Flasher wrasse with operculum (gill plate) damage

[BelieveInBlue]

A couple of days ago my flasher wrasse disappeared. He resurfaced a few minutes ago with a large chunk of his right operculum missing and significant swelling on that side of his face. He's since been chased into the rocks by the Lubbock's fairy wrasse, which used to be subordinate but I guess took this moment of weakness to establish himself atop the hierarchy?

Is there anything I can realistically do to help it? It's not eating at the moment, understandably, so trapping it seems unlikely, and my rockwork is cemented together and built to maximize hiding spots so catching it is impossible, especially with the increased aggression. How often do they pull through after an injury like this? He seems to be able to swim well enough but is breathing very heavily, likely due to stress.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pics under white lighting will be helpful with assessment as well as things such as:
Breathing rate(fast/normal)
Is it eating?
Aggression may be a factor

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Unfortunately, with mechanical damage on a fish you cannot remove, there isn't anything that can be done. One thing to consider is to perhaps isolate the Lubbock's wrasse, to give the flasher a chance to come out and feed so that it might heal.

Jay

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Pics under white lighting will be helpful with assessment as well as things such as:
Breathing rate(fast/normal)
Is it eating?
Aggression may be a factor

He's breathing very rapidly. I'll try and get a picture next time I see him out but he only comes out sporadically when the lights are ramping down/off, and even then he tends to stay in/near the rockwork. I'll try and feed when I see him out to assess if he's eating or not.

Unfortunately, with mechanical damage on a fish you cannot remove, there isn't anything that can be done. One thing to consider is to perhaps isolate the Lubbock's wrasse, to give the flasher a chance to come out and feed so that it might heal.

Jay

Netting the Lubbock's is impossible but I'll try and see if I can lure it into an isolation box with some food. The one fortunate thing for the McCosker's is that, being the former tank boss, he is incredibly chunky and so presumably has a decent storage of energy reserves...

 

[vetteguy53081]

He's breathing very rapidly. I'll try and get a picture next time I see him out but he only comes out sporadically when the lights are ramping down/off, and even then he tends to stay in/near the rockwork. I'll try and feed when I see him out to assess if he's eating or not.

Netting the Lubbock's is impossible but I'll try and see if I can lure it into an isolation box with some food. The one fortunate thing for the McCosker's is that, being the former tank boss, he is incredibly chunky and so presumably has a decent storage of energy reserves...

Rapid breathing can be from Stress/stress from injury, water quality or flukes. Im guessing from damage

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Rapid breathing can be from Stress/stress from injury, water quality or flukes. Im guessing from damage

That's my guess as well since none of the other fish are breathing rapidly but I'm going to do a 10% water change just in case. Keeping water quality high is probably as much as I'll be able to do at the moment.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Unfortunately the wrasse passed away last night. It seems the damage + stress was too much. I did manage to snap a few pictures last night. I thought about trying to catch him while he was asleep when I saw him but ultimately decided the stress of moving it would be too much.

I still have no idea how he got injured. My best guess would be that he got stuck in a hole somewhere and ripped his gill plate trying to get out?

I would like another flasher but I wonder if the Lubbock's will allow it. hmm... Think I'll wait a bit and see.