OrangeBack Fairy Wrasse - Acclimation Worries?

[Maritimer]

Saw one of these at a LFS a few weeks ago, and it was one of the most beautiful fish I'd ever seen, so brought it home, even though he seemed a bit shy and reserved in the LFS. Placed him in my QT (everybody's in QT, tank is fallow at the moment...), and he hid behind the PVC pipes, occasionally moving from one location to another ... and died about a day and a half later, never having swum about naturally or eaten in my care.

Saw another one during the waning hours of the Frag Farmers' market yesterday, again appearing healthy but shy. The vendor made me an offer I found difficult to refuse, so brought the fellow home last night. Did about a 70% water change to reduce copper in my tank before acclimating the wrasse. Brought the SG to a pretty close match with the water in the bag (1.023). Introduced the new fish to my water gradually, and on release, watched him swim down into the PVC pipe fittings.

So far, so good . . .

Today, he's tucked into those fittings, not rising with the fire-gobies and dartfish for food, and gilling pretty hard. I'm worried I might lose him like the last one, and not happy about the prospect. Is there something I can do for this guy that I'm not? That'll help??

~Bruce

 

[DeniseAndy]

He is probably highly stressed being in a tank with all those fish. Is he a sand dwelling wrasse? That may add to his stress. Give him a tupperware container of sand to hide.

Personally, I would set up a small 10g tank to qt him in all alone. No copper, dark sides and no lights. Try feeding some live foods tisbe or rotifers or baby brine or tiggers. Give him sand and pipes.

 

[cmcoker]

Are you using Ionic copper or chelated? Some wrasses are reported sensitive to copper, with TTM being the ideal choice for them for prophylactic ich treatment.
From what I've read many people use the chelated coppers, such as coppersafe, for wrasses cause they seem to do better with that than the Ionic forms, such as Cupramine.
I would remove the wrasse from the copper bath, even into a 5g bucket, for now and see how he does out of the copper tank

I also agree with above, he is probably highly stressed, on top of the copper.

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks, DeniseAndy & Cmcoker!

Fairy wrasses, as far as I know, all sleep in the rocks, in a mucous coccoon.

To set up a second QT, I'd have to go out and purchase a complete set of new equipment, and of course find a place to put it . . . but I have turned off the light (great idea!) and covered two sides of the tank (40-breeder) with a black plastic trash bag. (The other fish are all significantly smaller than this guy - would they still stress him? He's a full adult, at about 3-3.5". I wonder if that has something to do with it, as older animals (like me) don't always adapt to new situations as well as younger ones do.)

Cmkoker, I've been using ionic copper, as it's what my Salifert test kit can "see", at about 0.18-0.2ppm. I did about a 70-75% water change last night, and didn't replace any copper, so can't imagine there's very much in there. I'd love to be able to read the chelated copper, but the Salifert kit just won't. I had tried Kordon's "safe Copper-Aid", but the test kit couldn't see it - even when I put a drop of the medicine straight into the test vial! (And unsurprisingly, the fish developed little white dots with that in the tank . . . )

Thank you again, for any and all ideas for assistance!

~Bruce

 

[Jlobes]

questions, are you just placing them in the QT with the copper already in there? wrasse can be very sensitive to copper and it is often recommended to slowly bring it up to treatment levels.
what is your acclimation/receiving protocol?

 

[cmcoker]

My experience has been that wrasses have a flare for the dramatic, they stress easily from transport and will usually take a couple days to settle down. So the hiding is normal, the increased respiration would concern me more.

Do you plan on prazipro treatment at some point? Wrasses have a reputation for flukes, and prophylactic treatment would be a good idea, once he is eating and more relaxed. They can be sensitive to an overdose of these meds so be careful in dosing.

Do you have a lid on your quarantine? They like to jump..
I use eggcrate, cut to allow filters, with 1/4" netting zip tied on to it.

