(Possibly) Sick Royal Gramma

IE Reefer · Oct 10, 2020

When I first noticed the new distinguishable look it was on her gills and I didn't stress about it. A couple of weeks ago the spot on her gills disappeared and relocated on her body/head and so after some further research, I came to a conclusion that it was marine velvet disease but I wasn't too sure because she has the white/gray-brownish spots but not the "ich" white dots. For about 1 1/2 weeks I've been giving the tank a 2x dose of Polyp Lab Medic and I've seen a bit of improvement on the 1st-week mark but then she started to scratch herself onto rocks (if she were to have ich). What should I do? Just to note that I also have 1 Clown, 1 Green Chromis, 1 Yellow Watchman Goby, and a Fiji Devil Damsel (in refugium due to aggressiveness towards clown). I also have a Bubble Tip Anemone, Branching Hammer corals, Kenya coral, and 2 variations of Palythoas. One more thing to note, I added the RG before I added a lot of rock to the tank, and my YWG and the RG fought for caves and the Fiji Damsel fought with the RG too, so that could be a reason for the frayed fins.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 10, 2020

Velvet hits the fish fast and hard. The 2 week timeline indicates that isn't the issue. This could be from aggression from the other fish, but the scratching could also be from flukes, a worm infestation. The gramma is holding its fins down, which is a general sign of stress/not feeling well. "Reef Safe" medications won't take care of the fluke issue, if that is the problem. Is the fish feeding well? If not, you might want to dose the tank with Prazipro, in order to deal with the possibility of flukes.

Jay

IE Reefer · Oct 10, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
Velvet hits the fish fast and hard. The 2 week timeline indicates that isn't the issue. This could be from aggression from the other fish, but the scratching could also be from flukes, a worm infestation. The gramma is holding its fins down, which is a general sign of stress/not feeling well. "Reef Safe" medications won't take care of the fluke issue, if that is the problem. Is the fish feeding well? If not, you might want to dose the tank with Prazipro, in order to deal with the possibility of flukes.

Jay

The fish is eating completely fine, do you think that a dip would help the situation?

IE Reefer · Oct 10, 2020

Also, if I may add, after looking more closer at the fish's "issue", it looks more of a very small tic tac that's moving

Jay Hemdal · Oct 11, 2020

elusiveop said:
Also, if I may add, after looking more closer at the fish's "issue", it looks more of a very small tic tac that's moving

If you can see it moving, then another, rare possibility would be a crustacean parasite known as a copepod. One of their names is "moving spot disease". I've never seen this on a RG though. Theoretically, some species of fluke can also move around on a fish, but are generally too small to see.

If you can do it safely, a freshwater dip might help diagnose the issue: catch the fish up and put it in a clean container of freshwater, the same temperature as the tank, and cover it so the fish doesn't jump out. I use an airstone as it helps agitate the water and flush off any parasites. After five minutes, hold the container over the tank and gently slide the fish back into the tank (you can use a net, but that can mess up the next step). Let the dip water settle and examine the bottom of it for anything that looks like a worm or little tiny shrimp. You may need a magnifying glass.

Jay

IE Reefer · Oct 11, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
If you can see it moving, then another, rare possibility would be a crustacean parasite known as a copepod. One of their names is "moving spot disease". I've never seen this on a RG though. Theoretically, some species of fluke can also move around on a fish, but are generally too small to see.

If you can do it safely, a freshwater dip might help diagnose the issue: catch the fish up and put it in a clean container of freshwater, the same temperature as the tank, and cover it so the fish doesn't jump out. I use an airstone as it helps agitate the water and flush off any parasites. After five minutes, hold the container over the tank and gently slide the fish back into the tank (you can use a net, but that can mess up the next step). Let the dip water settle and examine the bottom of it for anything that looks like a worm or little tiny shrimp. You may need a magnifying glass.

Jay

Thank you, Jay, I'll try that and I'll also send any pictures of parasites that fell off of the RG