Fish discoloration?

[PaulErik]

I have a Royal Gramma that has something that I cannot figure out. In August I introduced a new juvenile Ocellaris Clownfish without quarantining into my reef (what a mistake). Almost a month later I noticed my Royal Gramma started getting discoloration and showed a few spots that are white/semi transparent on the tail fin. At about the same time I noticed my original female Ocellaris Clownfish was scratching and had a single spot on her fin. The spots would disappear and come back but the discoloration on the Royal Gramma has become worse over time. All 3 fish have a good appetite and only my female clownfish was scratching. I initially thought I was dealing with Ich. I removed all 3 fish from my reef and placed them into a quarantine tank. I treated the quarantine tank with Seachem Cupramine and kept the copper level at 0.5-0.6 ppm for 4 weeks. The Royal Gramma showed no change after or during treatment. My female clownfish showed no signs of spots right after being placed in the quarantine tank. The newer juvenile clownfish has never shown any signs of being sick.

I’m feeling lost at the moment. I provided pictures of my Royal Gramma. It has 2 faint white/transparent spots on the tail fin. The pictures do not show the spots. The discoloration starts out outlining the scales and then fills in. From a distance it makes the fish’s coloration look blotchy. If anyone has an idea of what my fish could have please let me know. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mustang2021]

discoloration usually either one means that the fish is stressed by a disease or other or it also indicates there mood.... with that said does the fish get picked on by any tank mates, are water params up to par ,what are you feeding, is there enough space for all these fish in the qt, are there enough hiding places for him ect ect...

 

[PaulErik]

The Royal Gramma has never and doesn’t get picked on by the other 2 fish. In the reef tank the Royal Gramma would pick on both fish if they came near his/her cave. The clownfish pretty much respect the Royal Gramma. In the QT the Royal Gramma has been and is pretty mellow. All fish have been in the QT for a little less than 2 months now. The parameters in the QT is as follows:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
pH 7.9-8.0
Temperature 78°F
Salt 34ppt

The fish are fed flakes, pellets, frozen shrimp, frozen squid, frozen Marine Cuisine, frozen brine shrimp, and frozen Emerald Entrée. They are usually fed a mix from the list above once or twice a day. The QT is a 20 gallon high with plastic plants and PVC pipes for the fish to hide.

Today I noticed the Royal Gramma is not eating as well as he/she has been and is hiding more. The past couple of days I’ve been watching the fish closely and keeping an eye on the spots on the Royal Gramma. The spots appear one day and disappear within 1-2 days. The clowns still show no signs of being sick. They eat well and are very active.

Everything started almost a month after introducing the juvenile clownfish to my reef tank this past August. The only behavior change I noticed with the fish was between the new clownfish and my older clownfish. They fought for about 3 days and then they stayed pretty much together. The water parameters in the reef have stayed pretty much constant. My reef tank has and had the following readings for the past year:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate at or less than 0.5ppm
pH 7.9-8.2
Temperature 78°F
Salt 35ppt
Calcium 400-440ppm
Alkalinity 8-9Dkh
Magnesium tests out at 1300-1350ppm
PO4 tests out unmeasurable

 

[IchthyoloChris]

This could be fading due to diet. Royal grammas that have been in captivity for a while are prone to this. Back in my public aquarium days, we added a shellfish-derivative to the gel diet to maintain their purple color. I apologize for not being able to remember what it was called (it was a while ago), but I remember it being ridiculously expensive. With the recent advances in marine fish food, though, I doubt that additive would be necessary anyway. What are you feeding the gramma?

 

[PaulErik]

The Royal Gramma would eat everything I would offer it. I feed flakes, pellets, frozen shrimp, frozen squid, frozen Marine Cuisine, frozen brine shrimp, and frozen Emerald Entrée. Today is the first day I noticed he/she is not eating anywhere the amount it used to and is becoming a picky eater.

 

[mustang2021]

atlantic fish imo seem to be way more prone to parisites and external bacterial infections for some reason or another???? i would do a fresh water dip and see if flukes fall of the fish if they do than youy will need to treat with prazi pro or some kind of fluke med

 

[PaulErik]

I just did a 10 minute freshwater dip on the Royal Gramma. I see no parasites on the fish or in the container. The only thing that came off was 2 scales off the fish

 

[mustang2021]

the fish should start to get its color back once placed in the main display as from your above statment you mentiuonrd the presence of pvc pipes which is not part of there natural habitate... imo when qt a fish i always use pieces of live rock as it resembles the ocean and makes the fish m,ore comfortable... if there are no apparent signs of disease on the fish after the fw dip than i would say you 80 percent in the clear unless the fish has somethinfg internal... if the fish is no longer scratching i would return to display

 

[GT3000XX]

Possible bacterial infection on the Gramma?

 

[PaulErik]

The past couple of days after the FW dip the Royal Gramma is eating normally again and is a lot more active. However this fish still doesn’t look fully normal. Still has discoloration but looks to be improving slightly.

I would like to place the fish in the display sometime but I’m worried they might have something. I don't know how long I should wait. The clownfish look and behave normally and have not shown any illness while being in the QT. All of the fish have been in the QT since early September.

 

[mustang2021]

i just recently took my chrysurus angel out of qt hes been in qt for roughly 2 months now but i have noticed that for the past month or so he had blotches of dicoloration so yetserday i fw dipped him and into my display tank he went today his blotches are completely gone and he looks healthire than ever sometimes even though we think the environment is healthy there might be something wrong or something the fish is bothered or strested by causing these unforsacen visable problem and in the end its something as simple as that i would just return him to the display but i would do one last fw dip jsut before returning him this always works for me good luck