Sick Royal Gramma

737mech

737mech

Member
I have a Royal Gramma that I got on the 12th of June. I put him in my 10 gal QT tank that's been running for approx. 3 months. There are 2 mollies that have been in there for 2 months. Amo=0, NO2=0, NO3=10 , PH=8.2, temp 80.
All seemed well with the gramma for 5 days. Then I noticed what looked like ich (a few white specks). He was also breathing harder than I seen him do before. I decided to start hypo on the night of the 18th., by the 21st I had the tank sg=1.009 using a refractometer. It was originally 1.023.
One more week went by and during that week, he ate well and was swimming normally. On the 28th or so, he isolated himself in a shell at the bottom of the tank. Some people here have said that theirs hide a lot. I was thinking that's all he was doing, even though he only did that when he was first put in the tank.
Yesterday he only came out to eat and swam irratically. Kinda darting around in the tank. Today, after he came out to eat he swam in some upward spirals and even on his back for a moment. Then he stayed at the bottom of the tank. His breating seems deep or heavy, but not fast.
I think I'm going to lose him. I really have no idea what to do about it. If anyone can help me please reply
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Is your water conditions still good?
It could be that he developed a secondary infection as a result of the ich.
You can try treating with Maracyn Two for SW fish.
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Hello Beth,
Yes, I took the reading before I posted. I was wondering if it could be a secondary infection. I wish I had some on hand. All I have right now is Maracyn for fw fish. Stores are closed. I don't think Wal-Mart carries it for sw fish.
I'll get some tomorrow. I hope it's not too late:(
Thank you kindly
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Hello Terry,
I did put in the maracyn before I went to bed. I'll get the maracyn 2 today. The ph=8.2 and there has been no amo. I've reck'd these and the other readings as stated in my original post. I've read here to double dose the maracyn2 for 5 days w/ h2o change before each dose. Do you recommend this course to me?
The other 2 fish (mollies) that are in the same tank seem uneffected by any of this.
Thank you kindly.
 
737mech

737mech

Member
I'm confused. Is the maracyn product for SW the one to the right in the picture the one that I needed to get?
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Ok Terry, Now I wish I hadn't worked a 12hr. day. My wife went out for me and got Maracyn for SW and was dosed today one tablet. I thought that she had gotten MII for sw. What is going to happen to the fish? Should I do a water change? I feel like a dumb a.. What is meant by gram positive and gram negative?
I went back out and could only find maracynII for fw fish. I will wait to hear back from you before I screw something else up.
Thank you kindly
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Thanks again for your help. I've got some aged salt water waiting for me when I get back from work today. I'll follow your dosing like you said.
The gramma is still hanging in there, but still hiding out in a shell. He did come out breifly to eat. I didn't get a good look at his breathing, but he looked normal other than that. All I just see is his face sicking out of that shell for the most part.
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Hello Terry,
I would just like to make sure that I understand the doseage.
DOUBLE dose 1st day and then continue w/ a double dose for the next 7 days?
Thank you kindly
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Terry
I finally found Maracyn 2 for sw. I guess the B vitamins make the water yellowy. Is it wrong to continue to do a water change before each dose?
Thank you kindly.
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Well the antibiotic treatment went well. The gramma is no longer hiding out and is eating well. That's the good news.
Now for the bad. I believe that due to the water changes done to get down to 1.009 from 1.023 and the additional changes that I did during the antibiotic treatments my tank is wanting to cycle. I've been trying to keep this from happening for a few days. Amo=.25 qt 10gal. Also the bio wheel wasn't turning one day when I got home from work. I know that's not a good thing. I fixed that as soon as I saw it.
What should I do. I thinking of feeding every other day instead of once a day. I've used amquel and crystals to keep the amo in ck.
I'm in 3rd week of qt.
Has anyone else had difficulties with maintaining a 10 gal qt. for hypo use? Would it be better to have the sg=1.018 to start with. That way there'd be less h20 changes to lower it while preserving the bio filtration?
Seems like I've gone from one problem to the next. Help!
Thank you kindly.
 
737mech

737mech

Member
I saved some h20 from my 38 gal tank from a water change. I diluted it with r/o top off to .008 The sg of the qt has gone up to .011 I did a h20 change in the qt yesterday (about 1gal) I'm trying to get sg back down to .009
How many days do you think it will take until the tank settles down? Is a 1 gal h20 change ok on a 10 gal tank? Too much too little?
I'll pick up Poly Filter on my way home.
Thank you once again Terry
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Well, I got the sg down to 1.009 last night using a refractometer. Today when I got home from work the gramma was at the bottom of the tank hiding and he had the same breathing problem that he had before when the tank was at 1.009 the first time. He also did not eat. The last couple of days he's been eating great and swimming around. I ck'd the h20 and amo=0,ph8.2, no2=0, no3=10.
I'm familiar with hypo. I've done this treatment successfully on 2 perculas a few months ago with absolutely no ill effects.
It seems odd that this fish is effected this way with hypo. He acts like he's going unconscious.
I decided to raise the sg back to 1.010, since he was there without any ill effects for 24 hrs. Odd thing about it, he seemed to snap out of it when the sg got to 1.010. He started to swim around and now he is in his usual spot in the tank. I do have a new swing arm that I ck'd the refractometer against and I got the same reading. Last week I questioned myself about the calibration of the refractometer. So I ck'd it out with distilled h20 @ 68 deg. I let all equipment stabilize at that temp and ck'd and re-ck'd. I was really expecting to see the refractometer off. It wasn't.
Has it ever been anyones experience that grammas or other fish are more sensitive to the 1.009 that hypo requires?
Thank you kindly
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Terry,
Help! I ck'd the alk and it is way too high. I used the salifert kit. alk=5.71 ph=8.3 How do I get it down ??? Temp=80 deg.
I've used Kent marine aquarium ph buffer since my ph had gotten low. I didn't know that it would raise my alk sky high. I read a post about adding Calcium Chloride. My cal=165 using seatest.
I'm doing a water change now. Should I also add the Calcium Chloride too?
Gramma looks bad :( Breathing hard at the bottom of the tank :mad:
 
737mech

737mech

Member
Well today the gramma is gone. I guess the tank yo-yo'd way too much for him. The 2 mollies that have been in the same tank are just fine. They never acted different during any treatment. I really wanted to see the gramma in the 38 gal tank:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top