Another lineatus wrasse issue...

[4FordFamily]

THIS IS NOT A SWIM BLADDER ISSUE!!! Swim bladder issues usually will exhibit, though not always, a swelling in the abdomen and the back end of the fish will "float" not sink. It also usually presents itself sooner after collection than in your case.

Your situation is much more likely a spinal injury instead. This is very common with fairy wrasses, as their primary defense resonse is to dart quickly up or out of the way of danger. It could have hit a rock or the sides of the tank. The telltale symptoms re the tail "sinking" and not using the tail to swim. Sometimes they get bwtter, sometimes they don't, but it is not a swim bladder infection.

This makes sense actually. I have a complete covered acrylic top and on occasion I will hear wrasse hit it when trying to jump out. Usually it's if I am walking by or opening the top to give them food the noise startles them. There's literally next to zero aggression in my wrasse tank everyone gets along "swimmingly" (pun intended).

I try to open the lid on the canopy quietly and be quiet scooting the acrylic sheet over when I feed 2-5x per day.

That could well be what happened and makes sense. What are the odds would you say of a fish making it from this? I would say roughly this is day 3-4 of this behavior. It is getting worse but I say that admitting full well I wasn't watching for long periods of time as I did today. I usually feed and go about my business.

 

[eatbreakfast]

This makes sense actually. I have a complete covered acrylic top and on occasion I will hear wrasse hit it when trying to jump out. Usually it's if I am walking by or opening the top to give them food the noise startles them. There's literally next to zero aggression in my wrasse tank everyone gets along "swimmingly" (pun intended).

I try to open the lid on the canopy quietly and be quiet scooting the acrylic sheet over when I feed 2-5x per day.

That could well be what happened and makes sense. What are the odds would you say of a fish making it from this? I would say roughly this is day 3-4 of this behavior. It is getting worse but I say that admitting full well I wasn't watching for long periods of time as I did today. I usually feed and go about my business.

I have seen some recover in a few days, others a few weeks, still others not at all. Getting food is the biggest issue as an injured fish cannot compete as well. Unscientifically I have seen aboit 2/3's recover.

 

[4FordFamily]

Adding to the hitting the top theory - it doesn't help that the tank is located at the bottom of the stairs so my appearance to some degree is always a "surprise", and I have the most flighty, cowardly blonde naso tang on planet earth in this tank. Under NO circumstance will he ever be out when you're walking by. When he sees me he heads for the hills and darts to hide. I imagine the wrasse do the same, instinctually.

I've never had such a terrified tang in my life. Fat, healthy, will eat in my presence but immediately hides when the food is gone.

If I peak downstairs before he sees me he is always boldly cruising the tank. I've had him 6 freakkng months and whenever he sees me I bring food! What a moron!!

 

[zibba]

Sounds like you're going in a different direction now (I'd certainly defer to @Humblefish and @eatbreakfast on that point) but if you determine that it is a swim bladder issue and try decompressing, you can get a needle from a pharmacist at CVS/Walgreens. The needles fit onto those little 1ml syringes that are in most of the test kits. You can probably find them at the same store or order them from Amazon or eBay. Again, last resort though.

 

[4FordFamily]

I have seen some recover in a few days, others a few weeks, still others not at all. Getting food is the biggest issue as an injured fish cannot compete as well. Unscientifically I have seen aboit 2/3's recover.

Makes sense. He makes sure to get food, they don't compete very much mostly due to frequency and volume of feedings. I feed heavily for new additions knowing that my scared cow of a blonde naso will clean up anything remaining even if she is full. But while I am standing there the wrasse have full access. As soon as I walk away she will clean up what she can. Seriously she looks like a blimp.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Adding to the hitting the top theory - it doesn't help that the tank is located at the bottom of the stairs so my appearance to some degree is always a "surprise", and I have the most flighty, cowardly blonde naso tang on planet earth in this tank. Under NO circumstance will he ever be out when you're walking by. When he sees me he heads for the hills and darts to hide. I imagine the wrasse do the same, instinctually.

I've never had such a terrified tang in my life. Fat, healthy, will eat in my presence but immediately hides when the food is gone.

If I peak downstairs before he sees me he is always boldly cruising the tank. I've had him 6 freakkng months and whenever he sees me I bring food! What a moron!!

Thats hilarious, but not surprising. The net tops BRS sells are pretty good for avoiding this kind of injury.

 

[4FordFamily]

Thats hilarious, but not surprising. The net tops BRS sells are pretty good for avoiding this kind of injury.

I used the acrylic to reduce evaporation because I had to install a huge dehumidifier to prevent mold it was so humid everything was wet down there. I had a canopy that pretty well covered the top anyway, but figured more protection against suicidal kamikaze fish would be better than less, especially with a tank full of expensive wrasse jewels

But I would rather have healthy safe fish than be annoyed at adding water more frequently. Is it expensive netting? If so I bet I can buy something from lowes and "rig" it up to accomplish the same thing.

