Hey there,
I’ve got this royal gramma, had it for about a year I think. And it is typically fairly active.ill try and keep the backstory briefish. But I can’t help myself sorry.
After adding a small fox face to my 40 gallon system, noticed that it was rarely visible. Come to find out the gramma was hiding from the fox face which would chase after it, unless there was food in the tank that he was off eating. But if he noticed it out of its cave, the FF would chase it back into the cave.
I began noticing the fox face trying to move into the cave. It’s kind of neurotic and spazzes out at the simplest things. Darting all over the tank. Like when I clean the glass or siphon water.
Fast forward to 3 days ago, the gramma was lying in the sand up wedged between the front glass and a rock. Thought it was strange but it swam off and hid after only a few seconds. Was able to look long enough that I didn’t see any obvious signs of ich or velvet at that time. Velvet would likely have killed this fish by now I imagine.
Today I found the fish in the corner of the tank, lying still again. Noticed breathing was labored, and I just set up a 20 gallon upstairs 2 days ago. So I thought why not catch it, and stick it in the 20.
The gramma attempted to escape once and then literally swam right into my net. And did not fight being extracted. Uuuuntil I reached the surface and it went carpet surfing for a moment.
After isolating in the 20 gallon, I think I am seeing some fin damage. But can’t get a close enough look at it as it is hiding in the rockwork. I was able to see that while its breathing does seem labored, it is not breathing rapidly. No yawning or coughing observed so far.
Tank was set up with rock from my sump. Ammonia badge is reading 0 but it was old so I bought a new one. Also reading 0 for now.
I plan to do some large water changes if ammonia creeps up on the badge, and if it becomes an issue I’m going to my other lfs to grab some dr Tim’s. But I don’t have a test kit as the one I have was expired and the petco I bought the badge from didn’t have a kit.
At first, it just laid still at the bottom of the tank. Since then I’ve seen it moving around, but still hasn’t eaten that I’ve seen.
If it’s still alive tomorrow and I haven’t gotten a picture I’m going to attempt catching it and placing in a specimen container. Which I should have done to start with for a photo op. But I didn’t think about it.
Going to test water parameters on the 40 gallon when my daughter takes her nap. I’ll post the results later.
Due to the fin damage I’m leaning more toward bullying that disease. And it seems to be acting more normal than in the 40 gallon so far.
So, I’ve bought some pellet food with garlic, which I intend to soak in vitachem before adding to the 20 gallon tank for the gramma. I have the lights off hoping to offer it a calming place to rest.
Is there anything else I should be doing or watching for? Gonna try to feed without the garlic food first.
The other fish seem fine for the moment. All acting normally. Though I did see one of my clowns swim toward a powerhead earlier. But just the one time so far.
That was not brief at all…
I’ve got this royal gramma, had it for about a year I think. And it is typically fairly active.ill try and keep the backstory briefish. But I can’t help myself sorry.
After adding a small fox face to my 40 gallon system, noticed that it was rarely visible. Come to find out the gramma was hiding from the fox face which would chase after it, unless there was food in the tank that he was off eating. But if he noticed it out of its cave, the FF would chase it back into the cave.
I began noticing the fox face trying to move into the cave. It’s kind of neurotic and spazzes out at the simplest things. Darting all over the tank. Like when I clean the glass or siphon water.
Fast forward to 3 days ago, the gramma was lying in the sand up wedged between the front glass and a rock. Thought it was strange but it swam off and hid after only a few seconds. Was able to look long enough that I didn’t see any obvious signs of ich or velvet at that time. Velvet would likely have killed this fish by now I imagine.
Today I found the fish in the corner of the tank, lying still again. Noticed breathing was labored, and I just set up a 20 gallon upstairs 2 days ago. So I thought why not catch it, and stick it in the 20.
The gramma attempted to escape once and then literally swam right into my net. And did not fight being extracted. Uuuuntil I reached the surface and it went carpet surfing for a moment.
After isolating in the 20 gallon, I think I am seeing some fin damage. But can’t get a close enough look at it as it is hiding in the rockwork. I was able to see that while its breathing does seem labored, it is not breathing rapidly. No yawning or coughing observed so far.
Tank was set up with rock from my sump. Ammonia badge is reading 0 but it was old so I bought a new one. Also reading 0 for now.
I plan to do some large water changes if ammonia creeps up on the badge, and if it becomes an issue I’m going to my other lfs to grab some dr Tim’s. But I don’t have a test kit as the one I have was expired and the petco I bought the badge from didn’t have a kit.
At first, it just laid still at the bottom of the tank. Since then I’ve seen it moving around, but still hasn’t eaten that I’ve seen.
If it’s still alive tomorrow and I haven’t gotten a picture I’m going to attempt catching it and placing in a specimen container. Which I should have done to start with for a photo op. But I didn’t think about it.
Going to test water parameters on the 40 gallon when my daughter takes her nap. I’ll post the results later.
Due to the fin damage I’m leaning more toward bullying that disease. And it seems to be acting more normal than in the 40 gallon so far.
So, I’ve bought some pellet food with garlic, which I intend to soak in vitachem before adding to the 20 gallon tank for the gramma. I have the lights off hoping to offer it a calming place to rest.
Is there anything else I should be doing or watching for? Gonna try to feed without the garlic food first.
The other fish seem fine for the moment. All acting normally. Though I did see one of my clowns swim toward a powerhead earlier. But just the one time so far.
That was not brief at all…