder but that’s all I can say.

Jay Hemdal · Feb 23, 2023

This is an odd case. The other fish all seem o.k., so that tends to rule out any sort of parasitic infection that would most often affect all of the fish to some extent. Same thing with a water quality issue - that would affect the other fish and your corals.

This seems neurologic, the fish doesn't show signs of external disease, but its behavior is obviously a huge issue. Swim bladder issues can cause this sort of thing, my understanding is that blennies don't have swim bladders, except for this genus - they evidently do have one. However, swim bladder issues cause either positive or negative buoyancy, and this fish doesn't seem to0 show signs of either issue.

Sorry, but this sort of internal problem has a very poor prognosis, we just don't know enough about these problems to formulate an effective treatment. Moving the fish to a QT is the best that you can do for it. I presume it isn't eating?

Jay

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

Sharkbait19 said:
Is this the first time you’ve noticed it swimming weird?
Nothing looks wrong with the fish besides the off swimming, so any parasite can likely be ruled out.
Hopefully others can chime in with what the problem is. I’d guess it has to do with the swim bladder but that’s all I can say.

Yes, first time I've seen it do this. When I first got it I had a panic because it was plastered against the wall of the tank at night and then I realized that's just a fang blenny thing.

It is struggling with swimming. I've also lost a previous fang blenny to mysterious circumstances so I want to do what I can to help this one through whatever it is.

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
This is an odd case. The other fish all seem o.k., so that tends to rule out any sort of parasitic infection that would most often affect all of the fish to some extent. Same thing with a water quality issue - that would affect the other fish and your corals.

This seems neurologic, the fish doesn't show signs of external disease, but its behavior is obviously a huge issue. Swim bladder issues can cause this sort of thing, my understanding is that blennies don't have swim bladders, except for this genus - they evidently do have one. However, swim bladder issues cause either positive or negative buoyancy, and this fish doesn't seem to0 show signs of either issue.

Sorry, but this sort of internal problem has a very poor prognosis, we just don't know enough about these problems to formulate an effective treatment. Moving the fish to a QT is the best that you can do for it. I presume it isn't eating?

Jay

I saw it eating this morning. I feed them three times a day plus the brine into the feeder at night and I didn't see it eat at noontime -- but I didn't notice that it wasn't eating either.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 23, 2023

Appears fish is going into moribund state but too soon to tell.
Is it eating yet?
Is breathing normal or rapid?

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
This is an odd case. The other fish all seem o.k., so that tends to rule out any sort of parasitic infection that would most often affect all of the fish to some extent. Same thing with a water quality issue - that would affect the other fish and your corals.

This seems neurologic, the fish doesn't show signs of external disease, but its behavior is obviously a huge issue. Swim bladder issues can cause this sort of thing, my understanding is that blennies don't have swim bladders, except for this genus - they evidently do have one. However, swim bladder issues cause either positive or negative buoyancy, and this fish doesn't seem to0 show signs of either issue.

Sorry, but this sort of internal problem has a very poor prognosis, we just don't know enough about these problems to formulate an effective treatment. Moving the fish to a QT is the best that you can do for it. I presume it isn't eating?

Jay

vetteguy53081 said:

Appears fish is going into moribund state but too soon to tell.
Is it eating yet?
Is breathing normal or rapid?

Click to expand...

The fish is breathing normally and ate this morning.

The qt tank has a HOB filter which has a pretty robust flow. Do you think it would be worthwhile to just put in an airstone to give it a break from the water?

Also, it is currently at the bottom of the QT tank, playing (seriously) in a fake anenome and swimming upright.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 23, 2023

Dog Whiskey said:
The fish is breathing normally and ate this morning.

The qt tank has a HOB filter which has a pretty robust flow. Do you think it would be worthwhile to just put in an airstone to give it a break from the water?

Also, it is currently at the bottom of the QT tank, playing (seriously) in a fake anenome and swimming upright.

That is promising an air stone may or may not help but add it anyway

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
That is promising an air stone may or may not help but add it anyway

I was actually wondering if I should use an airstone instead of the HOB filter to minimize the flow a bit. The tank is only 10 gallons and I can't really moderate the HOB rate.

Dog Whiskey · Feb 23, 2023

Just fed the blenny in the QT. Definitely ate. I turned off the flow from the HOB (usually don't because the fish seem to like the frenzy of the food) and I watched it several pieces. But then it went up to the top of the water and started cruising. It popped out once to get air and then continued just cruising along.

There was also evidence it had been eating algae (or pods encrusted in algae) off of the fake anemone.

It also seems to be swimming better. I haven't seen it swim upside down since it went into the QT. But there seems to be more eel-like wiggling than normal.

So I'm completely perplexed. Is it possible it hurt itself running into a rock?

Jay Hemdal · Feb 24, 2023

Dog Whiskey said:
Just fed the blenny in the QT. Definitely ate. I turned off the flow from the HOB (usually don't because the fish seem to like the frenzy of the food) and I watched it several pieces. But then it went up to the top of the water and started cruising. It popped out once to get air and then continued just cruising along.

There was also evidence it had been eating algae (or pods encrusted in algae) off of the fake anemone.

It also seems to be swimming better. I haven't seen it swim upside down since it went into the QT. But there seems to be more eel-like wiggling than normal.

So I'm completely perplexed. Is it possible it hurt itself running into a rock?

People have reported their fish displaying neurological symptoms and have chalked it up to "running into a rock". Since the actual hitting the rock is never seen, those cases are conjecture. In addition, the fish never seem to show any damage to their face, like you would expect given an injury like that. Additionally, those cases tend to get worse over time, while a true injury should be worse at first and then gradually get better (think a twisted ankle).

So - aside from lack of damage, I can't rule out a strike injury here.....

Jay

Dog Whiskey · Feb 24, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
People have reported their fish displaying neurological symptoms and have chalked it up to "running into a rock". Since the actual hitting the rock is never seen, those cases are conjecture. In addition, the fish never seem to show any damage to their face, like you would expect given an injury like that. Additionally, those cases tend to get worse over time, while a true injury should be worse at first and then gradually get better (think a twisted ankle).

So - aside from lack of damage, I can't rule out a strike injury here.....

Jay

Thank you. Unfortunately, the fish didn't make it through the night.

Here are the symptoms I saw before death:
1. swimming upside down (day before death)
2. swimming into a fake anenome and eating hair algae (likely also pods)
3. having signifcant issues with navigating the current in the water
4. swimming at the top of the water and occasionally breaking the surface (no yawning, heavy breathing or other signs of respiratory distress) over the last 2-3 weeks
5. occasional flashing (1-2 times a week max, and usually in response to fin flaring by the killifish)
The fish was eating and was responding to challenges by the jerk killifish by flaring its dorsal fin up until it was removed from the tank.

Additionally, the other larger fish were not picking on it in its last day, but seemed to be trying to support it in swimming on the last day. I saw the basslet, clownfish pair, and angelfish swim toward the blenny and seemed to attempt to right it.

This is the second fang blenny I've lost to mysterious circumstances. The other also was fine one day and then showed up dead in the morning. I chalked the first one up to something in the tank, and did a three day cycle of Rally Pro (there was also a lingering wound on another fish). But now I'm wondering if there is something perhaps that the genus is prone to???