I'm Afraid...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
The fish has 2 spots left that I can identify. One of them is brighter than the other one. The fish has an overall dusty look to him, but is otherwise acting very happy. He's actually been sitting in front of me looking back rather than swimming off to hide the second I round the corner into the room. He ate greedily while I sat in front of the tank putting food in.

>> Dusty looking fish Video <<
>> More of a dusty fish Video <<

Hopefully they're long enough for you to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

The gramma on the other hand... she just won't come out at all. I've seen her swim all of 2 minutes in the last 2 days and her gills move in dramatic movements. Not what I'd call fast, but I can definitely see them moving out and in again. Wound on her head looks status quo. No idea if she has any ich left on her. Can't get her out to see.
 
Try some live brine. It might rekindle the feeding response. Not a nutritious alternative but getting the gramma eating is more important.

Cheers
Steve
 
I lost the gramma this morning. She had a few more of those fleshy looking white spots on her back and there was a redness under them and under a few other areas on her back. Turns out I don't think what was on the top was a "gash" as in from an injury, but more like some sort of deterioration of the fish. When I went to clean the tank this morning she was floating. I'm not totally surprised based on how she's been acting the last few days, but I am really sad. RIP, Gramma.

Did the ich do her in? Secondary infection? Some sort of injury? I guess without a photo there's no telling but I didn't even think to do that at the time. *sigh*

Does the tang look ok in those videos? Is that "dusty" look normal or am I still under treatment until his skin looks normal? How long once the spots are gone until we start raising the salinity?
 
Sorry for your loss. Sounds like a secondary infection probably bacterial.
Waiting fro the video to load (i'm on dialup)
*edit*
Kinda hard to tell from the vid, but...
The tang looks pretty good from what I can see. Is she eating OK?
May have some temporary scarring from the ich. Watch her close and keep us posted.
 
The tang eats like a pig. Everything that falls into the tank! Doesn't matter what it is. Formula 1, 2, Prime Reef, cyclopeze flake. You name it (and all that I can put in). Cleans a nori clip a day. His poop looks a little softer than the larger yellow in my main. Seems to "mush" more than stay formed. This morning there were no more spots on the fish. He's getting garlic and selcon alternating every other day mixed with his food.

Dial up?! What's THAT!? Dude... you need a cable modem!
 
To expensive here at the store.....lol
It stinks too, I make a living off the net.
You may want to see if your LFS has any maracyn 2. If the fish doesn't improve in a day or two, I would consider treating with a broad spectrum antibiotic like this. Won't hurt at all with hypo. You would do a double dose and leave it in for a full 7 days.
In the meantime try feeding him some frozen peas to see if you can get that stool to harden up a bit.
 
Sorry for your loss :(

Question in regards to the gramma, did you notice and faded patches or whitish lines on it anywhere prior to death?

Cheers
Steve
 
Definitely whitish areas and red splotches. Yeah, I guess some of the areas looked like the color had fallen off of her. Her fins looked a little deteriorated as well.
 
Be very watchful of the tang then, I am inclined to think Uronema may have been the cause. Curiously I have seen a few gramma related problems indicitive of Uronema over the past few weeks posted in this forum. It might just have been an advanced case of a bacterial infection, stress or lack of feeding. Either way, just be watchful.

Cheers
Steve
 
GASP! Those symptoms sound entirely too familiar. I shudder. What do I do if the Tang falls ill with this? How will I recognize it on a purple fish!?
 
Phyl said:
What do I do if the Tang falls ill with this?
If diagnosed early enough, nitrofurazone should kill it @ 30mg/gal for 5 days as a one time dose. If more advanced, a series of SW formalin baths are recommended

How will I recognize it on a purple fish!?
Actually the darker the fish the easier to spot ('scuse the pun). Look for consitant faded patches or white lines. The lines will often look like a back country road map.

Cheers
Steve
 
The PTs color has been great. No signs of any ill effects of whatever the gramma had when he died. Whew.

I'm fighting an ammo battle, of course. I'm changing out 6g in my 15g QT every day/ever other day. My ammo is .2 (drops to 1.25-1.75 after a water change), pH is stable at around 8.0 (does this need to be buffered up some more?). Would adding a power head in there help my cause any (keeping in mind that there is probably 10# of base rock in there)? I would have expected the bio filter to be able to pick up the pace with that much rock in there. SG is staying at 1.09 easily.

