White spots on Royal Gramma

[reefjeff]

I have a 12 gallon nano cube. I had one small maroon clownfish and a royal gramma. First the clownfish started getting some spots on it. I took him back to the lfs and he quarentened him for a few weeks. The clown died. I decided to replace the clown yesterday with a small six line wrasse. My royal Gramma didn't take kindly to him. He chased him all around the tank. Today I noticed the Royal Gramma has white spots along his body. Will he spread an infection to the other fish? Does this cycle just continue and I will kill off any fish I put into the tank?? My tank has coral in it. I also have a small shrimp goby. I'm not quite shure what to do. I'm new to the hobby and I only have one tank.

[Reef Gator]

Do a search for Cryptocaryons irritans or marine ich. Briefly, yes it is contagious. To treat it you need to quarantine the fish. It takes about 6 weeks with no fish in the tank for the parasite to die off. Your fish may be able to fight off the infestation on their own, but I wouldn't count on it.

[joelamb7467]

My experience with Ich...minimize stress and feed high quality/variaty food and it will dissapear. Technically, you probably can quarantine and let the parasite go through its life cycle and die in your tank. I personally think that there will always be ich in almost any tank, but a healthy fish can fight it off. Good luck.

[tapeape]

the six line is picking on him which is stressing the fish. Is the six line biting his fins? This could possibly be a cause of the outbreak.

[reefjeff]

the six line is picking on him which is stressing the fish. Is the six line biting his fins? This could possibly be a cause of the outbreak.

 

Just the opposite, the Royal Gramma is picking on the six line.

[Six]

My experience with Ich...minimize stress and feed high quality/variaty food and it will dissapear. Technically, you probably can quarantine and let the parasite go through its life cycle and die in your tank. I personally think that there will always be ich in almost any tank, but a healthy fish can fight it off. Good luck.

 

I agree.

 

stress is the number one reason fish get sick. when the fish is healthy with a strong immune system, it can defend itself internally from parasite, bacteria, viral infections and the like. When fish, or animals in general, are stressed out and not able to fight off normally occuring parasites (like Crypt) then you get disease issues.

 

regardless of how long "x" fish has been in "x" system, the fish can get sick from just stress. in an aquarium the stress possibilites include, temperature issues (fluctuation or extreme values), water quality (not enough water maintenaince, overstocking, or overfeeding), or tankmate issues.

Considering we only know your tank size and stocking, it's hard to say it's any of the other two possibilities (there are more possible stressors, these are just the common ones).... but IME 3 fish in a 12 (maroon/sixline =1, gramma =2, goby= 3) is overstocked. Unless you've been in the hobby and are experienced with husbandry and tank maintenaince, that's too many for a newbie. I'd get rid of the sixline (QT it and take it back, or if the store is dumb enough to take back a sick fish, go for it) and try to maintain two fish. if you can do that without any issues for a few months (like 6), then maybe think about something else. IMO a gramma or sixline is too big for a 12, but I keep 2 fish in 100g. I don't do much maintenance either.

 

Hope that helps a little. good luck.

6

[reefjeff]

I agree.

 

stress is the number one reason fish get sick. when the fish is healthy with a strong immune system, it can defend itself internally from parasite, bacteria, viral infections and the like. When fish, or animals in general, are stressed out and not able to fight off normally occuring parasites (like Crypt) then you get disease issues.

 

regardless of how long "x" fish has been in "x" system, the fish can get sick from just stress. in an aquarium the stress possibilites include, temperature issues (fluctuation or extreme values), water quality (not enough water maintenaince, overstocking, or overfeeding), or tankmate issues.

Considering we only know your tank size and stocking, it's hard to say it's any of the other two possibilities (there are more possible stressors, these are just the common ones).... but IME 3 fish in a 12 (maroon/sixline =1, gramma =2, goby= 3) is overstocked. Unless you've been in the hobby and are experienced with husbandry and tank maintenaince, that's too many for a newbie. I'd get rid of the sixline (QT it and take it back, or if the store is dumb enough to take back a sick fish, go for it) and try to maintain two fish. if you can do that without any issues for a few months (like 6), then maybe think about something else. IMO a gramma or sixline is too big for a 12, but I keep 2 fish in 100g. I don't do much maintenance either.

 

Hope that helps a little. good luck.

6

 

 

Thanks for your response six. I have been trying to remove the royal gramma in order to take him back to the store so they can QT the fish. Unfortunately I can't seem to catch him. I tried feeding the tank to encourage him to the top. That sucker is fast.

[tapeape]

listen to six- she knows what she is talking about.

On the note of stress related to temp. What is the "normal" fluctuation of a tank in a 24 hour period? What degree of change could cause undue "stress"

 

Thanks

[Fishfreak218]

maybe you'll get lucky and he will die

 

[reefjeff]

maybe you'll get lucky and he will die

 

 

today I got "lucky" the royal gramma died and he took the six line with him! The gramma took a huge chunk out of his side. Two fish in one day. I still have the Yashia Goby left. I got him Friday and I haven't seen him since. Hopefully he comes out and beats the odds.