What day of copper dosing were you on when you reduced? Any drop below therapeutic level, resets the treatment time to day 1 [emoji53]

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks, Cmcoker!

I've got PraziPro, so can do. I'll give this fellow (still considering this species one of the most beautiful fish in the world - one that makes me gasp a little, and my eyes go a bit wide, every time I see one. Which is, so far, twice . . . ) some quiet time first.

Was at about 2-3 weeks of copper for the other fish? But it's no worries - the DT is in "fallow" until mid-May. (Even more :-/ ) I've got cut eggcrate atop the tank, but without the nylon netting. This guy's big enough not to go through the eggcrate, though the fire-gobies could, if they set their fishy little minds to it.

~Bruce

 

[evolved]

I don't like copper for wrasses, really for any circumstance. I feel that more than likely played a heavy role in your first attempt.

What you've describe so far this go-around sounds pretty normal. They tend to stress out the first couple days before they settle in.

The only other point I could see missing here, is ensuring you have sufficient dissolved O2. If you don't have sufficient surface agitation, you should consider adding a power head to the tank.

Fairy wrasses, as far as I know, all sleep in the rocks, in a mucous coccoon.

That's correct; no sand needed here.

He's a full adult, at about 3-3.5". I wonder if that has something to do with it, as older animals (like me) don't always adapt to new situations as well as younger ones do.

It doesn't help for sure, but shouldn't be prohibitive.

Do you plan on prazipro treatment at some point?

A good question; something you should definitely do.

Do you have a lid on your quarantine?

Another good question; something you absolutely need!

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks, Hunter!

There's a powerhead down near the bottom of the tank with a venturi on it, blasting bubbles and flow across the front, and an Aqua-Clear 110 up top creating surface flow and hosting bacterial colonies for ammonia control. Hopefully, oxygen is covered...

Will do Prazi after he de-stresses - or should I do it before, on the possibility that he's gilling so hard because of flukes?!, which just occured to me...

~Bruce

 

[Duke4Life]

I bet it's the copper for the gilling besides stress.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Thanks, DeniseAndy & Cmcoker!

Fairy wrasses, as far as I know, all sleep in the rocks, in a mucous coccoon.

To set up a second QT, I'd have to go out and purchase a complete set of new equipment, and of course find a place to put it . . . but I have turned off the light (great idea!) and covered two sides of the tank (40-breeder) with a black plastic trash bag. (The other fish are all significantly smaller than this guy - would they still stress him? He's a full adult, at about 3-3.5". I wonder if that has something to do with it, as older animals (like me) don't always adapt to new situations as well as younger ones do.)

Cmkoker, I've been using ionic copper, as it's what my Salifert test kit can "see", at about 0.18-0.2ppm. I did about a 70-75% water change last night, and didn't replace any copper, so can't

Thank you again, for any and all ideas for assistance!

~Bruce

duh for me. I did not read fairy wrasse. Sorry, no need for sand

 

[Maritimer]

Duke4Life, even though copper was being run at 0.2ppm, and wasn't replaced after the 75% water change? (What's 25% of 0.2ppm? Fuzzy math skills, but not skilled at fuzzy math . . . )

I certainly could run another 50-75% WC this afternoon, if it'll do some good . . .

~Bruce

 

[cmcoker]

Thanks, Hunter!

There's a powerhead down near the bottom of the tank with a venturi on it, blasting bubbles and flow across the front, and an Aqua-Clear 110 up top creating surface flow and hosting bacterial colonies for ammonia control. Hopefully, oxygen is covered...

Will do Prazi after he de-stresses - or should I do it before, on the possibility that he's gilling so hard because of flukes?!, which just occured to me...

~Bruce

That's is a good question.. I would defer to @Humblefish for an answer, but am thinking a freshwater dip may be in your future...

 

[Duke4Life]

Duke4Life, even though copper was being run at 0.2ppm, and wasn't replaced after the 75% water change? (What's 25% of 0.2ppm? Fuzzy math skills, but not skilled at fuzzy math . . . )

I certainly could run another 50-75% WC this afternoon, if it'll do some good . . .

