Lawnmower Blenny Open Mouth Breathing/Skinny

[AlisaMarie16]

Hello! My beautiful lawnmower Blenny has taken a turn for the worst all of a sudden. He had a great appetite, eating constantly about two weeks ago. He is now open mouth breathing and not touching any food. I do not have a QT tank, only my display. I started Reef Rally Pro yesterday. No improvements yet, I plan to finish the 3 day course just in case. Any ideas what this is and any recommendations for next steps? Parameters are in check and this is the only fish with these symptoms.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello! My beautiful lawnmower Blenny has taken a turn for the worst all of a sudden. He had a great appetite, eating constantly about two weeks ago. He is now open mouth breathing and not touching any food. I do not have a QT tank, only my display. I started Reef Rally Pro yesterday. No improvements yet, I plan to finish the 3 day course just in case. Any ideas what this is and any recommendations for next steps? Parameters are in check and this is the only fish with these symptoms.

This fish is indeed thin and should be ball shaped and part of issue may be diet.
What foods are you feeding?
Its a myth and often preached by local fish stores that these fish are algae eaters- They're not ! While they accept algae and indeed need algae in their diet , they are meat eaters and require calcium in their diet which is why you often see them gnawing and pounding on rocks and a core belief is they are pecking on algae when indeed they are scraping calcium off the rocks for intake. Without calcium, they slowly decline and thin body is an indicator they are Not getting enough food.
They also take in detritus, and waste material from the coral including bits of coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and fish eggs and small shrimp and plankton.

 

[AlisaMarie16]

This fish is indeed thin and should be ball shaped and part of issue may be diet.
What foods are you feeding?
Its a myth and often preached by local fish stores that these fish are algae eaters- They're not ! While they accept algae and indeed need algae in their diet , they are meat eaters and require calcium in their diet which is why you often see them gnawing and pounding on rocks and a core belief is they are pecking on algae when indeed they are scraping calcium off the rocks for intake. Without calcium, they slowly decline and thin body is an indicator they are Not getting enough food.
They also take in detritus, and waste material from the coral including bits of coral skeleton, sand, gravel, and fish eggs and small shrimp and plankton.

Hello! Thank you for the feedback. I feed mysis, mysis with spiralina, rods fish food, pellets, algae wafers, nori. He used to eat most of these foods but is now completely ignoring all food and breathing hard/mouth open.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello! Thank you for the feedback. I feed mysis, mysis with spiralina, rods fish food, pellets, algae wafers, nori. He used to eat most of these foods but is now completely ignoring all food and breathing hard/mouth open.

These foods listed are acceptable and may then point to water quality, lack of food in whole.
What is age of tank and what is your level for ammonia, ph and nitrates and how are you testing ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello! My beautiful lawnmower Blenny has taken a turn for the worst all of a sudden. He had a great appetite, eating constantly about two weeks ago. He is now open mouth breathing and not touching any food. I do not have a QT tank, only my display. I started Reef Rally Pro yesterday. No improvements yet, I plan to finish the 3 day course just in case. Any ideas what this is and any recommendations for next steps? Parameters are in check and this is the only fish with these symptoms.

The open mouth, rapid breathing is the sign of a systemic issue, gill disease or water quality problem. Since the other animals are apparently fine, you can rule out water quality issues. Likewise, common gill protozoans will affect more than just one fish. That leaves a systemic problem. I think that's it, and is tied to the fish being thin. Once a thin fish goes off feed, there really isn't anything that you can do for it though. The fish was probably getting thinner with time, and then, once its energy reserves were exhausted (they use their livers for energy when they are starving) then organ failure starts in and the fish begins breathing fast to try and compensate....sorry, I just don't see any way to resolve this.

 

[AlisaMarie16]

These foods listed are acceptable and may then point to water quality, lack of food in whole.
What is age of tank and what is your level for ammonia, ph and nitrates and how are you testing ?

The tank is about 6-7 months old. Ammonia is 0, PH is 8.1, nitrates are about 5 (sometimes less fluctuates slightly). I use API for PH and Sailfert test kits for other parameters. I also have an electronic PH/Salinity reader.

 

[AlisaMarie16]

The open mouth, rapid breathing is the sign of a systemic issue, gill disease or water quality problem. Since the other animals are apparently fine, you can rule out water quality issues. Likewise, common gill protozoans will affect more than just one fish. That leaves a systemic problem. I think that's it, and is tied to the fish being thin. Once a thin fish goes off feed, there really isn't anything that you can do for it though. The fish was probably getting thinner with time, and then, once its energy reserves were exhausted (they use their livers for energy when they are starving) then organ failure starts in and the fish begins breathing fast to try and compensate....sorry, I just don't see any way to resolve this.

I appreciate the time and thought that went into your response! I truly hope this guy can recover somehow, he's our favorite.