Second opinion please - do they look good?

[saltcats]

Hi all,

My fish from biota came in Tuesday morning and I wanted to get some second opinions on if they look good :) (I'm sure biota's stock is very healthy and I don't at all think the fish came in badly, so I'm just paranoid at this point after multiple bad experiences with fish I've bought locally!)

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Quarantine tank but it's got live rock etc. Been set up for a few years.
Aquarium water volume: 12ish gallons I believe
Filtration type AIO. I have an airstone as well in the back chambers.
Lighting Stock fluval
How long has the aquarium been established? 2-ish years

Water quality (be sure to indicate what measurement units you are using, as well as the test kit brand)
All kits are API liquid tests
Temperature 77f
pH: 8.1
Salinity / specific gravity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0

In-depth information:
I think these fish are probably healthy but I'm pretty nervous about it after all my recent bad luck with locally bought fish. I just want to check nobody sees anything to be alarmed about - these are the first time I've had fish shipped as well so I don't know what behavior to expect after that either! If they are sick I would assume it's something nasty from a previous local fish that has somehow survived a 130+ day fallow period, and nothing Biota has done.

Blue neon goby is eating well. He swims around a lot when he sees you approach the tank... I think I've seen some heavy breathing from him but I don't know for sure.

Court jester I haven't seen eat frozen but he's definitely picking at stuff like I would expect. He has been pretty active since I added them on Tuesday morning. Did yawn exactly once that I saw this morning.

Royal gramma is very shy and I haven't seen it eat yet. It's been mostly hanging out under this piece of rock (as seen in the video) but this is maybe normal for that species? It gets interested when food is added but hasn't gone for anything that I have witnessed.
Sorry my glass is dirty :(

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Fish direct from Biota are of less risk than the same fish that have gone through the regular supply chain, and a lot less risk of dying from all reasons than wild caught fish.

I can see some spots and fin damage on the gramma though. It may just be the dirty glass.

What foods are you trying on the gramma? Be sure to stand way back when you feed it so that you don’t cause it to be scared and hide.

 

[saltcats]

Fish direct from Biota are of less risk than the same fish that have gone through the regular supply chain, and a lot less risk of dying from all reasons than wild caught fish.

I can see some spots and fin damage on the gramma though. It may just be the dirty glass.

What foods are you trying on the gramma? Be sure to stand way back when you feed it so that you don’t cause it to be scared and hide.

Thanks! I'll try and get a better video of the neon goby later so hopefully his gills will be visible; I am not confident in my ability to count respiration rate myself and I always think they look like they're breathing hard even if they aren't!

I'm offering them frozen small mysis and cyclopeeze frozen pods. Last night when I fed I sat there for a while and the gramma started to come out more. I'll try feeding and moving away.
I have masstick but I've not tried that yet (putting my hand in the tank to place it seems very disruptive!). I might get some of the pellets biota recommends but they seem hard to come by.

 

[kevgib67]

Thanks! I'll try and get a better video of the neon goby later so hopefully his gills will be visible; I am not confident in my ability to count respiration rate myself and I always think they look like they're breathing hard even if they aren't!

I'm offering them frozen small mysis and cyclopeeze frozen pods. Last night when I fed I sat there for a while and the gramma started to come out more. I'll try feeding and moving away.
I have masstick but I've not tried that yet (putting my hand in the tank to place it seems very disruptive!). I might get some of the pellets biota recommends but they seem hard to come by.

Normal royal gramma behavior when first introduced to a new tank. Typically in a couple of weeks it will be comfortable and out and about all the time. Both fish look healthy to me unless, like Jay said, the marks aren’t on the glass but the fish.

 

[saltcats]

Normal royal gramma behavior when first introduced to a new tank. Typically in a couple of weeks it will be comfortable and out and about all the time. Both fish look healthy to me unless, like Jay said, the marks aren’t on the glass but the fish.

Thanks so much! I do see some very slight fin damage around the edges but the marks are definitely all on the glass :) Its stomach looks very empty so I do hope it'll feel comfortable to eat soon. I may try cutting off the pump next time so the food doesn't move around as fast...
At least with this tank I know there's all kinds of micro critters in there so it could be picking at that when I'm not there if it wants to!

Believe it or not, I did clean it before the fish went in but the camera always shows what you missed :grinning-face-with-sweat:

 

[kevgib67]

I have had mine over 2 1/2 years and I think I didn’t see it for a few days and then started coming out to eat and then back to the hideout. After a couple of weeks it was out and about all the time. Always the first one to bed before lights out.

 

[saltcats]

A couple more videos - the gramma I still haven't seen eat but it seems to be coming out more and is engaged in rearranging the sand around the favorite rock.

The neon goby finally stayed still long enough to get a decent video of him; I do think this is breathing heavily? I'm a little worried about what could cause that ... although he does swim around hyperactively when he sees people go in so maybe that's why? He's eating vigorously.

