Anything I can do for this Leopard wrasse

[Baronen]

I pulled the trigger on some petco Black Friday deals and shipping was a mess. I paid for Saturday shipping last week and it never shipped. I then had to go out of town the last few days due to a funeral. Of course the fish shipped then and in transit the plane had to land or something so then they got stranded for an extra day. I had to have my dad acclimate them (I was expecting them all to be dead) three of the four are eating and appear stressed but improving. Last night when I got home the leopard wrasse was having difficultly swilling. It appears to have some swelling near its air bladder. Should I try to lance it, or is it too far gone?

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[Baronen]

#fishmedic

Hey is the video working, I can’t get it to play myself

 

[fishguy242]

Hey is the video working, I can’t get it to play myself

yes worked for me

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It could be from shipping stress - airplane cargo holds are a bit lower pressure than sea level and that can cause some fish to develop overinflated air bladders. It could also just be really stressed out from the mishandling. There isn't any treatment for this other than to keep the tank dim so the fish is calm. However, the other fish will need enough light to see their food.

Jay

 

[Baronen]

It could be from shipping stress - airplane cargo holds are a bit lower pressure than sea level and that can cause some fish to develop overinflated air bladders. It could also just be really stressed out from the mishandling. There isn't any treatment for this other than to keep the tank dim so the fish is calm. However, the other fish will need enough light to see their food.

Jay

Sadly it passed :/ the belly looked completely normal afterwards. Not sure what that means. Thank you for the response

 

[Baronen]

Replacement swimming in a similar fashion. Drip acclimated for an hour. Very recently added. Is this just an issue with shipping and this species? It’s my favorite looking fish and would be able to keep it :/

 

[fishguy242]

Tough shipping wrasse ,sorry to see...
#fishmedic

 

[Baronen]

Tough shipping wrasse ,sorry to see...

Is it bound to go the way of the other one?

 

[fishguy242]

Is it bound to go the way of the other one?

hope not, sorry ,forgot to call Dr's
does appear better than last, best wishes...

 

[Baronen]

she finally found the sand bed and buried, maybe the downward swimming is them getting confused there is no sand to escape to??

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Replacement swimming in a similar fashion. Drip acclimated for an hour. Very recently added. Is this just an issue with shipping and this species? It’s my favorite looking fish and would be able to keep it :/

What was the salinity of the water in the bag compared to your tank?

Jay

 

[Idoc]

I would only buy leopard wrasses locally and after they have been at the LFS for at least a week. They are difficult fish to receive from shipping. It's hard enough to get them transfered to frozen foods vs live foods let alone dealing with shipping issues.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would only buy leopard wrasses locally and after they have been at the LFS for at least a week. They are difficult fish to receive from shipping. It's hard enough to get them transfered to frozen foods vs live foods let alone dealing with shipping issues.

I actually avoid this genus of wrasse altogether - too much effort and I still see higher mortality than I would like.

Jay

 

[Baronen]

I actually avoid this genus of wrasse altogether - too much effort and I still see higher mortality than I would like.

Jay

I keep it at 1.024. Did not check the bagged water unfortunately. I got a black leopard that was at my lfs for a few months and loves pellets (spits out mysis weirdly) so I guess I was over confident. I will not order one again, only wait for an lfs to have one

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I keep it at 1.024. Did not check the bagged water unfortunately. I got a black leopard that was at my lfs for a few months and loves pellets (spits out mysis weirdly) so I guess I was over confident. I will not order one again, only wait for an lfs to have one

So - if fish are shipped in low salinity, say below 1.019, and you try to acclimate them to full salinity, even if you drip, it causes a huge amount of stress and can be fatal….that’s what I was worried be a factor here.

Jay

 

[Baronen]

So - if fish are shipped in low salinity, say below 1.019, and you try to acclimate them to full salinity, even if you drip, it causes a huge amount of stress and can be fatal….that’s what I was worried be a factor here.

Jay

Good to know thank you. Would it be better to keep qt tanks around 1.20? Also she is still hiding which I’ve read is a good (normal) sign for leopard wrasse

 

[JoJosReef]

I set up a "landing pad tank" for my leopard and Halichoeres. It was around 1.020sg, but then I get the bags when they arrive, take a syringe to draw out water and test salinity, then astjust the landing pad. No acclimation on day one. Then over then next week slowly bring salinity up at about 0.002 sg per day. Landing pad tank has cycled reef rocks and sand in it. Overkill? Maybe. My blue star leopard arrived swimming weird and thought it was a goner (2 others had died in arrival or in initial acclimation). I thin the deep sandbed and "natural" environment helped her enough to destress, go to sleep, wake up and start eating.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Good to know thank you. Would it be better to keep qt tanks around 1.20? Also she is still hiding which I’ve read is a good (normal) sign for leopard wrasse

The very best thing to do is to find out the salinity the new fish are in, then adjust your tank to match that before you get the fish (assuming it doesn't have invertebrates or other fish that would be harmed by a change).

Also, salinity can always be dropped faster on fish than raised. So moving a fish from 1.024 to 1.020 is no issue, but the other way around is hard on the fish.

Jay