~Bruce

I look at wrasses like I do eels and mandarins, no copper. I know there's been research done, everyone has different experiences, but we have no clue how fish really take it, as they're not all the same. Some do great, while others perish with the slightest bit present. If I were to use I'd be bringing it up ever ever so slightly daily, and have a good test kit on hand, maybe even 2 different just to be sure when using copper.

 

[Maritimer]

If I do bring the copper back up, it will be gradual - probably not more than 5 drops (1 drop per gallon raises to 0.2ppm with this formulation, and this is a 40-breeder tank) per day, until 0.2ppm is reached. At this point, I may just wait it out, and see if I spot any dots before even trying.

~Bruce, who likes this fish too much to take more chances than he already has . . .

 

[Duke4Life]

? Have these fish been in your DT or come directly from someplace and placed directly into a quarintine tank? Have you seen something about these fish that makes you worry? Looks? Making sure I have the whole picture here.

 

[Maritimer]

All of the fish except the wrasse have been here for at least three weeks, and appear healthy. (Was getting close to the point where I would have been shutting down copper anyway, I think . . . )

The only known issue with any of the others is that one of the zebra darts has an old jaw injury (2-3months?) which will probably never heal, but which still allows him to eat floating bits of food.

Thank you, by the way and once again, for taking the time to share your knowlege and helping out!

~Bruce

 

[Humblefish]

What do you mean by gilling hard? Breathing hard? What is the current Cu level in the QT and what was the Cu level when he was first put in?

 

[Maritimer]

Hi, Humblefish!

Yes - breathing hard.

Copper level was about 0.2ppm before a 75% water change. No copper was added after the water change, and the wrasse was acclimated and added after the water change.

At this point, it looks as though the copper level might be at 0.05 - 0.08? Kind of hard to read, but it's a little bit bluer than clear water, not as deep of a pale icy blue as 0.10. If that makes sense...

Thanks,
~Bruce

 

[Humblefish]

Copper that low shouldn't be impacting the wrasse or his breathing. I think I would FW dip to check for flukes.

Freshwater Dip: Provides temporary relief for Brooklynella, Flukes, Marine Velvet disease (Amyloodinium); possibly even Ich & Uronema marinum (both unproven). Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes.

How To Treat - Fill a bucket with RODI water, and use a heater to match the temperature to the water the fish is coming from. Aerate the water heavily for at least 30 minutes prior to doing the dip, then discontinue aeration while performing the dip. Fish aren’t overly pH sensitive for short durations like this, but you can squirt a little tank water into the dip just before the fish goes in to help bring it up.

Place the fish in the freshwater (FW) dip and observe closely. It is not unusual for them to freak out a little at first. Also, tangs are notorious for “playing dead” during a FW dip. The important thing is to watch their gills; they should be breathing heavily at all times during the dip. If breathing slows, it’s time to exit the dip. Dip the fish for no longer than 5 minutes. Multiple dips may be done, but it’s important to give your fish a day to recuperate in-between dips.

For flukes, use a dark (preferably black) bucket so you can see if tiny white worms fall out of the fish (especially out of the gills) at around the 3-4 minute mark. The worms will settle to the bottom, so you can use a flashlight to look for them there as well.

Pros - Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases in a chemical free environment. Can “buy you more time” until a proper treatment can be done.

Cons/Side Effects - Not a permanent “fix” for any disease, as FW dips are not potent enough to eradicate all of the parasites/worms afflicting the fish. Some fish can have an adverse reaction to a FW dip by appearing unable to maintain their equilibrium once returned to the aquarium. If this happens, hold the fish upright (using latex, nitrile or rubber gloves), and gently glide him through the water (to get saltwater flowing through the gills again). It is also a good idea to place the fish in an acclimation box until he appears “normal”.