Royal Gramma with fin rot

[Anak’s Reef]

Hi everyone, I have a royal gramma in my 20g cube and he has fin rot. He’s the only one in my tank who has it and I suspect that it was caused by my clownfish nipping at him a bit earlier on. They don’t anymore. My RG still eats well but I have to kind of feed straight to him. He can’t see very well but it doesn’t look like there are any infections near the eyes. He doesn’t swim like other fish much, but he does still swim while “laying” down. Here are some tank specs:

-20g cube reef
-pair of clownfish, baby mandarin, cleaner shrimp and the RG.
-ammonia: 0
-nitrite: 0
-nitrate: 2
-phosphate: 0.03
-salinity: 1.026

I haven’t had any other fish due to this problem. The only other fish I had was a goby at the very beginning but he jumped through a crack in the lid sadly. Nobody else seems to be affected and his breathing is pretty normal most of the time, just gets faster when the clowns swim nearby. Like I said, he eats really well still, but I haven’t tried any remedies. I’m very confused to what to do, but I plan to set up a QT, cycle it with fritz and ammonium chloride, and then medicate him. But I am wondering which meds to use, I found one using furan-2, kanaplex and metroplex, but it says that furan2 and some other meds destroy bio filtration? If so, how do I medicate him in a QT? Should I add more bacteria after each dosage? And if you have any recommendations on better meds to use, please let me know. I’m very new to medicating a fish. Thank you!here’s a picture

 

[SeaworthyAquatics]

Sounds like he is just a little beat up and should recover on his own with vitamin rich food as long as the clownfish is done beating him up. If it progresses and you need to QT and medicate, you'll just have to do water changes every few days to make up for the antibiotics killing the bio filter. Adding more bacteria is almost pointless as it will mostly die in the medicated water before it can create a biofilm anywhere.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Sounds like he is just a little beat up and should recover on his own with vitamin rich food as long as the clownfish is done beating him up. If it progresses and you need to QT and medicate, you'll just have to do water changes every few days to make up for the antibiotics killing the bio filter. Adding more bacteria is almost pointless as it will mostly die in the medicated water before it can create a biofilm anywhere.

Thank you, he’s lost most of his tail. You think he’ll recover? Hoping, would selcon and some vitamins be good to add to his food?

that’s true. Thank you! And I should keep testing for ammonia, nitrite during QT right? Thanks for the reply!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone, I have a royal gramma in my 20g cube and he has fin rot. He’s the only one in my tank who has it and I suspect that it was caused by my clownfish nipping at him a bit earlier on. They don’t anymore. My RG still eats well but I have to kind of feed straight to him. He can’t see very well but it doesn’t look like there are any infections near the eyes. He doesn’t swim like other fish much, but he does still swim while “laying” down. Here are some tank specs:

-20g cube reef
-pair of clownfish, baby mandarin, cleaner shrimp and the RG.
-ammonia: 0
-nitrite: 0
-nitrate: 2
-phosphate: 0.03
-salinity: 1.026

I haven’t had any other fish due to this problem. The only other fish I had was a goby at the very beginning but he jumped through a crack in the lid sadly. Nobody else seems to be affected and his breathing is pretty normal most of the time, just gets faster when the clowns swim nearby. Like I said, he eats really well still, but I haven’t tried any remedies. I’m very confused to what to do, but I plan to set up a QT, cycle it with fritz and ammonium chloride, and then medicate him. But I am wondering which meds to use, I found one using furan-2, kanaplex and metroplex, but it says that furan2 and some other meds destroy bio filtration? If so, how do I medicate him in a QT? Should I add more bacteria after each dosage? And if you have any recommendations on better meds to use, please let me know. I’m very new to medicating a fish. Thank you!here’s a picture

That does look like mechanical damage, but I can't figure out who would have done that. Did the fin rot appear before the goby jumped out? If so, what species was the goby?

Clownfish can be really sly - while you are in the room they'll be totally fine, just paying attention to you. When you leave, that's when they can get nasty, with each other and towards other fish. One way to trick them is to put your phone in the room videoing the tank and then leave. View the video taken with nobody in the room to see if one of them is the culprit. Here's the thing though - grammas can hole up in caves, clownfish, not so much. That makes it difficult for me to see how the clowns could have done this, since the damage is confined to the back fins only.

