Royal Gramma Drama or Worse?

[alyee5]

Royal Gramma Behavior History
In DT for 5 months with 2 Clarkii Clowns in a 100 gallon tank
Royal Gramma hid in rocks and poked out to grab food during feeding time
About 6 weeks ago Roayal Gramma seemed more timid in going for food in the midst of the Clarkii Clownfish feeding fenzy.
I tried to target feed in front of her favorite hole, but still didn't seem to eat consistently--always seemed a Clarkii would swoop in before she got the nerve to come out of her hole.
5 days ago, I introduced a Foxface and 2 firefish...the firefish went into the same rock as the
Royal Gramma but on the other side (its about 14inches across)
3 days ago I see the Royal Gramma laying on a rock! I thought she was dead but bolted when I tried to net her.
2 days ago, she was vertical in the corner of the tank I put some food near her and she seemed to eat. She seemed to swim around a bit when she saw me. I thought maybe the firefish displaced her and she was stressed trying to find a new home.
Today the Royal Gramma was floating again at the top of the tank but stuck to the overflow.
I was actually able to reach in an lift her out of the DT with my hands!

She seems disoriented and breathing heavy. See Pictures below. Other fish in DT seem fine.
I will take some tank parameter measurements and post soon. She is currently in a small tank with a filter, some rubble from my sump, water from the DT and air line to further oxygenate the water.

Any ideas? Possible treatment plans? I have Prazipro, Copper, metro and maybe some melafix from my freshwater days on hand. She was previously QT'd for 30 days with 2 rounds of Prazipro and been in the DT like I said for 5 months.

 

[melypr1985]

previously QT'd for 30 days with 2 rounds of Prazipro

Did you use anything else to treat him before going into the tank? TTM or copper or CP?

 

[Humblefish]

It sounds like someone is bullying her. It's not normal for them to stay holed up all the time.

 

[alyee5]

No I did not. My QT protocol is to match salinity of QT to LFS. Float and release in QT. Wait one week ensuring eating well, behavior is ok. Treat 2 rounds of Prazipro with a WC in between then wait another 2 weeks in observation. Everything was ok, the royal gramma hung out in a PVC pipe and came out at feeding time. After intro to DT, she hung out at the top of the tank (vertical) but eventually found a home in my rock work. I was originally thinking she was stressed by possibly being displaced from her hiding places combined with being undernourished maybe? Does she look thin? Don't know what to think right now...

 

[alyee5]

It sounds like someone is bullying her. It's not normal for them to stay holed up all the time.

That is a possibility. I am going to post another thread regarding the interaction of my Clarkii clowns with their new Foxface tankmate...I know Clarkii's can be aggressive and territorial, but it looks like the Foxface is egging them on to some degree--both interesting and worrisome at the same time.

 

[alyee5]

Help! My Royal Gramma is in a separate tank. This is how she is behaving for the last 24 hours. Will not eat...what is wrong?

 

[Humblefish]

@alyee5 I don't see any water movement in there. Do you have an airstone or small pump going to provide circulation?

 

[alyee5]

Ah, yes, I do...I have both a small pump and an airstone going...I turned them off for the video because I wanted to see how she was moving by herself without the water current. I was also blowing on the surface of the water to try and get the flake food near her mouth to see if she would take a nibble but didn't...

 

[alyee5]

Has anyone experienced a fish displaying this bobbing at the surface behavior?...she is still alive, but not eating still...doing the same repetitive motion. Not sure if she's suffering or not...tough to watch her.

 

[melypr1985]

I have an orange striped cardinal that has a swim bladder issue and was bobbing at the surface, but it was obvious that it was having trouble keeping it's equilibrium and unable to swim down at all with a distended belly.

This video shows none of that. I really feel this is something else. Could just be fear or stress. Could be neurological. Could be something else entirely but there isn't much to go on for a diagnosis. There are many things out there that we know nothing about in regards to diseases and marine fish.

 

[alyee5]

Ok, maybe I'm dealing with marine PTSD as Humblefish suggested. I don't want to medicate her unnecessarily so...I'll just observe right now and see if I can coax her to eat once in a while...she's in a dim cabinet so light and noise will be minimized...I'll send out updates periodically...thx!

 

[melypr1985]

Ok, maybe I'm dealing with marine PTSD as Humblefish suggested. I don't want to medicate her unnecessarily so...I'll just observe right now and see if I can coax her to eat once in a while...she's in a dim cabinet so light and noise will be minimized...I'll send out updates periodically...thx!

Be sure to have a cover over the tank and that she has plenty of hiding places. Even if you have to use plastic aquarium plants with PVC elbows. Just something to make her feel more comfortable.

 

[Humblefish]

You're not noticing any bulges near her stomach by any chance?

 

[alyee5]

Ok I put in her favorite PVC T from her QT days. She actually swam down to the bottom of the tank. I captured video so may be you can see if you see any abnormalities.

 

[Humblefish]

I mean, she "looks" fine. But the going up to the surface thing like that is really strange. It's not like she's sucking air, because if she was you'd see bubbles being blown back out of the gills.

 

[Robink]

I would lay the pvc sideways so it makes a tunnel and not a trap. So she has more than one way in and out. Have no idea and have never seen that before. Just keep observing... Maybe the experts will see something. Hope she makes it.

 

[alyee5]

Ok thx for the feedback. Maybe more patience for the patient.

 

[Humblefish]

You sure she's not blind? I had a gramma go blind on me one time, but it was because she was (unknowingly) out of water for 30 mins inside a rock.

 

[Deinonych]

Looks like stress-related behavior. My female RG did this when she was being picked on by my Kole Tang. She was a hot mess for several weeks, hiding and acting weird. Occasionally she would sleep out in the open pressed against the glass like what is shown in the video. She eventually recovered, although she almost never swims out in the open, preferring to hang out under one of my hammer corals. I will say that introducing a male RG really improved her behavior and visibility.

I think patience is the key here. Provide a stress-free environment and get her eating normally. Once she recovers, I would reintroduce via an acclimation box to ensure there is no aggression.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

no expert here and I am still learning about royal gramma. I picked up a fire fish and as royal gramma for my girl's 10g tank. Now the RG was fine but I noticed the fire fish acting just like your gramma. Someone told me the RG was stressing her out. I pulled the RG out and put in my 54 DT. The firefish is doing 100% better now. The RG hides a little in my DT but I also have some larger fish. he does come out for food and what not.