Quarantine Tank with some Royal Grammas

[Puffersayhi]

I've only been in the hobby for 6 months now, I have a 75 gallon tank that is cycled and doing well with a few fish, snails and live rock. I just got a Quarantine tank set up, so when I get new fish the main tank isn't infected.

QT:
10 Gal, Heater, HOB Filter, built in LED light, powerhead, 2 rocks, no sand. I get water from my main tank to fill the QT.

I read that I needed a powerhead to mix up the water to keep it oxygenated (especially since there is a solid lid), but it seems like the powerhead might be too much. It was the smallest one I could find at the store at 425 gph flow. The HOB filter returns a trickle of water which sends a few bubbles into the tank, but doesn't move the water around noticeably.

I got 2 Royal Grammas 3 days ago and they spend all of their time in the 2 rocks, except to briefly come out to feed (quickly swim out, grab some food, swim back, wait, and repeat). They were sharing the same medium sized rock for a little bit, but have moved back to separate rocks.

1. Is the powerhead too powerful; should I leave it on all the time or just periodically.
2. Is this behavior of being super shy normal for Grammas?
3. Should I be treating them for ich or anything else. I saw some white lines coming off of their eyes, but nothing I could identify (when I briefly saw them) as bad.
4. Is one month long enough to leave them in the QT?
5. Is there anything I might be missing?

Thanks in advance.

[hogfanreefer]

Originally Posted by Puffersayhi

I've only been in the hobby for 6 months now, I have a 75 gallon tank that is cycled and doing well with a few fish, snails and live rock. I just got a Quarantine tank set up, so when I get new fish the main tank isn't infected.

QT:
10 Gal, Heater, HOB Filter, built in LED light, powerhead, 2 rocks, no sand. I get water from my main tank to fill the QT.

I read that I needed a powerhead to mix up the water to keep it oxygenated (especially since there is a solid lid), but it seems like the powerhead might be too much. It was the smallest one I could find at the store at 425 gph flow. The HOB filter returns a trickle of water which sends a few bubbles into the tank, but doesn't move the water around noticeably.

I got 2 Royal Grammas 3 days ago and they spend all of their time in the 2 rocks, except to briefly come out to feed (quickly swim out, grab some food, swim back, wait, and repeat). They were sharing the same medium sized rock for a little bit, but have moved back to separate rocks.

1. Is the powerhead too powerful; should I leave it on all the time or just periodically.
2. Is this behavior of being super shy normal for Grammas?
3. Should I be treating them for ich or anything else. I saw some white lines coming off of their eyes, but nothing I could identify (when I briefly saw them) as bad.
4. Is one month long enough to leave them in the QT?
5. Is there anything I might be missing?

Thanks in advance.

Fellow newbie here but I've been where you are quite recently.

2. That was typical of my Gramma. Even the firefish in QT with him scared him for a few days. He quickly became the dominant of the two in a week or so and stayed in the open most of the time. Even then if something startled him he dove for cover.

Two weeks ago I put him in the DT and it started all over. He is just now starting to spend some time out of his fraidy hole. Don't worry he'll get more comfortable soon.

3. Those markings near the eyes worried me for a while too but if you look at some pictures it's a normal coloration for Royal Grammas, not ich.

I'm sure you will get answers to your other questions from the experienced guys here. I would never have been able to get to where I am without the information I got here.

PS That's pretty high flow for 10 gallon but I have two of those heads in my 20 gallon QT and an 850 gph in my 29 gallon QT and don't have any problems. It keeps the detritus off the bottom so the filter can pick it up.

[dunc101]

+1 to hogfanreefer

1.) I have ran my 10 gallon QT without any flow except the HOB filter. It's up to you if you want to use the powerhead or not. It is by no means required but is definitely useful if/when you use meds in the tank for more oxygen.
2.) Royal grammas are just shy and act just like you stated. Mine hides in his "spot" practically all day... every day... which is in the middle of the rocks and rarely comes out except to feed. They will open their mouth wide if another fish tries to 'invade' its space, though =D. That's pretty interesting. I'll also see it "swimming" upside down a lot in his home.
3.) Treating fish prophylactically is entirely up to you. Myself, I always treat with a small dose of copper (.35 ppm cupuramine) and also use prazipro a couple of times during QT just for a "sense" of security. I find it also helps me feel like I'm "doing" something lol.
4.) 1 month is the bare minimum I would say. Usually 6-8 weeks is more "ideal" and what most on here would recommend I would say. I usually do the 8 weeks just because I treat for the first 4-5 weeks and then observe the last 3 or 4 to verify they do not get any other illness. This also gives ample time to get them eating well and use to me.

One last thing that I would like to add is to not use any prime or amquel to reduce ammonia if you use copper. It makes the copper into a toxic form and it may kill your fish. Good luck!

[jamesbaur13]

For the most part gramma's are shy.

I seem to own the exception to the rule though. He hangs out by himself somewhere in the open... if anyone smaller comes near him he will show off his teeth. Being he is out so much it sometimes causes my smaller fish to hide. Thankfully he doesn't chase... he just lunges at them and they bolt.

He's a pretty bold little fish... if you look in the tank he comes over to stare at you. He's done that since I first saw him in the pet store 15mins after being acclimated to their tanks.

[Puffersayhi]

Thanks for the responses all.