The tang is still eating well but hides a significant amount of the day. When he swims he has a bit of a twitch about him. Not constantly, but he'll swim along and then twitch and then keep swimming. He was eating his nori today and looked to be moving kinda slowly (but he was also just waking up). Last night he'd race out, grab a bite of F1 and then race back to his cave so maybe he's just calmer this morning because he didn't know I was around?

I haven't cleaned the tank glass not wanting to clean good bacteria off of the glass. Is that just nucience algae or is that carrying some of my bio load? I'll leave it dirty if it is helping break down the ammo....

Thanks!
 
Phyl said:
pH is stable at around 8.0 (does this need to be buffered up some more?).
Depends, what time of day was it tested?

I haven't cleaned the tank glass not wanting to clean good bacteria off of the glass. Is that just nucience algae or is that carrying some of my bio load? I'll leave it dirty if it is helping break down the ammo....
The glass isn't going to hold much bacteria in the long run so it's better to remove the algae from the tank. It will compete for O2 making pH harder to maintain as well as contributing to water quality issues as it dies off and renews itself. The growth unto itself is not enough to help with nutrient control. Simpley having them there doesn't actually remove impurities unless the algae itself is removed and "exported".

As we discussed earlier, if the algae is light it's of no concern. Heavy growth should be removed.

Cheers
Steve
 
I should have also asked how often I should be feeding him. I've been feeding him and clipping nori in the tank every day. Is that too much? I feed my other fish every other day, but he's just a baby and with him being sick, I'm trying to be cautious! Thanks!
 
The algae is a light coating of diatoms, by the look of it. I'll go ahead and clean it. I'd rather be able to see him but was afraid to disturb the balance. The pH seems to be right around 8.0 no matter what time of day I test it.
 
Phyl said:
The pH seems to be right around 8.0 no matter what time of day I test it.
I should have also asked how the alk level was? So early in the AM and late in the day no difference? Seems odd, is there a light over head or no?

Phyl said:
I've been feeding him and clipping nori in the tank every day. Is that too much? I feed my other fish every other day, but he's just a baby and with him being sick, I'm trying to be cautious! Thanks!
Having the grazing food always there for the tang or as often as possible is best. Just be sure it's removed/replaced with new before it begins to decay. As far as feedings are concerned, every second day is fine as long as the QT is cleaned afterwards for any detritus and uneaten bits.

Cheers
Steve
 
Shamefully I haven't checked the alk in the tank. I'll check that tonight. The tank is right next to an east facing window. It doesn't get direct sunlight (especially on rainy days like today) but it is viewable from dusk to dawn. The tank light is on from about 12pm to 8pm. Just enough so that he's still awake when I get home and settled in at the end of the day.

So even testing at 700 am (this morning) the sun has been up since 530 or so, I would guess. I also test at the end of the day 7pm. Last night when I tested it during the water change it was 8.0 (8.00-8.03) and then this morning it was 8.00.

I was buffering it a little each day when I was dropping the salinity to keep the pH up. It will be interesting to see what the alk is...

My change water is always a little high in pH (between 8.4 and 8.5) so I pour the change water back in a little bit at a time over the course of the evening so it isn't happening fast.

How concerned should I be over the .2? I know ideally it would be zero, I'm just trying to figure out at which point I get drastic over it. I've seen people talk about readings of 10 (?!) My test kit only goes to 1!

I don't say thank you often enough, but I'm always thinking it :mrgreen:

Thank you
 
Phyl said:
How concerned should I be over the .2? I know ideally it would be zero, I'm just trying to figure out at which point I get drastic over it. I've seen people talk about readings of 10 (?!) My test kit only goes to 1!
I'm a little lost here, I don't understand what this is in reference to? Ammonia?

Cheers
Steve
 
Yes that's a reference to the ammo test results. I'm using a FasTest that gives the results in mg/l. I was trying to figure out how to react to a number of .2 (daily wc, twice daily... three times?!) :? Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the input!
 
Truely the lower the better but keeping it under 0.2 mg/l is important. I know it's frustrating.

Cheers
Steve
 
Back
Top Bottom