Sick Royal Gramma

[stonyreef]

My royal gramma isnt looking too good, he is swimming low to the sand and slightly sideways. He has been compulsively scratching against the sand and occaisionally the rocks for about 5 days . However, i have not seen any parasites or damage on his scales and he has been eating fine. Any thoughts as to what might be the cause?

 

[stickx911]

ich? that causes scratching...

 

[ralph atl]

 

[reefwife]

If he is scratching it is most likely ich!

 

[stonyreef]

well today he is fine, but he does still keep compulsively scracting in the same place. Will ich cause irritation even with no visible signs of parasites?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

stonyreef;189590 wrote: well today he is fine, but he does still keep compulsively scracting in the same place. Will ich cause irritation even with no visible signs of parasites?

yep...

 

[xyzpdq0121]

andrew30101;189605 wrote: Yeah man, if he is scratching he almost definitely has ich. You may want to quarantine and treat him for it asap so your other fish have less of a chance of getting it.

Once one has it, you can be 99.99% sure that the others have it too...

 

[parmoffitt]

I have a Royal Gramma that scratches. He has been doing that since I got him a several months ago. I thought something was wrong at first but nothing has ever shown up on this fish. He eats and has no signs of illness on him. If a fish has ich you see it. All other fish in my tank continue to be healthy.

 

[tebriel]

parmoffitt;189639 wrote: If a fish has ich you see it.

IIRC Not necessarily true, it can be carried inside the gills and therefore is not visible.

 

[triga22]

Or it may be in the larval stage.

 

[raz0945]

Thank you Mysterybox for the info on Ick Treatments-I have put it in my favorates, so if (WHEN) I need it I will not go crazy trying to find the info (l also have a 20g set aside for use w/heater, sm pump and HOB filter).

 

[soarin']

fish can also have other parasites than ich -- one guy said that he deworms every new fish that he gets -- he says that one in 6 poop out worms after being given the medicine in quarantine.

I would probably focus on ich for this guy, but it's something to keep in mind.