red lined wrasse in QT

[mattzang]

so I just did an online order from liveaquaria and got a red lined wrasse. She came in 1.019 water and my QT was 1.022 so I removed some water and added RO to lower the QT while dripping her for about 2 hours. I put her in QT and she's laying under a rock on her side. is this normal for a wrasse? I've only ever had a sixline that I put straight in a DT, not a QT.

 

[JaaxReef]

so I just did an online order from liveaquaria and got a red lined wrasse. She came in 1.019 water and my QT was 1.022 so I removed some water and added RO to lower the QT while dripping her for about 2 hours. I put her in QT and she's laying under a rock on her side. is this normal for a wrasse? I've only ever had a sixline that I put straight in a DT, not a QT.

I believe the red lines wrasse dives in the sand bed to sleep. It might be stressed if you have a bottomless QT tank. You could put 3” of sand in a container in the tank just so it has somewhere to hide and keep the sand contained?

 

[wesman42]

so I just did an online order from liveaquaria and got a red lined wrasse. She came in 1.019 water and my QT was 1.022 so I removed some water and added RO to lower the QT while dripping her for about 2 hours. I put her in QT and she's laying under a rock on her side. is this normal for a wrasse? I've only ever had a sixline that I put straight in a DT, not a QT.

This is absolutely normal! My Melanurus rested for 2-3 days staying on the bottom before he found my tub-o-sand in the corner to hide under. It's normal why they are getting used to their surroundings. Now, if a different fish did this I'd be worried...

Drip acclimating for 2 hours is way too long in my opinion. Especially if the SG is matched...you should be able to float and release. I've done this with all of my quarantined fish, and I've never had one go into shock. I believe it's also the method used by Humblefish and many others.

 

[mattzang]

This is absolutely normal! My Melanurus rested for 2-3 days staying on the bottom before he found my tub-o-sand in the corner to hide under. It's normal why they are getting used to their surroundings. Now, if a different fish did this I'd be worried...

Drip acclimating for 2 hours is way too long in my opinion. Especially if the SG is matched...you should be able to float and release. I've done this with all of my quarantined fish, and I've never had one go into shock. I believe it's also the method used by Humblefish and many others.

Ok cool, yeah I have the tupperware of sand and shes not even far from it, but yeah

well it wasn't super closely matched to begin with that's why I dripped for that long. she actually started cruising around the bucket so I think she was doing ok in there.

she's still under the rock but right side up at least, should I turn the light on or leave it off?

 

[wesman42]

Ok cool, yeah I have the tupperware of sand and shes not even far from it, but yeah

well it wasn't super closely matched to begin with that's why I dripped for that long. she actually started cruising around the bucket so I think she was doing ok in there.

she's still under the rock but right side up at least, should I turn the light on or leave it off?

If it's the first day, I'd turn the light off and keep it off just to minimize stress from being in a new environment.

 

[mattzang]

If it's the first day, I'd turn the light off and keep it off just to minimize stress from being in a new environment.

ok, I turned it on thinking she might be thinking its night time, but yeah i'll just leave it off today

 

[wesman42]

ok, I turned it on thinking she might be thinking its night time, but yeah i'll just leave it off today

That's very possible, it will take anywhere from 2-7 days for her internal clock to get adjusted to your new lighting schedule

 

[HotRocks]

If SG matches in the future just float bags to match temp and then release. Drip acclimate exposes the fish to possible ammonia poisoning.

I would leave the light off and just let it be for a day or two. Wrasse can act very strange sometimes adjusting to a QT.

 

[mattzang]

If SG matches in the future just float bags to match temp and then release. Drip acclimate exposes the fish to possible ammonia poisoning.

I would leave the light off and just let it be for a day or two. Wrasse can act very strange sometimes adjusting to a QT.

Yeah that's what I came across a few times so I was telling myself it was normal, but just seemed scary!

This is my first QT go so it just seems so wildly different than dropping it in the main tank and just watching for aggression. At least I've learned a lot, I honestly didn't know the entire idea behind acclimating was just matching salinity. So at least I know that now!

