My Royal Gramma turned into a pinecone then died

[Kiboshed]

So last night I got home from a 12 hour shift and my Royal Gramma had a bloated stomach and all his scales were pointed almost straight out. Some of them looked like they were falling off.

I put him in quarantine immediately and this morning he was dead.

Tank is only 2 months old, but all of the other fish and inverts in there seem healthy.

Parameters are in range and stable.

Had the fish for 12 days. It never really had much of an apatite and would become lethargic frequently. It had a good feeding response and when I would drop various food in the tank it would eat it and then puke it back up seconds later.

Any idea what would cause this and should I be worried about my other 2 fish?

Sorry I did not get any pics. I am in the middle of a busy work week and did not think about it.

 

[Murica]

could be wrong but I believe my Royal gramma had died similar to yours and the most consistent thing I’ve found on the Internet was dropsy. In my experiences only 1 gramma and 2 purple fire fish have died in similar ways, all consistent to dropsy. Hope this helps but I’m sure the experts will chime in

 

[Kiboshed]

could be wrong but I believe my Royal gramma had died similar to yours and the most consistent thing I’ve found on the Internet was dropsy. In my experiences only 1 gramma and 2 purple fire fish have died in similar ways, all consistent to dropsy. Hope this helps but I’m sure the experts will chime in

That is unfortunate. To your knowledge is it contagious? I hear dropsy is almost unheard of in saltwater.

 

[TheFunnyFarm]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am curious what dropsy is as I’ve never heard of it before.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So last night I got home from a 12 hour shift and my Royal Gramma had a bloated stomach and all his scales were pointed almost straight out. Some of them looked like they were falling off.

I put him in quarantine immediately and this morning he was dead.

Tank is only 2 months old, but all of the other fish and inverts in there seem healthy.

Parameters are in range and stable.

Had the fish for 12 days. It never really had much of an apatite and would become lethargic frequently. It had a good feeding response and when I would drop various food in the tank it would eat it and then puke it back up seconds later.

Any idea what would cause this and should I be worried about my other 2 fish?

Sorry I did not get any pics. I am in the middle of a busy work week and did not think about it.

Pinecone is a great description as it describes raised scales often associated with uronema, skin irritation or a form of dropsy which is FW issue but in saltwater is A sign of kidney failure in fish from internal tumor and even constipation
Without pics, will be hard to confirm

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am curious what dropsy is as I’ve never heard of it before.

Dropsy often occurs in freshwater but has an effect in sw fish after a condition has occurred such as constipation which causes bloating

 

[TheFunnyFarm]

Dropsy often occurs in freshwater but has an effect in sw fish after a condition has occurred such as constipation which causes bloating

Thank you, love learning new things here!

 

[Kiboshed]

Pinecone is a great description as it describes raised scales often associated with uronema, skin irritation or a form of dropsy which is FW issue but in saltwater is A sign of kidney failure in fish from internal tumor and even constipation
Without pics, will be hard to confirm

It seemed to happen over night and it was all over his body, not just one irritated area. Night before I was watching him and he looked healthy. Even thought it was weird how full his belly looked despite him not eating, next night off work all his scales were flared out. There were some clear ovals coming off his his scales though that at the time I just assumed we're some of his scales falling off from the bloat, but now I think could have been flukes. He was showing no symptoms of flukes before though. No flashing or scratching on any of the rocks or heavy breathing, ect.

Is it possible for him to have gotten flukes all over his body in such a short time and kill him?

 

[Murica]

That is unfortunate. To your knowledge is it contagious? I hear dropsy is almost in heard of in saltwater.

I don’t believe so but it seems that @vetteguy53081 has a better understanding of it

 

[MnFish1]

Dropsy is a 'symptom' - it's not a disease - it signifies (most of the time) fluid buildup due to a bacterial, parasitic infection, liver issues etc. The symptom itself doesn't help much as to the cause without more information. Sorry for your loss - I would carefully watch your other fish - which I assume were not quarantined?

 

[Kiboshed]

Dropsy is a 'symptom' - it's not a disease - it signifies (most of the time) fluid buildup due to a bacterial, parasitic infection, liver issues etc. The symptom itself doesn't help much as to the cause without more information. Sorry for your loss - I would carefully watch your other fish - which I assume were not quarantined?

Good to know. Thank you for the information. Thank everyone for the information.

No they were not I just got this tank set up and didn't have the space for quarantine. Been kind of using my LFS as a pseudo-quarantine where if the fish has been alive and healthy there for a month I am more inclined to buy it which is what I did with my first two fish.

The Gramma was definitely an impulse buy and now I have paid the price for that. I know nothing in the hobby comes quick, I foolishly rolled the dice and lost.

Hopefully it was just some kind of constipation or isolated liver disease and my other fish don't pay a worse price.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Good to know. Thank you for the information. Thank everyone for the information.

No they were not I just got this tank set up and didn't have the space for quarantine. Been kind of using my LFS as a pseudo-quarantine where if the fish has been alive and healthy there for a month I am more inclined to buy it which is what I did with my first two fish.

The Gramma was definitely an impulse buy and now I have paid the price for that. I know nothing in the hobby comes quick, I foolishly rolled the dice and lost.

Hopefully it was just some kind of constipation or isolated liver disease and my other fish don't pay a worse price.

I used to say that marine fish "never get dropsy". I've since seen a few cases, but it is very rare in comparison to freshwater fish. As said, it is caused by liver or kidney disease.

Jay

 

[NoLarvatusplease]

So last night I got home from a 12 hour shift and my Royal Gramma had a bloated stomach and all his scales were pointed almost straight out. Some of them looked like they were falling off.

I put him in quarantine immediately and this morning he was dead.

Tank is only 2 months old, but all of the other fish and inverts in there seem healthy.

Parameters are in range and stable.

Had the fish for 12 days. It never really had much of an apatite and would become lethargic frequently. It had a good feeding response and when I would drop various food in the tank it would eat it and then puke it back up seconds later.

Any idea what would cause this and should I be worried about my other 2 fish?

Sorry I did not get any pics. I am in the middle of a busy work week and did not think about it.

Back in the day the 70's there was an epidemic of marines caught by divers squirting cyanide into coral heads and stunning fish into their nets.In New York people were inexplicably losing fish at alarming rates.Necropsys showed severe liver damage.Phillipines and Hawaii were the most egregious practitioners.Might still be happening.Only a autopsy could definitively tell you.Sorry for your loss.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Back in the day the 70's there was an epidemic of marines caught by divers squirting cyanide into coral heads and stunning fish into their nets.In New York people were inexplicably losing fish at alarming rates.Necropsys showed severe liver damage.Phillipines and Hawaii were the most egregious practitioners.Might still be happening.Only a autopsy could definitively tell you.Sorry for your loss.

Yes - it’s still happening. Royal Gramnas aren’t caught that way though.