Help, flame wrasse is sick, and not sure why

[Lowsingle]

Hi all, I have had a flame wrasse for a couple years now and he recently transitioned to a male coloration. He recently has stopped eating and is quite lethargic. I gave him a freshwater dip and nothing came off, so I don’t know what could be bothering him. I haven’t added a new fish in several months and he is the dominant fish in the tank so I know nobody is picking on him. I currently have him in an acclimation box, but he doesn’t look good. Tank parameters are spot on an my tank is a well established reef being more than 2 years old. Any thoughts on what could be going on?

Thanks
Darren

 

[andiesreef]

any recent changes whatsoever? any spots, scratches, bumps, dots, etc? how long has he been showing this behavior for?

 

[Lowsingle]

No changes except he scraped his head a few months ago (I am assuming on a rock), but it looks healed and he had no issues for at least 2 months after the scrape. Nothing else has changed so I don’t know what to do. I was thinking a parasite but nothing came off during the freshwater dip. Everyone else in the tank is doing fine. He has been slowly declining for 4 days or so, but at first it wasn’t so obvious as I figured he was just being lazy.

Darren

 

[andiesreef]

No changes except he scraped his head a few months ago (I am assuming on a rock), but it looks healed and he had no issues for at least 2 months after the scrape. Nothing else has changed so I don’t know what to do. I was thinking a parasite but nothing came off during the freshwater dip. Everyone else in the tank is doing fine. He has been slowly declining for 4 days or so, but at first it wasn’t so obvious as I figured he was just being lazy.

Darren

how old is he? and are there other fish showing any signs of whatever this is?

and not all parasites will show themselves via a freshwater dip, although that does make flukes a much less likely culprit.

and does he still eat? if so, try and feed him some good frozen food a few times a day just to help him keep his strength up while you figure out what this is. wish I could help more. wrasses are such beautiful animals.

 

[Lowsingle]

Thanks for the help, he stopped eating a day or two ago. No other fish are showing any symptoms. I feed 4ish times a day LRS nano, reef nutrition ROE and mysis/brine (all frozen or refrigerated), so I feed a high quality diet to all of my tankmates year round 4 times a day. Could it be a secondary bacterial infection from his bump a couple months back? What could I use for that type of infection?

Thanks
Darren

 

[Lowsingle]

Oh, I forgot, I have had him for 2ish years, but I don’t have a good feel for how old she was when I purchased her. She has since become a he….

Darren

 

[Lowsingle]

Hawaiian Flame wrasse finally transitions to a male!

So I have had this wrasse a couple years now and was worried that he wasn’t actually a flame wrasse (he looked just like a pink margin fairy wrasse for a while), but last week or two he finally transitioned to a male coloration. Here’s how he looked for the longest: Here he is now: I am...

www.reef2reef.com

Here are some pics…..

 

[Tcook]

Beautiful fish. That is quite depressing. @Jay Hemdal

 

[andiesreef]

Thanks for the help, he stopped eating a day or two ago. No other fish are showing any symptoms. I feed 4ish times a day LRS nano, reef nutrition ROE and mysis/brine (all frozen or refrigerated), so I feed a high quality diet to all of my tankmates year round 4 times a day. Could it be a secondary bacterial infection from his bump a couple months back? What could I use for that type of infection?

Thanks
Darren

it could be? i honestly don't know what to use anyways

@Jay Hemdal @Humblefish

 

[Tcook]

How is this wrasse?

 

[Lowsingle]

He still hasn’t eaten and is basically just lying still in an acclimation box. I’m not sure how long he can continue without eating

Darren

 

[Gqch]

Sounds like internal digesting system problem, cuz stop eating was its first symptom then getting weaker. Just don't know what caused it happened. Hope it can recovered back eventually.

 

[Tcook]

I wonder if Jay can help? @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

He still hasn’t eaten and is basically just lying still in an acclimation box. I’m not sure how long he can continue without eating

Darren

Hi, I just got alerted to this thread. Trouble is, I don't have much to work with in terms of symptoms. Lethargy and lack of feeding response are general symptoms for almost every fish disease. Given the fish's history, having been in your tank for some time, I think you can rule out all of the common external parasites. Internal parasites - same thing, they would have shown up a long time ago. The bump on the head healed, so that doesn't relate to this issue.

There is Mycobacterium marinum, that is a chronic bacterial disease that infects older captive fish (and you don't know how old this fish is). Could the transition to male (which is physiologically stressful) possibly allowed the Myco bacteria to take over? Trouble is, I don't see the other markers for myco; emaciation, bulging eyes, poor coloration, bumps under the skin.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Jay

 

[andiesreef]

Hey, how is this fish doing?

 

[Lowsingle]

After a two week battle I sadly lost this fish. I still have no idea what caused the decline. He basically stopped eating and slowly wasted away

Darren

 

[Tcook]

Sad to hear

 

[andiesreef]

RIP little guy. You did everything you could