Royal Gramma - Trying to figure out?

[taterfish]

Heya! Trying to figure out what i can do for my Royal Gramma. I will start with saying i was on a budget building my tank and i did not purchase another tank to properly QT the 2 fish i have.

I've had her for 70ish days, recently has been flashing on the rocks and or sand bed, mainly focusing on her gill area. Showing signs of dots more visible under a blueish light not so much white lighting. Breathing a bit heavy as well. Hanging out at the top of tank more toward evening hours.

I added a clownfish to the tank 3 weeks ago, no signs of any problems with him.

Tank parameters
20 gallon long
Fish - 2
Hermits - 4
Snails - 3
salinity 1.024
ph 8.1
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrate 1
alk 10

Here is the link to the video - i will also attach here



I will try to also get a picture with more of a white light.

Thanks for any help

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

His tail is tattered, evidence of bullying. What other fish are in the tank? How is the rockwork? Have you got caves for him?

 

[taterfish]

His tail is tattered, evidence of bullying. What other fish are in the tank? How is the rockwork? Have you got caves for him?

The only fish i added was a clownfish 3 weeks ago, but i never have seen the clown act aggressive toward the gramma, and i watch from where they cant see im watching the tank. The gramma has 2 caves that the clown cannot get into. He has caves under the right rock and left rock. Ill attach a picture

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

#fishmedics for more help please

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Heya! Trying to figure out what i can do for my Royal Gramma. I will start with saying i was on a budget building my tank and i did not purchase another tank to properly QT the 2 fish i have.

I've had her for 70ish days, recently has been flashing on the rocks and or sand bed, mainly focusing on her gill area. Showing signs of dots more visible under a blueish light not so much white lighting. Breathing a bit heavy as well. Hanging out at the top of tank more toward evening hours.

I added a clownfish to the tank 3 weeks ago, no signs of any problems with him.

Tank parameters
20 gallon long
Fish - 2
Hermits - 4
Snails - 3
salinity 1.024
ph 8.1
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrate 1
alk 10

Here is the link to the video - i will also attach here



I will try to also get a picture with more of a white light.

Thanks for any help

This is a tough one; at first view, it seems like a clear case of gill flukes. However, when I watched the video a few more times, I think I can see some discrete spots (could be ich). If the fish DOES have ich, it could still have flukes at the same time. Grammas are really prone to those. The scratching, and sort of "ratty look" tend to point to flukes.

I would treat for flukes first, and then, if the spots increase in number, you may need to treat for ich as well. Flukes are easier to treat for in the display, because you can use Praziquantel, while any effective ich treatment is going to require moving all of the fish to a hospital tank and treating with coppersafe.

If you want to try treating for flukes, this post will explain how to do that:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

 

[taterfish]

This is a tough one; at first view, it seems like a clear case of gill flukes. However, when I watched the video a few more times, I think I can see some discrete spots (could be ich). If the fish DOES have ich, it could still have flukes at the same time. Grammas are really prone to those. The scratching, and sort of "ratty look" tend to point to flukes.

I would treat for flukes first, and then, if the spots increase in number, you may need to treat for ich as well. Flukes are easier to treat for in the display, because you can use Praziquantel, while any effective ich treatment is going to require moving all of the fish to a hospital tank and treating with coppersafe.

If you want to try treating for flukes, this post will explain how to do that:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

Thank you very much for your opinion, i totally agree i think the best bet would be to first try and treat for flukes. I will grab some prazipro from the LFS tomorrow since theyre closed right now, i saw it on their shelf yesterday.

If any spots increase after the treatment, ill purchase a QT tank and put both fish in and let the main tank go fallow for awhile.

Thank you again, i will report back once i start treatment.

 

[taterfish]

Please excuse the 1 aptasia in the video, i have syringes on order to get that taken care of.

Here is a video of her flashing

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Please excuse the 1 aptasia in the video, i have syringes on order to get that taken care of.

Here is a video of her flashing

@Jay Hemdal

I'm not seeing ich spots clearly here, I think a fluke treatment would be the way to start......

 

[taterfish]

I'm not seeing ich spots clearly here, I think a fluke treatment would be the way to start......

Ok great, thanks again for your help and opinion. Will start treatment tomorrow and post updates!

 

[taterfish]

Unfortunately she passed today while i was at work, even with the added airstone, she was alive this morning in her cave. I may have gotten to her to late. Gave her a proper burial, will be missed