Fairy wrasse odd behavior

Crashjack · Jun 2, 2018

My C. Ryukyuensis is exhibiting odd behavior, obsessively fighting the glass and rubbing the glass with its face. I understand chasing reflections, and I do typically keep the tank room dark. However turning the light on doesn't really curb the behavior very much, and I even tried flashing a small LED flashlight on him (should remove any reflection), and though it startled him at first, he kept at it. That said, my tank lights ramp up/down, and the wrasse doesn't do this much when the tank lights are at morning/evening levels. My harptail blenny does it as well, but now my wrasse does it more than the harptail. I have seen my three wrasses, C. Lineatus, C. Ryukyuensis, and H. Melanurus stretch their mouths, which I guess you could call a "yawn". However, other than faces rubbed against the glass by both C. Ryukyuensis and H. Melanurus (Melanurus much less frequently), I have seen zero scratching against rocks from any fish (fish list also includes 2 Oscellaris clowns, 2 yellow watchman gobies, and a lawnmower blenny. I have quarantined all fish with 2 rounds of GC and either CP or copper before adding to the display.

Yesterday, there was a light spot on the tip of C. Ryukyuensis' tail. I noticed right after morning feeding. It was roughly 1mm x 1mm. After maybe 7-8 minutes, it doubled in size and then shrunk as the day went on. My suspicion was that he was nipped by H. Melanurus, and today, I saw a very small piece of tail missing just below where I had seen the spot. Regardless, I see no signs of external parasites on any fish. I have had bouts with internal parasites to where in the last couple months, I might have fed untreated food 2 out of the last 8 weeks. I even wonder if the meds might be the culprit.

I realize the test for flukes is a freshwater dip, but that isn't going to happen. I'm handicapped and would have trouble catching the fish, and I don't have a setup for doing freshwater dips. I also have a knack for taking on what should be simple tasks, and then those tasks quickly evolve into quagmires that suck up all of my time and energy for absolutely no gain... and I can see this one from a mile away so no freshwater dips. Today is my second day of feeding normal food after the last intestinal parasite treatment. My question is, should I wait and see how the fish behaves, or should I treat my DT with Prazi just in case it might be flukes?

Big G · Jun 2, 2018

First I'd consider feeding the fish a "fish smoothie" made up of frozen cubes of chopped clams, mysis, brine shrimp, seaweed, etc. with a good vitamin like Selcon or Zoecon, etc. If that doesn't work, a second doses of feeding General Cure with Focus mixed with food ( If the fish is feeding, it's the easiest way to introduce both praziquantel and metro for both external and internal parasites. And then consider doing the same with anitbiotics if the "biting" has produced wounds that need the likes of Kanaplex or Furan2 + Focus + food. Or vice versa. Considering you already have treated with a praziquantel product, I'd be thinking about giving it some time with the "fish smoothie", after all, we are trying to give the fish's immune system time to fight its own battles. Best of luck with those beautiful fish. Take care of yourself so you can take care of your fish.

Crashjack · Jun 2, 2018

Big G said:
First I'd consider feeding the fish a "fish smoothie" made up of frozen cubes of chopped clams, mysis, brine shrimp, seaweed, etc. with a good vitamin like Selcon or Zoecon, etc. If that doesn't work, a second doses of feeding General Cure with Focus mixed with food ( If the fish is feeding, it's the easiest way to introduce both praziquantel and metro for both external and internal parasites. And then consider doing the same with anitbiotics if the "biting" has produced wounds that need the likes of Kanaplex or Furan2 + Focus + food. Or vice versa. Considering you already have treated with a praziquantel product, I'd be thinking about giving it some time with the "fish smoothie", after all, we are trying to give the fish's immune system time to fight its own battles. Best of luck with those beautiful fish. Take care of yourself so you can take care of your fish.

