Gramma acting funny

[reefer_head]

I have a royal gramma in my reef tank that has been acting funny, and like a dumb I don't have a Q.T. The past week or so he has been rubbing himself on my toadstool leather and the side of the aquarium. He also has been shying away from the other fish. He has not been eating real good,but he usually just nibbles anyway. His fins and tail appear to have some powder on it. My water test are good except nitrates may be a little high (around 40ppm)seems to be a never ending battle. I just did water change and got them down to 20ppm. I added a six line wrasse about a month ago, but he and the other fish seem to be doing fine. Since it is impossible for me to set up a Q.T at this time, I would like to know what I can do or use that wont hurt my corals & inverts. here is a list of inhabitants.
1 tomato clown 1 toadstool leather
1 algae blenny 1 colt coral
1 six line wrasse 1 group mushrooms/w button polyps
1 royal gramma 1 cluster star polyps
1 cleaner shrimp 2 small feather dusters
2 hermit crabs

[jhnrb]

best advice i could give you at this point is to refer you to helpful articles page one you will find a very long article on fish deseases. once you definitely identify it, you can browse the helpful articles on other pages for articles on the specific desease and how to treat it. good luck keep us posted.

[reefer_head]

(wheew) That was alot of info to digest. other than his faded colors and his fins looking opaque there is no other outward appearence of disease. I went to the store and bought some 100% organic treatment. Its supposed to treat ich, fungus, protozoans, and dinoflagellates. Its supossed to be reef safe. I guess I'll have to wait to see. The product (ick attack)by kordon suggest I remove carbon, but says nothing about skimming. Do you think I should turn off the skimmer or keep it running.

[jhnrb]

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ON THE PRODUCT BY THE MANUFACTURER. SKIMMER OR NOT IS A QUESTION FOR THE MANUFACTURER, AND DEPENDS ON THE LENGTH OF TIME YOU ARE TO MEDICATE. IF YOU COULD TURN OFF SKIMMER WITHOUT RAISING NITRATES, AND STILL MAINTAIN OXYGEN LEVELS, THEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO DO THAT, HOWEVER, IF YOU DO TURN OFF THE SKIMMER YOU WILL NEED TO WATCH YOUR WATER PARAMETERS VERY CLOSELY. CHECK WITH YOUR LFS. SINCE THEY SELL THE STUFF THEY SHOULD KNOW. i HAVENT USED THAT PARTICULAR PRODUCT AND DO NOT HAVE ANY PERSONAL EXPERIANCE WITH IT, SO MAYBE OTHERS WILL WEIGH IN HERE.

[bkv1997]

Assuming it is a 100% reefsafe parasite treatment....

Make sure you keep an eye on your PH after adding it to the water... These are usually made from hotpeppers and are ok as long as you keep an eye on the PH.

As JHNRB following the manufactures directions is always best. Just thought I would throw out some things to watch for.

[reefer_head]

First i'd like to thank you guys for all the help. Second I hope this is a good sign. It looks like some of his color is comming back. He still has been hiding at the bottom,and hovering at the top, and occasionally chases the six line around. Still don't see any spots, but is still scratching. I did e-mail the product manufacturer, and they suggest I turn the skimmer off for one hour during treatment. The stuff dose smell like peppers or some kind of b.b.q sauce (maybe I'll try it on my burgers.) So far it has not effected the ph. All other paramaters are good except the never ending nitrate battle, but they are about the same as always (20ppm). I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and try to keep it stress free (not to easy with my group). Once agian thanks for the advice and I will keep you posted.

[bkv1997]

How much does your temperature change during a day?

Whats the lowest it will get and whats the highest?

[reefer_head]

the temp stays fairly steady. Being that I live in florida I keep it at 80. That is the low temp the high is usually 81.5 and that is very rare. I use a digital thermometer and a regular one to compare.