melanarus wrasse behavior. input appreciated

[Sterny331]

Alright, so i purchased a Melanarus wrasse about a month and half ago. for the first 3 -4 weeks he seemed pretty happy. Usually coming out from the sand bed at about 11, and staying out till about 8pm ish.. my light schedule ramps up from very subtle blue at about 9am and then hits whites at about noon. and those stay on till about 8pm(whites max out at 30% and blues stay on and max at 50%) and then ramps down with blues till about 11pm.

So getting to the point, the melanarus seems to be staying in the sand more and more. Today i noticed him out at 7am this morning before any of the lights came on just laying on top of the sand bed.. i watched him for about 15 min and he ended up shooting back down to the bottom of the bed. but im just worried hes not eating much and i never get to see him. I work 7-5. Usually i go home for lunch at about noon every day and catch him swimming out and about in the water column. but then after work at 5 hes already gone. In the sand bed somewhere. Is this normal behavior for a melanarus? Im just worried because he used to be out all the time and it seems like hes changed his schedule on me now.

Any input will help me! Thanks guys.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Yeah, that's definitely not a normal behavior. My trio used to be out almost all day in one of my old tanks.

Has he been eating well? Any aggressive behavior from tankmates? Did he recieve any medication/quarantine prior to introduction?
I would expect him to have a good schedule after more than a month.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Laying on the sand is not a good sign. It is usually indicative of a disease/parasite/injury.

 

[Sterny331]

i have 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 coral beauty, and just a watchman goby. the melanarus quickly became the boss of the tank. but just seems different now. he has no signs of disease and he also eats quite a bit of brine shrimp at lunch when i go home and seems to be pretty active. but then hes just down all night after 5. i dont get it...

 

[hatfielj]

I just added a melanarus wrasse to my tank a week ago and have yet to even see it. It immediately hid in the rock work and it still hasn't come out. I'm not even sure where it is. So, at least yours is coming out some.

 

[mamedina]

Are you feeding anything other than brine shrimp?

 

[Labridaedicted]

I just added a melanarus wrasse to my tank a week ago and have yet to even see it. It immediately hid in the rock work and it still hasn't come out. I'm not even sure where it is. So, at least yours is coming out some.

Sometimes at introduction it's not unusual for them to bury for a week or so. I would expect yours should start coming out soon. Halichoeres can be weird at first.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Laying on the sand is not a good sign. It is usually indicative of a disease/parasite/injury.

I Agree with this. When mine of 5yrs did this I lost him some how he had gotten a disease of some kind.

 

[Sterny331]

i am only feeding brine shrimp. should i be doing anything else for them? its been over a month. he was skittish for the first week but then after he became very dominant. and now back to passive.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I feed my wrasses a mix of different frozen foods like LRS and rods I also feed my own seafood mix. They also get ROE.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Laying on top of the sand is a sign of disease. Going from being dominant to passive is also a sign of disease. My guess would be flukes, especially around the gills.

 

[Sterny331]

ill keep monitoring him. he looks exactly like he did when i purchased him. he has no spots and no signs. he is also still eating a lot when hes out during feeding. any way to help this without removing him from the tank?

 

[Sterny331]

i also want to specify that he was kind of hovering on the sand this morning with all the lights out yet so it was pretty much pitch black. and then shot back down into the sand 5-10min later.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Try mixing metro+focus in his food for 7 days that should help I believe.

 

[Sterny331]

hes been off schedule for about a week now. still eating and coming out at my lunch time though. hard for me to tell how long hes actually out since i work every day

 

[eatbreakfast]

Boost his immune system as best as possible, vary his diet, keep the water clean, minimize stress.

Wrasses gills are where they are most vulnerable and visible cues will be less noticeable. So you will be looking for behavioral cues, which you are noticing.

 

[jd371]

If you're only feeding them Brine shrimp get some Selcon or other type of vitamin supplement to add to the Brine shrimp. They are not as nutritious as other foods, it's like eating junk food in the fish world. I feed my fish both live Black and White worms, LRS, Mysis and Brine shrimp. The LRS and either the cube of Mysis or Brine shrimp are thawing out in the fridge with a couple of drops of Selcon while I'm at work and are fed to the fish later in the day. A good diet helps boost the fish's immune system.

 

[mamedina]

I would put an emphasis on varying the diet. I look at it like if you only ate Mac and cheese life would probably get pretty rough...

 

[Sterny331]

ok that makes sense. sounds good i will try multiple different foods and also try adding some supplements to them

 

[evolved]

i am only feeding brine shrimp. should i be doing anything else for them?

Yes, as others have stated. Mysis, Rods, LRS, NLS pellets, etc. Need to work in some variability and meatier foods.

Laying on top of the sand is a sign of disease. Going from being dominant to passive is also a sign of disease. My guess would be flukes, especially around the gills.

Yes, yes, and yes.

any way to help this without removing him from the tank?

Prazi can be used in a reef to treat flukes, but it will also kill off any fan worms.