I just finished GC/Focus food-laced treatment. My normal feeding regimen is a rotation of two types of Rod’s food, PE Mysis, Ocean Nutrition squid, and flake/freeze dried mysis soaked in Selcon. I also use a feeder to feed a mixture of pellets, one of which contains a probiotic.

My question about adding Prazi was in regards to treating the display, not the food. I’ve seen some other fish behaviors that could be fluke related, but they aren’t compulsive behaviors. For instance, I’ve seen both my Melanurus and harptail blenny hit the sand with the side of their face, which could be due to gill flukes. However, both of these fish hunt pods, and it is very possible it is just the angle they are taking to grab a pod. Furthermore, the harptail really only hunts pods in low light conditions, and I have only seen it hit the sand with the side of its face in low light conditions. Yesterday, I had 3 fish going from one Gyre to the other swimming into the current (maybe lasted a minute at the most). However, they might have been feeding on something as I’ve never seen them do that before nor seen it since. Anyway, it is all of these things combined with the occasional mouth stretching/yawning of the wrasses plus the Ryukyuensis’ odd behavior that makes me wonder about flukes. I also have a lawnmower blenny that has been emaciated for 3+ months, which started with a dino outbreak. The dinos are gone, the fish has been through multiple intestinal parasites treatments, but it is still emaciated even though it has a plethora of algae to eat after the nitrate/phosphate increases to get rid of the dinos. Maybe flukes could be pestering it to the point that it eats just enough to survive.???

I have to confess that I’m paranoid about external parasites, which predisposes me to assume the worst. However, I have a Kole tang and two fairy wrasses in quarantine ready to release in about 2.5 weeks. If there is a problem, I would like to correct before releasing the fish. Of course if I do have flukes, it would likely be obvious once the tang gets in the display so maybe that is the best plan.

Big G · Jun 3, 2018

Got ya. I'd probably dose the prazipro into the tank as well under the circumstances. Best of luck.

Crashjack · Jun 3, 2018

I've only used prazi in GC form in my QT and have some questions with adding liquid Prazi to my display:

I believe I've read that with wrasses, you only want to dose 2 mg/l even though the instructions state 2.5 mg/l. Is this correct and if so, would that also pertain to a display tank full of rock/sand (I'm wondering about the rock/sand absorbing)? I've got a rimmed 72"x24"x19" tank with a Trigger 39 (40 gal) sump. Note, my glass is all 1/2", and my tank dimensions are outside dimensions so if you back out the glass, the dimensions are really 71"x23"x18.5". I'm estimating my actual water volume is 125 gal - 135 gal after accounting for rock, sand, display and sump water levels, etc. Unfortunately at the end of the day, that's just a guess. All of these fish have been through two rounds of GC in quarantine and have eaten quite a bit of prazi/metro laced food with no ill effects.
I know I have to remove carbon, and turn-off skimmer and uv sterilizer. I also know that Prazi doesn't stay in the water long so how long should I wait to start everything back?
I know I have to repeat the treatment to irradicate flukes. My question is, if I see no changes in behavior or signs that treated flukes are affecting the fish (twitching and such), should I still perform the second treatment?
My maintenance guy comes Friday so if I start tomorrow (Monday), I'll have a water change 4 days later, which should work well. However, that starts my 2nd dose say the next Sunday, and then my maintenance guy won't be back until Wednesday 10 days later. My understanding is that the water change is mostly to reduce the likelihood of dead flukes fouling the tank, which shouldn't be an issue in a tank my size with a CUC. I'll obviously start carbon, skimming, and uv well before the 10 days but wanted to make sure that wasn't a problem.

Crashjack · Jun 3, 2018

Also, I'm not crazy... I finally found something I could legitimately see and verify in a picture.

If it is possibly flukes, I've got a plan. If lympho, it might have cone on due to all the medication-laced food and might disappear now that I am feeding normally. If ich, I guess I'm now an ich manager as I've got no good way to treat and then hold all of my fish for 76 days. If velvet, I'm in trouble.