New flasher wrasse not moving and breathing heavy

[Justfbilly]

I just added a new Flasher Wrasse to my reef tank. The tank has been up and running for over 2 years. I floated him in the bag from the fish store for 45 min. Then I did the drip acclimation for an hour. All of the water parameters are perfect. He his for the first 2 days and the. He would come out swim around and then hide again. He has not been out swimming for the last day and a half. I found him sitting in a small cave on the bottom of the tank, he is not moving and he is really breathing heavy. There are no signs of spots or damage. All of the other fish are fine and no one is picking on the wrasse. Wanting to see if anyone has any ideas what might be wrong or what I should do. Thanks

 

[aaron23]

Let the wrasse be..they're like that initially before being fully acclimated to the tank

 

[DannyB]

Is he eating?

 

[Justfbilly]

Is he eating?

He ate a few days ago but he has not been out since then. I fed the tank and he seemed interested in the food but he did not come out from where he is hiding. My sun coral was pushed into the hole where he is now hiding and I moved the sun coral out last night and did a water change. I am wondering if this might be why the fish is so stressed out?

 

[DannyB]

I would be concerned with the no eating. What have you tried feeding?

 

[Justfbilly]

I would be concerned with the no eating. What have you tried feeding?

Frozen Brine and PE mysis shrimp.

 

[DannyB]

Does it seem he is being outcompeted for food? or just not interested?

 

[melypr1985]

Fish can go more than a few days without eating. He could just be stressed out from being new in the tank. He could also be getting picked on during the night or when your not looking. Keep an eye out for that. Heavy breathing could also indicate something in the gills- whether its parasites or mucus, ammonia burn- I dont know at this point. Did you QT him before adding to the display? Did you verify that the salinity in his container and the tank matched before putting him in? Another thing to look for would be redness around the gills.

 

[Justfbilly]

Fish can go more than a few days without eating. He could just be stressed out from being new in the tank. He could also be getting picked on during the night or when your not looking. Keep an eye out for that. Heavy breathing could also indicate something in the gills- whether its parasites or mucus, ammonia burn- I dont know at this point. Did you QT him before adding to the display? Did you verify that the salinity in his container and the tank matched before putting him in? Another thing to look for would be redness around the gills.

I did not QT him. The LFS I get all my livestock from runs copper in their tanks and he was eating good. I checked the salinity and I drip acclimated him before I put him in the tank. I am starting to lean towards setting up a QT tank. I will see if I can get a close look to see if it's gills are red. Thanks for the help

 

[Justfbilly]

Does it seem he is being outcompeted for food? or just not interested?

I think he is being out competed for the food. My wife fed the tank when he was out on Monday but she had to add more food because the hippo tang eats it as fast as it hits e water. He did eat when she added more food.

 

[melypr1985]

I did not QT him. The LFS I get all my livestock from runs copper in their tanks and he was eating good. I checked the salinity and I drip acclimated him before I put him in the tank. I am starting to lean towards setting up a QT tank. I will see if I can get a close look to see if it's gills are red. Thanks for the help

Hey no problem. A QT is a great practice.... even if all you do is observe for a couple weeks. This way you catch any issues that may need treatment and are able to make sure they are eating well before going in the display.

I do want to point out though that even though your LFS runs copper in their system, there is a good chance the copper level isn't at therapeutic levels all the time. I work at an LFS and we have a hard time keeping ours at those levels and I'm a stickler about checking it every day I'm there. Since I work part-time it's hard to keep it just right. So I know that unless you had them test it in front of you there's not much reason to believe the copper kept him parasite free. Levels below therapeutic range will just mask the symptoms of parasites like ick and velvet until they are taken out of it completely.

I only point this out to add to your knowledge base and give you more info for the next time you go to the store to shop. I'm not in anyway saying anything bad about your lfs or mine, just pointing out that it's difficult to do it right- all the time- on that big of a scale from my own experience.

Let me know if you find any redness on him or if he doesn't start eating and acting normally in a day or two. At that point we should consider other reasons for his heavy breathing and being reclusive. You can do a FW dip to check for flukes if your interested in running the test. Takes 5 mins.

 

[Humblefish]

+1 to do a FW dip to check for flukes, as wrasses are very susceptible. And copper does not treat flukes.

 

[Justfbilly]

Thanks for all of the help but the poor guy didn't make it. When I pulled him out of the tank I noticed that he had he had a corner of his upper mouth opening was torn. I think hat might be why he was hiding and not eating. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Humblefish]

Still drop the body in FW (tap is fine for a deceased fish.) See if any little white things come out of his gills after 4-5 mins. Flukes are transmissible to other fish.

 

[melypr1985]

Thanks for all of the help but the poor guy didn't make it. When I pulled him out of the tank I noticed that he had he had a corner of his upper mouth opening was torn. I think hat might be why he was hiding and not eating. Thanks again for the help.

Sorry for your loss Humble is right, it's still a good idea to check for flukes.... just in case

 

[Justfbilly]

I did the dip and nothing came off the fish. That's a relief!

 

[Rutrag]

Just thinking out loud: I've seen and had flasher wrasses it's a net and get their teeth hung in the net. I'm wondering if that happened and his mouth got damaged.