royal gramma found dead

Kellyh14

New member
on sunday i added a hoevens wrasse and a royal gramma to my 29g QT, this morning the wrasse looks healthy but the gramma was dead on the bottom. the wrasse was poking and investegating the dead gramma. ammonia and nitrite are both zero and nitrates at 2.0, they were both eating great last night. the grammas eyes looked a little cloudy and had raw or whiteish missing scale patches on it. Im new to quaranting and not sure what could have killed the royal gramma. QT has been running sence the end of july. help please :(
 
for starters, were they bought locally or shipped to you and how did you acclimate these fish to your qt?
 
for starters, were they bought locally or shipped to you and how did you acclimate these fish to your qt?

I bought them at a fish store about a 45 min drive away and temp acclimated for 15-20 mins and dripped them for 1 hour. Bought from a very reputable fish store
 
Oh maybe I should add I dripped them in separate buckets because the wrasse was in a different tank and the gramma was in water with copper
 
I bought them at a fish store about a 45 min drive away and temp acclimated for 15-20 mins and dripped them for 1 hour. Bought from a very reputable fish store


Most people recommend temp. acclimation then No or short (15min) drip, and right into salinity matched QT
 
Most people recommend temp. acclimation then No or short (15min) drip, and right into salinity matched QT

Yup. However, time is not the issue for the OP. If SG were a large mismatch where transport water was a lot lower (many LFS keep their systems at 1.017) then an hour going up would not be sufficient. That is why matching QT to transport water is preferred.
 
Yup. However, time is not the issue for the OP. If SG were a large mismatch where transport water was a lot lower (many LFS keep their systems at 1.017) then an hour going up would not be sufficient. That is why matching QT to transport water is preferred.



My newb mistake, I didn't even test the transport water :/ I'm wondering if it was acclimation, I don't want to be killing my poor fish :( or maybe it was a bacterial infection or if there's something wrong with my QT and I should move the wrasse to my display
 
My newb mistake, I didn't even test the transport water :/ I'm wondering if it was acclimation, I don't want to be killing my poor fish :( or maybe it was a bacterial infection or if there's something wrong with my QT and I should move the wrasse to my display

Very possible. Just learn from it.
 
So if salinity were the same, then there would be no need for drip acclimation, just a temperature acclimation? Just trying to understand the main reason to drip is if the salinity is of a great difference? I keep the same temperature and use the same water from my display for water changes on my QT as my display has 0 nitrates (salifert test kit) so there wont be a need to acclimate to my display. Is that right? Haha sorry very new to quarantine
 
So if salinity were the same, then there would be no need for drip acclimation, just a temperature acclimation? Just trying to understand the main reason to drip is if the salinity is of a great difference? I keep the same temperature and use the same water from my display for water changes on my QT as my display has 0 nitrates (salifert test kit) so there wont be a need to acclimate to my display. Is that right? Haha sorry very new to quarantine

Correct - matching salinity between your QT and transport water eliminates the need to do anything more than temp acclimatation. Drip acclimation can do more harm than good, especially if your livestock comes from an internet supplier (i.e. extended acclimation raises free ammonia to dangerous levels in short time frames). Like Steve noted above, many LFS keep their salinity around 1.017-1.018, so trying to acclimate livestock to "normal" salinity (1.025-1.026) can do irreparable damage to their internal organs, which can't tolerate large swings in osmotic pressure.

Once you have your livestock in a salinity-matched QT, you can raise the salinity slowly (no more than 0.001-0.002 SG per day) over the course of several days. I use SaltyZoo's salinity calculator to do this: http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/SalinityAdjust.php Alternatively, if you are doing Tank Transfer to treat for Cryptocaryon, you can raise the salinity by one degree for each transfer, with the final few adjustments during the observation period afterward.
 
Correct - matching salinity between your QT and transport water eliminates the need to do anything more than temp acclimatation. Drip acclimation can do more harm than good, especially if your livestock comes from an internet supplier (i.e. extended acclimation raises free ammonia to dangerous levels in short time frames). Like Steve noted above, many LFS keep their salinity around 1.017-1.018, so trying to acclimate livestock to "normal" salinity (1.025-1.026) can do irreparable damage to their internal organs, which can't tolerate large swings in osmotic pressure.

Once you have your livestock in a salinity-matched QT, you can raise the salinity slowly (no more than 0.001-0.002 SG per day) over the course of several days. I use SaltyZoo's salinity calculator to do this: http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/SalinityAdjust.php Alternatively, if you are doing Tank Transfer to treat for Cryptocaryon, you can raise the salinity by one degree for each transfer, with the final few adjustments during the observation period afterward.


Thank you for the information! I'm going to ask what salinity they have thier tanks, but to be honest I do believe they have them at 1.025. I went to vivid aquariums in canoga park, ca (amazing store!) and have always had a great experience. Still trying to solve the mystery of what killed the gramma if it was not poor acclimation. I'm starting to think internal parasites. But I will learn from this and take your advise for future acclimation
 
I was at fault of this very thing with the first 2 fish I purchased (1 of which was also a royal gramma) so you aren't alone. Ever since, i make sure to match to LA's salinity an err on the lower side if necessary and haven't had any issues since. My second attempt with an RG has been going awesome. Matched salinity, went through TTM along with 30 days in QT for observation then off to the DT he went. Very cool fish to watch. Don't hesitate to get another, we love ours!
 
Thank you for the information! I'm going to ask what salinity they have thier tanks, but to be honest I do believe they have them at 1.025...

Most places with separate fish and coral systems run the fish system at a much lower salinity...probably closer to 1.018
 
Thank you for all helpful information, I do not want to harm to my finned friends, and the gramma was my fiancée favorite fish haha. Vivid was nice enough to give me store credit
 
Back
Top