Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate!

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 01:54 AM

I just got a royal gramma 2 days ago. He had already passed through my LFS's QT system and i acclimated him for about an hour. He was swimming fine in the back behind the rocks but tonight i noticed him on the substrate. fearing the worst i reached in to get him and he swam away. He was swimming upsidown and very erratic. now it is just sitting there breating fast and it looks like its slime coat is hanging off him, his fins are mostly shredded. I have a sixline wrasse and 2 ocellaris clowns in the tank. it has been up for 10 months.

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
sal 1.025
calcium 450
ph 8.3
temp 78

What should i do??

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 02:23 AM

I dont have a qt tank at home and i dont want to wake up to a nuked tank. should i remove it or leave it untill it dies?

oh and

BigAl07 · 07-09-2008, 10:06 AM

No QT tank? uh oh.. shame shame shame! Honestly I would have to be Near & Dearly good friends with an LFS to "Trust" they are genuinely running a TRUE "WT" system. The cost of doing such is stupendous on that kind of scale. I seriously doubt they have more than a "holding system" where they observe for a day at the most. The cost to have enough stock to QT for 6 weeks and still be able to SELL is very high.

I'd leave it in there and see. If it's breathing heavy you may have an ammonia problem. What are your current (today) test results?

My gramma does swim weird and sometimes sleeps side-ways but lodged into a rock crevice.

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 10:13 AM

ill check my params but the gramma diddnt make it. The store treats everything in copper for 2 weeks before it goes up for sale I am very close with the owners so i dont have reason to doubt them. it just sucks :-\

o another note i will be setting up a QT tank for all incoming fish in my 90

tippMANn98 · 07-09-2008, 10:20 AM

Oh, that doesnt look good at all...I would say he is about done.

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 11:44 AM

yea his gose was cooked :-\ I wont be adding any more fish to this tank

tippMANn98 · 07-09-2008, 11:53 AM

Well, dont let this discourage you, just because it made it through your LFS qt doesent mean anything. Check the tank again, wait a week or so, then try again, just inspect the fish very very carefully ask them to see it eat, and watch it swim and react as best as you can.

AndtheBonus · 07-09-2008, 12:35 PM

Man thats rough, sorry to hear that. but def don't give up.

rlcline76 · 07-09-2008, 01:01 PM

That stinks. Grammas are nice fish.

I'm with Al, check for ammonia, nitrites and -trates.

plecosword · 07-09-2008, 01:26 PM

Look like there is something wrong. maybe he's sick?

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 03:36 PM

this is the second Roya Gramma i have tried the first one was about 5 months ago. Just tested my water.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate 10

I think i might not have acclimated it long enough. i dripped it for 45 mins.
I will be moving my tank this weekend so i will wait a couple weeks after that before i try to add any other fish.

tippMANn98 · 07-09-2008, 03:44 PM

seriously, thats plenty long enough. I usually drip anything for that amount of time too. I think you just got a bad fish.

plecosword · 07-09-2008, 03:47 PM

how long did the first gramma last? and how long have you had this one?

Wolfgang8810 · 07-09-2008, 05:09 PM

last gramma lasted the same 3 days. Its really odd. Im sure there is nothing in my water because im keeping SPS and its just exploding with growth.

BigAl07 · 07-09-2008, 05:12 PM

Unless you're just getting bad stock from the exact same place I highly suspect something is wrong with your tank. Keep in mind that corals can tolerate different pollutants much better than fish. Take ammonia... it's DEADLY toxic to fish but not as much so to corals. Nitrates are toxic to corals but not to fish unless VERY high levels.

This is just a VERY big coincidence in my eyes

good luck and keep us posted.

07-09-2008, 01:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! I just got a royal gramma 2 days ago. He had already passed through my LFS's QT system and i acclimated him for about an hour. He was swimming fine in the back behind the rocks but tonight i noticed him on the substrate. fearing the worst i reached in to get him and he swam away. He was swimming upsidown and very erratic. now it is just sitting there breating fast and it looks like its slime coat is hanging off him, his fins are mostly shredded. I have a sixline wrasse and 2 ocellaris clowns in the tank. it has been up for 10 months. ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 sal 1.025 calcium 450 ph 8.3 temp 78 What should i do?? __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 02:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! I dont have a qt tank at home and i dont want to wake up to a nuked tank. should i remove it or leave it untill it dies? oh and __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 10:06 AM	#3 (permalink)
BigAl07 Do I look as lost as I am Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Waynesville, North Carolina Posts: 21,547 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! No QT tank? uh oh.. shame shame shame! Honestly I would have to be Near & Dearly good friends with an LFS to "Trust" they are genuinely running a TRUE "WT" system. The cost of doing such is stupendous on that kind of scale. I seriously doubt they have more than a "holding system" where they observe for a day at the most. The cost to have enough stock to QT for 6 weeks and still be able to SELL is very high. I'd leave it in there and see. If it's breathing heavy you may have an ammonia problem. What are your current (today) test results? My gramma does swim weird and sometimes sleeps side-ways but lodged into a rock crevice. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Live Rock Rubble will do the SAME thing as Bio-Balls and is NOT a suitable replacement for BIO-BALLS in a Reef System! It's ALL gotta go!!* Nitrate (NO3) reduction is directly proportional to percentage of Water Change. Allen's home-made formula...currentNO3-((%WC.01)currentNO3)=finalNO3 (thanks Luukosian) This means if you change 50% of your total water volume (That's EVERYTHING) you'll get a net reduction of (NO3) somewhere around 50%. Ask me about how to increase your REEF budget without going without FOOD!!* Big Al's 10g Julie's (BigAl's Gal) 6g NanoCube Gone but not forgotten BigAl's Slow 90g Tank Chronicle Allens OFFICE 12g Nano-Reef