See how the torn fins are all shar edged and normal color? Bacterial infections can occur after damage like this, but you start to see red or white discoloration, and the edges get eaten away and become smoother.

Jay

 

[Anak’s Reef]

That does look like mechanical damage, but I can't figure out who would have done that. Did the fin rot appear before the goby jumped out? If so, what species was the goby?

Clownfish can be really sly - while you are in the room they'll be totally fine, just paying attention to you. When you leave, that's when they can get nasty, with each other and towards other fish. One way to trick them is to put your phone in the room videoing the tank and then leave. View the video taken with nobody in the room to see if one of them is the culprit. Here's the thing though - grammas can hole up in caves, clownfish, not so much. That makes it difficult for me to see how the clowns could have done this, since the damage is confined to the back fins only.

See how the torn fins are all shar edged and normal color? Bacterial infections can occur after damage like this, but you start to see red or white discoloration, and the edges get eaten away and become smoother.

Jay

The fin rot appeared a while after my goby died. My goby died in February 2020. I’ve seen some red and white on his tail sometimes. I have a photo from a little bit ago. And my gramma doesn’t really go into caves, he used to hole up in a crevice in my rock work but he randomly came out and he’s never in it anymore. Now he lays on the sand in the corners of the tank.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Sometimes there’s more red, but sometimes there’s no discoloration and redness on it like in the recent photo.

 

[SeaworthyAquatics]

Jay is the guy to listen to, he'll always steer you in the right direction. That certainly looks bacterial though, not just physical trauma like I hoped, and I'd pull him and put into QT. Get an ammonia alert badge for your QT. They are very accurate with most treatments and should help you keep on top of things.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It may just be the angle, but this looks much worse to me. See the bare fin rays on the dorsal and the disrupted scales at the base of the tail fin?

I think you need to move the fish out to a treatment tank and dose with antibiotics ASAP.

Jay

 

[Anak’s Reef]

It may just be the angle, but this looks much worse to me. See the bare fin rays on the dorsal and the disrupted scales at the base of the tail fin?

I think you need to move the fish out to a treatment tank and dose with antibiotics ASAP.

Jay

okay, yeah this was actually from a month ago. The picture before was the most recent, but you’re probably right. So for meds what do you recommend I use? Would furan-2 + metroplex + kanaplex work? I Don’t think I can get him medicated fast though, I Don’t have any meds on hand other than a bit of the metroplex. And still need to cycle the QT.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

okay, yeah this was actually from a month ago. The picture before was the most recent, but you’re probably right. So for meds what do you recommend I use? Would furan-2 + metroplex + kanaplex work? I Don’t think I can get him medicated fast though, I Don’t have any meds on hand other than a bit of the metroplex. And still need to cycle the QT.

Metroplex is unlikely to be of any benefit. The only bacteria it is active against is anaerobic. Since this is on the outside of the fish, in the water, it is unlikely to be that.

I don't like combining antibiotics. Furan-2 or Kanaplex would be a good choice though.

Jay

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Metroplex is unlikely to be of any benefit. The only bacteria it is active against is anaerobic. Since this is on the outside of the fish, in the water, it is unlikely to be that.

I don't like combining antibiotics. Furan-2 or Kanaplex would be a good choice though.

Jay

Thanks, I plan to get both in case. Humblefish says it’s most effective using all three but I’ll start with one. I found kanaplex but I’m unable to find furan-2, read a bit that it’s discontinued? If kanaplex doesn’t work, what other med do you recommend to have on hand? Thank you so much for helping me!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, I plan to get both in case. Humblefish says it’s most effective using all three but I’ll start with one. I found kanaplex but I’m unable to find furan-2, read a bit that it’s discontinued? If kanaplex doesn’t work, what other med do you recommend to have on hand? Thank you so much for helping me!

Neoplex is another general antibiotic. As time goes on, antibiotics are getting more and more difficult to find (really aquarium medications in general).

Jay

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Neoplex is another general antibiotic. As time goes on, antibiotics are getting more and more difficult to find (really aquarium medications in general).

Jay

Thank you so much! Yes, I haven’t been able to find a bunch of them. But I did order neoplex and Sulfaplex and kanaplex so I have many on hand if needed. Thank you so much!