Blue headed fairy wrasse

[Ahyes]

Rescued a blue headed fairy wrasse from my local petco this afternoon. He had almost zero color at the store so I bit the bullet and bought him to see if I could save him. His color is coming back pretty well and he is eating some mysis shrimp I soaked in selcon. I did notice a small scuff on him and added maracyn 2 to the tank. I also see now that his body isn't straight, its curved in an arch for the last 1/4 of his body. I also rescued a strawberry basslet with him but haven't noticed any aggression from the basslet towards the wrasse. They are pretty much staying away from each other. Anything else I should do to make this little guy all better?

 

[Ahyes]

This is the best picture I could get of him. The scuff/scrape is right above his rear bottom fin (yellowish in the pic). He didn't want me to take that picture.

 

[Ahyes]

Had to move this guy to is own little tank because the dottyback was showing aggression towards him. The only thing I have seen him eat is a couple of oyster eggs. Anyone have a suggestion on something to get him eating more? Should I go and get copepods and just pour them in the tank? I did put a piece of rock in for him to have a place to hide and sleep.

 

[malacoda]

If any LFS near you stock Larry's Reef Services (LRS) foods or Reef Nutrition foods, you could try LRS fish eggs (bigger than oyster eggs and I've yet to see a fish that doesn't like it) or RN Mysis-feast (RN mysis might be a little big for him though).

Drop in front of the powerhead so they caught up in the flow and blow around the tank - might help trigger a feeding response.

 

[Fin-up reefing]

Had to move this guy to is own little tank because the dottyback was showing aggression towards him. The only thing I have seen him eat is a couple of oyster eggs. Anyone have a suggestion on something to get him eating more? Should I go and get copepods and just pour them in the tank? I did put a piece of rock in for him to have a place to hide and sleep.

Feed him mysis with vitamin supplements... always gave my fish color

 

[eatbreakfast]

He looks skinny, he will need frequent feedings to fatten up. Once he is well fed he should show more vibrant colors.

Fairy wrasses feed from the water column, so feed in a high flow area to elicit the best feeding response.

 

[nereefpat]

Good luck with the wrasse's recovery.

I see you separated the dottyback. Unless you have a big tank with angels,tang, triggers, etc, you may not want that fish. Pretty nasty.

 

[Kyl]

Good to see you're posting here (and not just the FB group.) I didn't cite R2R and the great fish crew here because that can a times start forum wars, but you're at the best place for information to get that fish healthy IMO.

Good luck with the fish, as I noted, they're beautiful when healthy.