Royal gramma white mark

[MaPePo]

View attachment 20260412_123618_CA10B38F-203D-4914-8EFE-1E8559252535.mov
I have a royal gramma in QT with prophylactic copper at 2.25ppm with a tang. It has a white mark mid body right side the last 3 days or so that looks like an injury? Or is this something I should worry about? She’s been in QT about 3 weeks now and has looked perfectly healthy except the first week had a white mark show up near the mouth that went away on its own. I thought it might be an injury. I just want to make sure the reoccurrence doesn’t mean I should be concerned and treat with something else?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a royal gramma in QT with prophylactic copper at 2.25ppm with a tang. It has a white mark mid body right side the last 3 days or so that looks like an injury? Or is this something I should worry about? She’s been in QT about 3 weeks now and has looked perfectly healthy except the first week had a white mark show up near the mouth that went away on its own. I thought it might be an injury. I just want to make sure the reoccurrence doesn’t mean I should be concerned and treat with something else?

Yes - appears to be a scrape injury as they are known to dart into rocks. Keep an eye on it for healing and not becoming red or sore which would require treatment in a separate tank using Seachem Neoplex

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have a royal gramma in QT with prophylactic copper at 2.25ppm with a tang. It has a white mark mid body right side the last 3 days or so that looks like an injury? Or is this something I should worry about? She’s been in QT about 3 weeks now and has looked perfectly healthy except the first week had a white mark show up near the mouth that went away on its own. I thought it might be an injury. I just want to make sure the reoccurrence doesn’t mean I should be concerned and treat with something else?

Is the gramma still eating well?

I viewed the video a few times, but couldn’t tell, it looks like there is a deeper hole behind the white mark? If the fish’s muscle tissue is showing, that’s a more serious issue.

I also saw the fish cough a couple of times, not sure what that is, could be flukes.

 

[MaPePo]

Is the gramma still eating well?

I viewed the video a few times, but couldn’t tell, it looks like there is a deeper hole behind the white mark? If the fish’s muscle tissue is showing, that’s a more serious issue.

I also saw the fish cough a couple of times, not sure what that is, could be flu oh es.

Oh wow! Yes she’s eating, sleeping vertically upside down a lot the last few days, if that makes sense. Very timid though, lots of hiding so it’s hard to get a good look but I’ll try to see if I can see muscle tissue showing - also I didn’t know that was a cough. Can I give something along with the copper? There’s a Tomini tang in there too, I’ve stocked the basics to keep on hand from humble fish like antibiotics.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Oh wow! Yes she’s eating, sleeping vertically upside down a lot the last few days, if that makes sense. Very timid though, lots of hiding so it’s hard to get a good look but I’ll try to see if I can see muscle tissue showing - also I didn’t know that was a cough. Can I give something along with the copper? There’s a Tomini tang in there too, I’ve stocked the basics to keep on hand from humble fish like antibiotics.

After the copper treatment, you should follow it with a prazi treatment, as grammas are very susceptible to flukes:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

 

[MaPePo]

Oh wow! Yes she’s eating, sleeping vertically upside down a lot the last few days, if that makes sense. Very timid though, lots of hiding so it’s hard to get a good look but I’ll try to see if I can see muscle tissue showing - also I didn’t know that was a cough. Can I give something along with the copper? There’s a Tomini tang in there too, I’ve stocked the basics to keep on hand from humble fish like antibiotics.

It might be that, thank you both for your advice. I don’t see redness around the white marks but Today the gramma has several white marks on her body, at least 3, though hard to see on the yellow. Not eating and unable to control swimming, just being floated around the tank if not wedged somewhere. The Tomini is fine, no change and eating. The gramma likes to sleep under the sponge filter so maybe she got an infection from the scrape?

