Royal Grammas - anything special needed in QT?

[timrocks311]

I've now had two royal grammas die on me in QT. I'm not sure why. The first one looked great and was swimming around and eating really well. I started Prazipro a couple days prior and then one day I come home from work and he was on his side still breathing, but died soon after. No signs of anything. He looked really healthy beforehand. I tested my water and everything seemed fine. I did a water change and ran carbon and ultimately QT'd a wrasse afterward that is now in my display.

The second gramma just died this weekend after 1 week. Pretty much the same thing. Wasn't eating as well and was hiding a lot, but looked fine the night before. I come home from work and he's on his side. He didn't look as good as the first and was fading color in his mid section. I freshwater dipped him and it looked he had flukes (larger white spots that showed up in the dip, and they fell off). I didn't start any medication though before he died later that night. I didn't think flukes would kill quickly unless he had something else too.

Is there something I'm missing or is this just bad luck with these two? Thanks.

 

[HotRocks]

Was this the sole fish in QT?

Praziquantel sucks oxygen out of the water were you heavily agitating the surface with the first grama?

If the second one had spots are you sure you aren't dealing with velvet? Typically flukes would not kill that quickly.

 

[4FordFamily]

Was this the sole fish in QT?

Praziquantel sucks oxygen out of the water were you heavily agitating the surface with the first grama?

If the second one had spots are you sure you aren't dealing with velvet? Typically flukes would not kill that quickly.

Agree. Guessing there is more than one ailment. Sorry for your loss.

 

[andrewkw]

I would say it's just two cases of bad luck. They are generally a pretty hardy fish but not an overly active one. As long as they've got a couple of pvc pieces to hide they generally should be fine in QT. When I got my current guy he had some torn fins which healed up in QT. I treated him with prazi pro a couple of times but that was the only medication I used. You mentioned the second one likely had flukes which could have done him in. I would sterilize the tank before you try again just to be safe.

 

[miyags]

For me they were easy.I treated three of them at the same time with cupramine then prazi. The biggest problem is keeping ammonia out of QT. Do you have a Sea Chem ammonia badge in your QT?

 

[timrocks311]

Was this the sole fish in QT?

Praziquantel sucks oxygen out of the water were you heavily agitating the surface with the first grama?

If the second one had spots are you sure you aren't dealing with velvet? Typically flukes would not kill that quickly.

it was the sole fish. i have a powerhead in QT pointed to the surface trying to oxygenate. I suspect the second one had something else too. I thought at first the the fading to whiteish might have been velvet and that the freshwater dip might help temporarily. That's when i saw, what i thought was flukes in the dip.

 

[timrocks311]

For me they were easy.I treated three of them at the same time with cupramine then prazi. The biggest problem is keeping ammonia out of QT. Do you have a Sea Chem ammonia badge in your QT?

I am concerned about ammonia build up in the QT. i do have a Seachem badge and it reads safe.

 

[timrocks311]

I would say it's just two cases of bad luck. They are generally a pretty hardy fish but not an overly active one. As long as they've got a couple of pvc pieces to hide they generally should be fine in QT. When I got my current guy he had some torn fins which healed up in QT. I treated him with prazi pro a couple of times but that was the only medication I used. You mentioned the second one likely had flukes which could have done him in. I would sterilize the tank before you try again just to be safe.

how do you sterilize the QT? before i've done a water change and carbon if I medicated, then let it sit fishless.

 

[andrewkw]

What do you have in the tank? Any live rock? What if anything is the filtration?
Personally I keep my QT tanks bare - I start off with TTM and then when fish move to observation I usually just add a small sponge filter. I rely mainly on water changes to maintain water quality. Assuming you have no biological filtration it can be as simple as a tap water rinse and dry off, to using bleach - which is also 100% safe as long as you let it 100% evaporate, or vinegar if you are concerned about bleach. Basically the most important thing is to let everything dry out completely.

If you are using a sponge or some other biological filtration I'd recommend replacing that as well. A simple way would be to just add a sponge to your display sump for a week or so and let the bacteria populate it. If you have many fish in a small tank filtration becomes more of a concern, but if you have a few or one small fish it's much less of a concern. Remove the uneaten food and watch ammonia and you should be fine.

 

[timrocks311]

What do you have in the tank? Any live rock? What if anything is the filtration?
Personally I keep my QT tanks bare - I start off with TTM and then when fish move to observation I usually just add a small sponge filter. I rely mainly on water changes to maintain water quality. Assuming you have no biological filtration it can be as simple as a tap water rinse and dry off, to using bleach - which is also 100% safe as long as you let it 100% evaporate, or vinegar if you are concerned about bleach. Basically the most important thing is to let everything dry out completely.

If you are using a sponge or some other biological filtration I'd recommend replacing that as well. A simple way would be to just add a sponge to your display sump for a week or so and let the bacteria populate it. If you have many fish in a small tank filtration becomes more of a concern, but if you have a few or one small fish it's much less of a concern. Remove the uneaten food and watch ammonia and you should be fine.

I do what you explain mostly. My QT just has a powerhead, pvc fittings, a heater and a HOB filter with a sponge. I have a extra sponge in my display sump soaking for QT purposes. In between fish, like I said, I usually just do a 50% water change and run carbon. Maybe I can dry it out this time.

 

[norfolkgarden]

A 5 minute fresh water bath (same Ph, same temperature, heavily oxygenated with an air stone) will knock back flukes and some other things and give the fish a better chance.
Think of it like a flea and tick bath for your dog.

It is the 1st thing I do when I bring home a new fish.
[emoji846]