I do appreciate everyone taking the time to look over these and chime in; I'm very paranoid I'll miss something after losing my last gobies. At the time I had thought "hmmm... are they swimming into flow? not sure... well I am prone to worrying too much so it's probably fine" and then it turned out I *should* have taken that particular worry seriously.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, the neon goby is breathing too fast. I couldn’t see the gramma clearly.

 

[saltcats]

Yes, the neon goby is breathing too fast. I couldn’t see the gramma clearly.

Oh no :(
I guess I need to start treating them?
The timeline here is they were all added to the tank at noon on Tuesday.

Something could've persisted in the tank even though no fish were in it/nothing was added in 130 days?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Oh no :(
I guess I need to start treating them?
The timeline here is they were all added to the tank at noon on Tuesday.

Something could've persisted in the tank even though no fish were in it/nothing was added in 130 days?

Rapid respiration is a broad symptom, you can’t treat it unless you know the underlying cause - first thing is to drop an air stone into the tank if it doesn’t have one already.

 

[saltcats]

Rapid respiration is a broad symptom, you can’t treat it unless you know the underlying cause - first thing is to drop an air stone into the tank if it doesn’t have one already.

Thanks, I have an air stone in the back chamber but I can move it to the main display if that's better.
I can also point the second return nozzle upwards.

In terms of other symptoms the court jester goby flashed twice earlier this afternoon but that's all I've seen.

This is the tank I had the yellow nose gobies in that you recommended be treated with copper and prazi simultaneously, for reference. That was back on June 3rd.

I don't think I could use prazi in this tank again so I would either need to do hypo or relocate them if that's necessary.

 

[Tamberav]

Baby fish from biota don't handle medications well. I can't tell exact size they are but I would not be fast to pull the trigger if they are little juvies... copper is more toxic to the little babies. I am not sure about prazipro though.

Low chance of disease if directly from them but I won't say it is zero.

 

[Tamberav]

I guess what I am saying is I would not treat without knowing what I am treating for. Maybe Jay knows how these little guys handle prazipro though.

 

[saltcats]

Baby fish from biota don't handle medications well. I can't tell exact size they are but I would not be fast to pull the trigger if they are little juvies... copper is more toxic to the little babies. I am not sure about prazipro though.

Low chance of disease if directly from them but I won't say it is zero.

Yeah I really don't want to pull them into a bare hospital tank for many reasons. I'll feel awful if they got sick from my tank though. I don't know the timeline for infection, if they could've got something this fast?
:(

They're pretty small, the gramma is maybe 1.5". I hope it's just oxygen.

 

[saltcats]

Okay, I pointed both returns up and moved the air stone deeper into the chamber so the bubbles are in contact for longer (if that makes a difference). I hope there'll be improvement in the morning :(

 

[saltcats]

Grabbed a new video this morning, really appreciate everyone's time and help with this!

Touch wood I think he's breathing better? He ate breakfast with usual gusto.

Thanks in advance!
I'm considering grabbing the salifert oxygen test kit next time I'm ordering something online just for my own peace of mind in the future

 

[saltcats]

Royal gramma felt confident to come out and eat today, stayed out longer each time. Really happy about that!

The neon goby I feel is still breathing a little faster than I'd like and I have seen a couple yawns. He is very active and eats enthusiastically and I haven't noticed anything else that I think would be alarming (he's not hiding away, I don't think he's swimming into flow or hanging out near the overflow) but I'm still somewhat nervous about it. As far as I can tell the other fish aren't breathing hard but I'll keep a close eye.

If there's any thoughts what else I should be watching for let me know. I'll recheck my params tomorrow but I doubt anything will be off.

I want to say I think he was breathing hard the first day I got him as well; I had suspicions but he wouldn't stay still long enough for me to be sure. Could it be some kind of shipping related stress?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Royal gramma felt confident to come out and eat today, stayed out longer each time. Really happy about that!

The neon goby I feel is still breathing a little faster than I'd like and I have seen a couple yawns. He is very active and eats enthusiastically and I haven't noticed anything else that I think would be alarming (he's not hiding away, I don't think he's swimming into flow or hanging out near the overflow) but I'm still somewhat nervous about it. As far as I can tell the other fish aren't breathing hard but I'll keep a close eye.

If there's any thoughts what else I should be watching for let me know. I'll recheck my params tomorrow but I doubt anything will be off.

I want to say I think he was breathing hard the first day I got him as well; I had suspicions but he wouldn't stay still long enough for me to be sure. Could it be some kind of shipping related stress?

Unlikely to be from shipping stress based on the time being so long now. Aeration has been ruled out, and your water temperature isn’t too high.

Differential diagnosis would be: flukes, gill protozoans, viral or other systemic disease, or idiopathic (no apparent cause). Since the breathing is not combined with any other symptoms, I would just watch it for now.