 

[4FordFamily]

Pavlov would be disappointed and befuddled by my scared cow tang...

 

[Rutrag]

But I would rather have healthy safe fish than be annoyed at adding water more frequently. Is it expensive netting? If so I bet I can buy something from lowes and "rig" it up to accomplish the same thing.

I found cicada netting at HD which could be used. It's a little tougher to work with than what BRS sells as it isn't as stiff. If you can get someone to help you by pulling it tight, it would actually be pretty easy on a good sized table. I also got it on clearance for a HUGE roll at like $7.

 

[4FordFamily]

I found cicada netting at HD which could be used. It's a little tougher to work with than what BRS sells as it isn't as stiff. If you can get someone to help you by pulling it tight, it would actually be pretty easy on a good sized table. I also got it on clearance for a HUGE roll at like $7.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Humblefish]

A spinal injury? Sounds like we're gonna need an X-ray of the fish to settle this.

 

[evolved]

THIS IS NOT A SWIM BLADDER ISSUE!!! Swim bladder issues usually will exhibit, though not always, a swelling in the abdomen and the back end of the fish will "float" not sink. It also usually presents itself sooner after collection than in your case.

Your situation is much more likely a spinal injury instead. This is very common with fairy wrasses, as their primary defense resonse is to dart quickly up or out of the way of danger. It could have hit a rock or the sides of the tank. The telltale symptoms re the tail "sinking" and not using the tail to swim. Sometimes they get bwtter, sometimes they don't, but it is not a swim bladder infection.

Entirely agree, and was about to post something similar!

The net tops BRS sells are pretty good for avoiding this kind of injury.

Also agree; I'm not a fan of "hard" tops for wrasses.

 

[4FordFamily]

Entirely agree, and was about to post something similar!


Also agree; I'm not a fan of "hard" tops for wrasses.

Good to know, I'll be making this change this weekend most likely.

 

[Oceansize]

Back in my freshwater days, this pretty much meant that the fish would be dead in a few days; I'm assuming a swim bladder infection was the issue.

But now I've noticed my Chromis do it too sometimes, and they're fine. They seem to do it when they find a current that has more marine snow than the rest of the water column. My thinking is they're attracted to particles in the current, but the current is pushing them down when they prefer to stay near the top. Or maybe they can see the particles better when they look up. All I know is they sometimes swim just like you're describing but they're fine. It seems to be a feeding behavior.

Another factor may be heat. The Chromis seem to especially do this when my tank temp gets around 84, which has happened a few times this summer with the drought and the heatwave. Like it makes them more sluggish, they don't kick their tail as hard to stay oriented the way we're used to seeing. So maybe they're not fine, lol, but it doesn't appear to be a swim bladder issue.

 

[4FordFamily]

Here's a video of the behavior. He occasionally rolls completely over but seems able to right himself.

Doesn't look any worse than yesterday. Perhaps a hair better if anything.

Switch to HD 720P

 

[eatbreakfast]

Here's a video of the behavior. He occasionally rolls completely over but seems able to right himself.

Doesn't look any worse than yesterday. Perhaps a hair better if anything.

Switch to HD 720P

Yeah, spinal injury. If it was a swim bladder issue you would see his whole body "shimmy". In your case his pectorals are doing all the work.

 

[4FordFamily]

Yeah, spinal injury. If it was a swim bladder issue you would see his whole body "shimmy". In your case his pectorals are doing all the work.

Thanks much. I'll keep nursing with food and good params.

Does this video change your arbitrary prognosis at all of 2/3 chance?

Also sorry about sound track...

I was trying to lure the pintail out for video he's still pretty cryptic. Those guys were so full. You can see my cow emerging to clean up the mess...

 

[Humblefish]

OK I'll play along. What exactly can one do for a spinal injury? Feed antibiotic laced food to possibly prevent any correlating internal infections? Just hope it heals on it's own? Is the condition usually terminal?

 

[evolved]

OK I'll play along. What exactly can one do for a spinal injury? Feed antibiotic laced food to possibly prevent any correlating internal infections? Just hope it heals on it's own? Is the condition usually terminal?

Cross your fingers and hope it heals. Even if it doesn't it's usually not terminal.
Treating with antibiotics for internal infections could be a good idea; can't comment if it makes any difference or not.

 

[buzzword]

Hey, my wife made 3 screen tops for my 200g. We bought the 1/4 netting from BRS and then went to Lowes and got the frames, corners and spline. Work like a champ. I've seen my wrasses hit it and it gives a little and the screen bumps up the slightest bit. No room for them to get out under it. Multiple large fish would have to hit it at the same time. If they get in cahoots with the timid tang then maybe they could do it. We set them with the outer screen part down, not the inset side.