Lunar wrasse rubbing

[Tjk]

Hi my lunar wrasse seems to be scratching on rocks and sand. He has been doing it for a month off and on and still haven’t seen any white spots or ich. Is this normal for them to scratch like this? I have seen a few other fish do this but as much as the wrasse. He is very active swimming around all the time ( seems healthy) in a 6ft 125 gallon tank

i have been adding the following to food:
Grarlic power
Kent Zoe
Vita chem
feed frozen mysis / brine shrimp, new life specrum thera and omega one flakes ( seems to go for anything)

thanks! (Sorry about pic moves to fast to get a good one)

 

[4FordFamily]

Scratching is not “normal” if it’s observed more than say, once. My parasite-free tanks I don’t think I’ve ever seen them scratch.

I assume you do not quarantine?

Wrasse have thick slime coats, and thus gills often harbor parasites which can affect other less resistant tank mates, or even that same fish over time.

Is the fish breathing heavily?

 

[Tjk]

He dose not appear to breathe heavily. He moves around so much its hard to tell.

By heavy breathing do you mean like gasping for oxygen?

He was not quarantined. He was in my smaller 40 gallon for almost a month ( wasn’t really a quarantine though) before being moved to the 125

 

[Tjk]

Heres a video of him

 

[Tjk]

Heres a video of him

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R!

Wrasses can be fluke magnets. Consider giving the fish a freshwater dip to confirm or eliminate them as the potential problem.

Freshwater Dip

Freshwater Dip What It Treats – Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases: 1) Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium ocellatum) 2) Brooklynella hostilis 3) Uronema marinum 4) Flukes (Monogeneans) 5) Black Ich (Turbellarians) Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes (see video...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Tjk]

I did the fresh water dip for 5 minutes didn’t see anything fall from the gills or anything.

 

[Big G]

There are 3 basic types of flukes found on saltwater fish. From easiest to remove to toughest: Usually the freshwater dip will show flukes that were on the skin the best. Flukes within the gills can be somewhat tough for fw dips and meds due to the mucous coating on the gill membrane which protects the flukes to some extent. These are the ones requiring Prazipro or General Cure dosing over a couple of weeks.The last type are flukes within the eyes. Very difficult to remove. Sometimes Prazi or GC works; sometimes you have to go hypo.

 

[Tjk]

There are 3 basic types of flukes found on saltwater fish. From easiest to remove to toughest: Usually the freshwater dip will show flukes that were on the skin the best. Flukes within the gills can be somewhat tough for fw dips and meds due to the mucous coating on the gill membrane which protects the flukes to some extent. These are the ones requiring Prazipro or General Cure dosing over a couple of weeks.The last type are flukes within the eyes. Very difficult to remove. Sometimes Prazi or GC works; sometimes you have to go hypo.

I have isolated him in my 40 gallon tank ( lunar wrasse only) and am treating with microbe lift until prazi arrives next week. Any special way to use Prazi on the wrasse? I read somewhere it can be harder on them. And also it can deplete the oxygen? Should i just add air stone? I have a circulation pump but it’s 1000gph and might be over kill for the 40 gallon

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I have found prazi can sometimes be hard on fairy wrasses.

I now prefer fenbendazole for them.

 

[Big G]

The most powerful aerator you can use is a powerhead aimed up at the surface of the water so it is actively rippling the water's surface gives your water the highest boost of O2. I usually also run a foam bubble filter with the bubbler air running as high as possible.

The dosage per the instructions of Prazipro is at 2.5 and can be a bit harsh on some wrasses as you mentioned; so an option is to adjust the dosage to 2.0 which works just fine.

Or use General Cure. It's dosage of praziquantel has two advantages for wrasses. One it is at a slightly lower dosage at 2.0 and since it is a powdered form, it does not have the oxybispropanol that Prazipro uses. The Oxybis is what "uses" a lot of the O2 out of the water column.

 

[Tjk]

Is this the correct general cure?

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Yes

 

[Tjk]

Thanks I ordered that as well

 

[Tjk]

my blue tang got ich before I could start the general cure treatment on the wrasse. So both of them got treated with general cure. I did the 2 doses 48hrs apart then 25% water change another 48hrs later (as per package instructions) My tang looks better but is still scratching very bad (i did do freshwater dip on tang for 5 min prior to adding to quarantine) the wrasse still scratches too. What should the next step / treatment be? I read copper can be very harsh on tangs ( I really like this tangs personality and definitely don’t want to loose him). I have the following on hand in the below picture:

 

[JumboShrimp]

I have used CopperSafe many, many times on a wide variety of fish. Just use a high range Hanna Checker — Amazon can have one to you in 2 days, as you know. Buy extra reagent packets. Best wishes!

 

[K7BMG]

I am looking at a Lunar and it is flashing on the sand.
I am very concerned as I know wrasse can be hard to QT and often dont make it.
So I am doing research before I buy.

As its been a while I was wondering how your Tang and Wrasse have come through?
If so how did you treat them?

 

[JumboShrimp]

My opinion, my Lunar Wrasse has been bullet proof— General Cure, CopperSafe, you name it. Just follow ‘all the rules’— read up on what you’re doing before you do it. Best wishes!

 

[Palau_Sea]

I am looking at a Lunar and it is flashing on the sand.
I am very concerned as I know wrasse can be hard to QT and often dont make it.
So I am doing research before I buy.

As its been a while I was wondering how your Tang and Wrasse have come through?
If so how did you treat them?

Do your research cause my friend about lost his mind with his wrasse. He qt them for over 30 days put them in the DP and they started flashing. He then discovered that flashing is normal for the wrasse as it is a technic for hunting for food. I have Lunar wrasse and he flashes from time to time.

 

[K7BMG]

Thank you.

Yes I passed on him.
I did not know that Lunar's in particular were not invert safe.

But I purchased a male and female pair of Melanurus Wrasse.