Sick gramma

[DreamerTheresa]

It's hard to get pics of him - he hates the camera, and I can't figure out a decent setting to get a crisp picture, but here's what I've got:


http://www.dreamertheresa.com/sickfish



He's been ookie for probably the past four days, just being lethargic in general.

Today,when I fed, he was nowhere to be found. My boyfriend and I spent 20 minutes trying to see if we could find him in the rock or dead on the sand.

He finally came out, and I offered a little more flake, which he'd chew on, then spit out.


Now, he's hovering at the top of the tank, gasping.

It's obvious looking at him today that he's lost weight.

There are faint white dots on him. I suspect ich, my boyfriend doesn't think so (but he's better-versed with freshwater fish).

Our coral beauty doesn't appear to have any spots, and is eating and carrying on fine.



This fish is likely almost a year old - we got him in November/December of '06. He's survived being the first saltwater fish we had, and has survived moving across town three months ago.

The coral beauty we got after we moved, so we've had her almost three months.


We haven't quarantined. We also haven't purchased any new fish, having decided to wait until we get a quarantine tank.




pH is 8.2, no Ites, no Ates, no phosphates, no ammonia.
We have a 125 gal. with T5s that we got a month ago running on a 10 hour light cycle.




I'd appreciate any input; I'm rather attached to this poor fish.

[Percula9]

Your fish has ich. When a fish is at the surface gasping it's most likely to late. I'm sorry about this. Best thing would be is to remove the fish, you can try to treat or euthanize it by putting in some water and placing in the freezer. Please don't flush. This is the most humane method.

[DreamerTheresa]

Meh. Well, we've made a couple attempts to catch him to at least do a freshwater dip, but we can't catch him.

If it's too late for him, what's the next step for our coral beauty? Ich/copper treatments in a separate tank?




I think I've heard to use vodka with euthanising before putting them in a freezer.


Thank you for the input.

[Percula9]

Just keep an eye on the coral beauty for signs of ich. Even if one fish is infected it doesn't always infect the other fish. I never heard the vodka thing. I am presently studying Aquarium science at school, and my teacher just euthanizes fish with water and places in the freezer.

[DreamerTheresa]

Thank you for the help. Wish I'd known better earlier. No spots on him today, but he was moving very slowly. He's hiding now.


Skunk cleaners are supposed to help with the parasites, right? The gramma never let the shrimp near him, but the coral beauty is picked over by the shrimp all the time.

[Percula9]

Is he eating at all? Soak all the food in garlic extreme for 20 min. This will help boost the immune system and help them fight off the disease. It's also an appetite stimulant.