I put metroplex and NFG in the tank, flow is off. Since the tang seems normal I’m guessing this could be bacterial? If flukes (re: cough) Should I add prazi too? The tank is still being treated with copper power.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That’s tough to say - stacking medications should be avoided if possible. Copper, antibiotic and anti-fluke treatment at the same time can overwhelm the fish. However, there is no clear treatment direction to go with here, and it seems evident that is you don’t do something, the fish isn’t going to make it……

 

[MaPePo]

That’s tough to say - stacking medications should be avoided if possible. Copper, antibiotic and anti-fluke treatment at the same time can overwhelm the fish. However, there is no clear treatment direction to go with here, and it seems evident that is you don’t do something, the fish isn’t going to make it……

Yeah I was desperate and unfortunately the RG didn’t make it. When I took her out of the tank I could see numerous white marks, some more linear than spots. Any idea what this could be? I’m mostly trying to figure out how to treat the tang, who is acting normal and looks normal atm. Should I leave antibiotics in the water and complete antibiotic treatment just in case it’s a contagious infection? Change water and dose prazi right away or change water and finish copper and then do prazi as planned (as long as the tang shows no change). The last one is how I’m leaning.

It’s hard to get a good look at the tang bc she’s so shy but those could be white specks on her. I didn’t notice it until looking at the photo.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yeah I was desperate and unfortunately the RG didn’t make it. When I took her out of the tank I could see numerous white marks, some more linear than spots. Any idea what this could be? I’m mostly trying to figure out how to treat the tang, who is acting normal and looks normal atm. Should I leave antibiotics in the water and complete antibiotic treatment just in case it’s a contagious infection? Change water and dose prazi right away or change water and finish copper and then do prazi as planned (as long as the tang shows no change). The last one is how I’m leaning.

It’s hard to get a good look at the tang bc she’s so shy but those could be white specks on her. I didn’t notice it until looking at the photo.

Sorry to hear that.

The gramma has clear fin damage on the trailing edges - that is almost always due to some tankmate aggression. If the fish had been dead for some time, that damage *could* be from CUC nibbling on it, but really, this looks to me like some other fish has been attacking it.

 

[MaPePo]

Yeah I was desperate and unfortunately the RG didn’t make it. When I took her out of the tank I could see numerous white marks, some more linear than spots. Any idea what this could be? I’m mostly trying to figure out how to treat the tang, who is acting normal and looks normal atm. Should I leave antibiotics in the water and complete antibiotic treatment just in case it’s a contagious infection? Change water and dose prazi right away or change water and finish copper and then do prazi as planned (as long as the tang shows no change). The last one is how I’m leaning.

It’s hard to get a good look at the tang bc she’s so shy but those could be white specks on her. I didn’t notice it until looking at the photo.

Sorry to hear that.

The gramma has clear fin damage on the trailing edges - that is almost always due to some tankmate aggression. If the fish had been dead for some time, that damage *could* be from CUC nibbling on it, but really, this looks to me like some other fish has been attacking it.

There’s no CUC and couldn’t have been dead more than 7 hours/overnight. She was in a QT treated with copper power for about 3 weeks with a Tomini tang. I’ve never seen aggression from the tang but the tang hides when she sees us. The body doesn’t show any signs of flukes or brook? One eye seems slightly cloudy but I really have no idea what I’m looking at.

 

[sgdnycct]

Sorry for your loss. To me it looks like aggression. Tomini Tangs can be very aggressive, especially in an environment like QT tanks where it’s unnatural and stressful. You often wont see the displays while you’re in the room.

 

[MaPePo]

Sorry for your loss. To me it looks like aggression. Tomini Tangs can be very aggressive, especially in an environment like QT tanks where it’s unnatural and stressful. You often wont see the displays while you’re in the room.

Oh no, that’s awful, I feel so bad and wish I would have separated. This hobby can be 1 painful lesson at a time.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

There’s no CUC and couldn’t have been dead more than 7 hours/overnight. She was in a QT treated with copper power for about 3 weeks with a Tomini tang. I’ve never seen aggression from the tang but the tang hides when she sees us. The body doesn’t show any signs of flukes or brook? One eye seems slightly cloudy but I really have no idea what I’m looking at.

Flukes just don’t cause that extent of fin damage, flukes cause a sort frayed edge, not tears like this. It must have been the tomini.

Cloudy eyes can be a sign of flukes, but typically, it involves both eyes. When it’s just one eye, that’s more a sign of injury, which lines up with the tattered fins.

Brooklynella really isn’t visible in dead fish - in living fish, it causes thick mucus to build up on the body, with strands of it sometimes peeling off. It also causes fish to swim in a stilted fashion.