07-09-2008, 10:13 AM	#4 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! ill check my params but the gramma diddnt make it. The store treats everything in copper for 2 weeks before it goes up for sale I am very close with the owners so i dont have reason to doubt them. it just sucks :-\ o another note i will be setting up a QT tank for all incoming fish in my 90 __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 10:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
tippMANn98 Has been struck by the ban stick Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Port Richey, FL Posts: 2,705 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! Oh, that doesnt look good at all...I would say he is about done.

07-09-2008, 11:44 AM	#6 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! yea his gose was cooked :-\ I wont be adding any more fish to this tank __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 11:53 AM	#7 (permalink)
tippMANn98 Has been struck by the ban stick Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Port Richey, FL Posts: 2,705 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! Well, dont let this discourage you, just because it made it through your LFS qt doesent mean anything. Check the tank again, wait a week or so, then try again, just inspect the fish very very carefully ask them to see it eat, and watch it swim and react as best as you can.

07-09-2008, 12:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
AndtheBonus Plate Coral Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 774 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! Man thats rough, sorry to hear that. but def don't give up.

07-09-2008, 01:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
rlcline76 Manta Ray Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,646 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! That stinks. Grammas are nice fish. I'm with Al, check for ammonia, nitrites and -trates.

07-09-2008, 01:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
plecosword Acropora Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: So CA Posts: 1,888 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! Look like there is something wrong. maybe he's sick? __________________ --Mario/Andre "Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time" !!!20g for reals!!! 55G

07-09-2008, 03:36 PM	#11 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! this is the second Roya Gramma i have tried the first one was about 5 months ago. Just tested my water. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 nitrate 10 I think i might not have acclimated it long enough. i dripped it for 45 mins. I will be moving my tank this weekend so i will wait a couple weeks after that before i try to add any other fish. __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 03:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
tippMANn98 Has been struck by the ban stick Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Port Richey, FL Posts: 2,705 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! seriously, thats plenty long enough. I usually drip anything for that amount of time too. I think you just got a bad fish.

07-09-2008, 03:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
plecosword Acropora Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: So CA Posts: 1,888 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! how long did the first gramma last? and how long have you had this one? __________________ --Mario/Andre "Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time" !!!20g for reals!!! 55G

07-09-2008, 05:09 PM	#14 (permalink)
Wolfgang8810 Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 935 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! last gramma lasted the same 3 days. Its really odd. Im sure there is nothing in my water because im keeping SPS and its just exploding with growth. __________________ I love fish! Fish.. fish.. fish!

07-09-2008, 05:12 PM	#15 (permalink)
BigAl07 Do I look as lost as I am Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Waynesville, North Carolina Posts: 21,547 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Royal gramma "sleeping" on substrate! Unless you're just getting bad stock from the exact same place I highly suspect something is wrong with your tank. Keep in mind that corals can tolerate different pollutants much better than fish. Take ammonia... it's DEADLY toxic to fish but not as much so to corals. Nitrates are toxic to corals but not to fish unless VERY high levels. This is just a VERY big coincidence in my eyes good luck and keep us posted. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Live Rock Rubble will do the SAME thing as Bio-Balls and is NOT a suitable replacement for BIO-BALLS in a Reef System! It's ALL gotta go!!* Nitrate (NO3) reduction is directly proportional to percentage of Water Change. Allen's home-made formula...currentNO3-((%WC.01)currentNO3)=finalNO3 (thanks Luukosian) This means if you change 50% of your total water volume (That's EVERYTHING) you'll get a net reduction of (NO3) somewhere around 50%. Ask me about how to increase your REEF budget without going without FOOD!!* Big Al's 10g Julie's (BigAl's Gal) 6g NanoCube Gone but not forgotten BigAl's Slow 90g Tank Chronicle Allens OFFICE 12g Nano-Reef

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