What could have happened to my new Royal Gramma?

[illmatik]

I have an 8 month old 28 gallon nano cube.

- 2 Clownfish
- 1 Firefish
- 1 Serpent Star Fish
- 1 Peppermint Shrimp
- Blue legged & Red Legged Hermit Crabs

I added a royal gramma to my tank about 4 days ago. After a few days, he was well acclimated and swimming around with the rest of the fish. I distinctly remember him swimming around near the top of the tank last night before bed. This morning, I didn't see him swimming around during feeding time. Today I got home, and I found him swimming upside down with half of his rear fins missing. I observed as the peppermint shrimp attempted to nibble off more of his rear fin. He was barely alive and couldn't swim anymore, so I put him out of his misery.

I'm pretty stumped trying to figure out what caused this. I'm assuming the peppermint shrimp came after the fact, after the fish was already on his way out. But what could have hurt him overnight?

I should add I've attempted a royal gramma about 6 months ago but he disappeared as well. At the time, I attributed it to the green emeral crab I had (no longer in the tank).

My two clownfish and firefish have been part of the tank since the beggining and I've never observed any damage to their fins - they're happy as can be.

Any ideas???

 

[madweazl]

Highly unlikely that anything in your tank was the issue. You probably got a fish that just couldnt deal with the stress and the "crew" in your tank started doing its job. One thing you can check is your water against the place where you obtained the gramma. I typically dont do any acclimation if I know my water is very close to where I got it but if you and the retailer have vastly different chemistry, a lengthy acclimation period may be warranted (I think they're typically more stressful than just dumping them in but we all have opinions).

Start with chemistry as it is something you can measure and start working from there.

 

[gone fishin]

A possibility, especially if the clowns have paired off is that they harassed him. A pair of sexually mature clowns will pretty much own that size tank. Just my 2 cents.

 

[illmatik]

Highly unlikely that anything in your tank was the issue. You probably got a fish that just couldnt deal with the stress and the "crew" in your tank started doing its job. One thing you can check is your water against the place where you obtained the gramma. I typically dont do any acclimation if I know my water is very close to where I got it but if you and the retailer have vastly different chemistry, a lengthy acclimation period may be warranted (I think they're typically more stressful than just dumping them in but we all have opinions).

Start with chemistry as it is something you can measure and start working from there.

Perhaps this is the case, but it's strange as the royal gramma never looked stressed to me. He hid a lot the first day he was added, but after that he looked really happy and was eating a lot. I drip acclimated him for about 30 minutes. I should note that I also added the bubble tip anenome the same day (from the same LFA), and it's doing great and is already hosting my clownfish.

 

[illmatik]

A possibility, especially if the clowns have paired off is that they harassed him. A pair of sexually mature clowns will pretty much own that size tank. Just my 2 cents.

I find this highly unlikely as well. I observed all four of the fish swimming around happily, no aggression towards one another at all. I was really happy to see this actually.

Last night the royal gramma was swimming towards the top of the tank, and the clownfish were already getting ready for bed in the anenome.

 

[snoke]

Did you use any live rock? If so, you might have an unwanted hitchhiker lurking among the rocks. FWIW I had a Hippo tang disappear one time. Once I started flipping rocks over I found it, but it was in the grasp of a red eye crab. About a third of the fish had been consumed. (tail end)

 

[illmatik]

Haven't used any live rock, just BRS Pukani. Can something have hitchiked it's way into my tank from a coral frag?

I did find a sundial snail chewing away on my zoas a few months back.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Lets see a picture of your "peppermint" shrimp. Sometimes other shrimp are sold for peppermints.

 

[BigEZ77]

Highly unlikely that anything in your tank was the issue. You probably got a fish that just couldnt deal with the stress and the "crew" in your tank started doing its job.

Agreed, although the RG's are pretty hardy fish. I had a yellow wrasse that was fine for two weeks and then one day just started laying on its side in the sand and was gone shortly after. Chalked it up to just an unhealthy fish. Cost of doing business I guess.

 

[Reef Frog]

My reading tells me that serpent stars are fish killers. Or maybe particular species. I've even seen some gory pictures. Does that seem possible ?

 

[illmatik]

It may be possible but I find it highly unlikely. My serpent seems really peaceful, barely even comes out even at night. He was added to the tank before the clownfish and firefish about 7 months ago and they've grown fine.

 

[illmatik]

I've never noticed the shrimp showing aggression towards another fish, except for when he was chewing on the half dead royal gramma.

I'm still pretty stumped even after having a few days to think about it. I suppose I'll just get another royal gramma and give it another try.

 

[farfromsea]

Aren't peppermint shrimp supposed to be more striped like the candy? Or is he striped but the lighting for the picture is mediocre?

 

[jam.jo]

Did you take the picture of the royal gamma the night before when he was swimming at the top? His tail kind of looks eaten away if it is.. Was his tail like that the night before he died? I almost wonder if it was a bacterial infection? What were your parameters? Do you have crabs in the tank- if so- what kind? The peppermint shrimp definitely was an after fact- When my blood shrimp died, my peppermint shrimp were scavenging it right away.

 

[SeattleReefer]

do you have a powerhead inside the tank, does it have an off cycle?

Perhaps he tried to sleep inside the powerhead?

I lost a dottyback this way- it liked to explore the powerhead during feed times....

 

[illmatik]

Did you take the picture of the royal gamma the night before when he was swimming at the top? His tail kind of looks eaten away if it is.. Was his tail like that the night before he died? I almost wonder if it was a bacterial infection? What were your parameters? Do you have crabs in the tank- if so- what kind? The peppermint shrimp definitely was an after fact- When my blood shrimp died, my peppermint shrimp were scavenging it right away.

It's just a bad pic. Here's another pic taken at the same time (the day before the "incident")

No powerheads in the tank.

 

[jam.jo]

Then I would bet possibly on stress- was he eating okay? did you quarantine him before adding him to the display tank to check for any signs of internal disease/parasite issues?

 

[makers marc]

I find this highly unlikely as well. I observed all four of the fish swimming around happily, no aggression towards one another at all. I was really happy to see this actually.

Last night the royal gramma was swimming towards the top of the tank, and the clownfish were already getting ready for bed in the anenome.

OP,

Just because you observed all 4 fish swimming around "happily" doesn't mean anything. Did you sit there and watch them non-stop for 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week? Probably not. Like the others, it most likely is just stress for various reasons and it doesn't mean you are a bad fishkeeper or that you got a bad specimen.

"My serpent seems really peaceful, barely even comes out even at night. He was added to the tank before the clownfish and firefish about 7 months ago and they've grown fine. "

Also, I have a serpent sea star that was supposed to be reef safe but I've seen it eat weaker fishes, especially when I don't manually feed it for a month or so. And again, just because it grew fine with the clownfish and firefish for 7 months doesn't mean anything with respect to the royal gramma. Maybe the clownfish and firefish had a nice equilibrium and territory, that none got stressed then weakened, hence the starfish never ate it?

Not trying to be a dXck, but I've learned there are so many variables out there that you cannot assume b/c a+b = good, and b+c = good, that a+b+c= good.

 

[johnike]

If it's a green serpent, ID put my money there.
RG could have been sick and an easy kill for it.
Next, quite possible the clowns did it.

Was the RG quarantined at all?