Royal gramma found upside down on sand bed breathing heavy

[bondno9]

I found him this morning breathing heavy on the sand bed. I isolated him to a small breeder box in the tank and he’s just floating upside down breathing heavy still. What can I do to help him?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

#fishmedic, How long have you had him? Have there been any recent changes in your tank? Can you provide a video of the fish? It can help diagnose it.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I found him this morning breathing heavy on the sand bed. I isolated him to a small breeder box in the tank and he’s just floating upside down breathing heavy still. What can I do to help him?

The fish medics are gonna ask about parameters. A full set. And not the word normal. Each listed out. Flow, filtration as well. In addition a pic under white light and a 30 second video under the same.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I found him this morning breathing heavy on the sand bed. I isolated him to a small breeder box in the tank and he’s just floating upside down breathing heavy still. What can I do to help him?

Generally, a fish that is upside-down and breathing heavily is moribund - actively dying. Unless there is some quickly correctable issue that is causing this (low oxygen perhaps) you won't be able to save this fish. However, damage control then becomes important because if the fish has something contagious, the other fish in the tank are at risk.

This post explains the information we need to try and resolve that for you:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[bondno9]

#fishmedic, How long have you had him? Have there been any recent changes in your tank? Can you provide a video of the fish? It can help diagnose it.

The fish medics are gonna ask about parameters. A full set. And not the word normal. Each listed out. Flow, filtration as well. In addition a pic under white light and a 30 second video under the same.

Generally, a fish that is upside-down and breathing heavily is moribund - actively dying. Unless there is some quickly correctable issue that is causing this (low oxygen perhaps) you won't be able to save this fish. However, damage control then becomes important because if the fish has something contagious, the other fish in the tank are at risk.

This post explains the information we need to try and resolve that for you:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Came home and he unfortunately passed.

Nitrate - 1.8 Phosphate - 0.08 Alkalinity - 9.5 pH - 8.01

I can’t test for calcium or magnesium as I don’t have a tester at the moment. Temp is 78 and salinity is 35ppm.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Came home and he unfortunately passed.

Nitrate - 1.8 Phosphate - 0.08 Alkalinity - 9.5 pH - 8.01

I can’t test for calcium or magnesium as I don’t have a tester at the moment. Temp is 78 and salinity is 35ppm.

Sorry to hear.

This isn’t a water quality issue. It might have been low dissolved oxygen (based on the open mouth), but again, that would affect everything in the tank.

As I mentioned, watch any remaining fish for rapid breathing, that is a sign this was contagious gill disease.