 

[mattzang]

well found her dead a few minutes ago.. really sucks. I had not seen her today and was hoping she finally found the tupperware of sand, but then saw her tail sticking out of a rock. I'll get some pics up in a few, there's some paleness going on around the abdomen area, but she may have been dead for awhile. doing a freshwater dip right now to see if I spot any worms.

she seemed to be doing ok, she was eating pellets and frozen, seemed a little shy but I figured that was probably normal.

 

[HotRocks]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Wrasse are notorious for intestinal parasites/worms. I always start them on medicated food day 1. As soon as they stop eating it's too late...

 

[mattzang]

 

[mattzang]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Wrasse are notorious for intestinal parasites/worms. I always start them on medicated food day 1. As soon as they stop eating it's too late...

thanks man.

such a beautiful fish, when she was eating fine I thought I was home free.

so what should I have done differently? ammonia wasn't an issue it's showing 0. I did the freshwater dip and didn't see anything in there. Unfortunately I don't have a dark colored tupperware or something, but I tried looking at it under several bright lights and nothing.

Next time I guess I get going on prazi or metro immediately? I was just so hesitant to medicate anything especially when she seemed to be doing ok. I guess this is the downside to the do nothing approach.

 

[HotRocks]

thanks man.

such a beautiful fish, when she was eating fine I thought I was home free.

so what should I have done differently? ammonia wasn't an issue it's showing 0. I did the freshwater dip and didn't see anything in there. Unfortunately I don't have a dark colored tupperware or something, but I tried looking at it under several bright lights and nothing.

Next time I guess I get going on prazi or metro immediately? I was just so hesitant to medicate anything especially when she seemed to be doing ok. I guess this is the downside to the do nothing approach.

Add Metroplex or general cure to frozen food. Along with focus. Then if there are internal parasites you are covered.

 

[mattzang]

Add Metroplex or general cure to frozen food. Along with focus. Then if there are internal parasites you are covered.

Metroplex is reef safe right?

I ask because I have a bunch of fish in my DT that I never QTed. Would you think it'd be smart to do a couple weeks of metroplex to their food just in case? They've all been in there for at least a couple of months and I haven't noticed any white stringy poop, but yeah.

 

[HotRocks]

It's semi reef safe. If it's bound to food with focus it's pretty safe.

If they have been in there for months and no white stringy poop I wouldn't worry about it personally. Only if you see something in that situation.

 

[wesman42]

Another thing I just thought of quickly was that when I was first learning about quarantining, I ended up raising the salinity too quickly and killed some fish, lol.

Either way I guess you could utilize LA's guarantee and try again?

 

[mattzang]

Another thing I just thought of quickly was that when I was first learning about quarantining, I ended up raising the salinity too quickly and killed some fish, lol.

Either way I guess you could utilize LA's guarantee and try again?

I actually topped off with some higher salinity water today because I wanted to up it a bit, but man, it wasn't much. I sure hope that wasn't what did it.

Well I'll definitely be getting another red lined wrasse, beautiful fish, but idk about liveaquaria. Can you just get credit from them? maybe i'll just order a coral and have the LFS get me a red lined along with some other type of wrasse, get them both in there at the same time and hopefully get them both nice and healthy. I was going to finish my tank off with a flame angel, but now that I've spent hundreds of dollars on corals......... lol

 

[wesman42]

I actually topped off with some higher salinity water today because I wanted to up it a bit, but man, it wasn't much. I sure hope that wasn't what did it.

Well I'll definitely be getting another red lined wrasse, beautiful fish, but idk about liveaquaria. Can you just get credit from them? maybe i'll just order a coral and have the LFS get me a red lined along with some other type of wrasse, get them both in there at the same time and hopefully get them both nice and healthy. I was going to finish my tank off with a flame angel, but now that I've spent hundreds of dollars on corals......... lol

It's probably closer along the lines of an internal parasite or otherwise like others have been saying.

But if I am not mistaken they give you a credit for the fish, no other option but a refund. At least they did...I'm not sure how the guarantee policy has changed. I know you need a photo of the dead fish, and they'd like you to preserve it in the freezer, in a bag with salt in some cases.

 

[mattzang]

It's probably closer along the lines of an internal parasite or otherwise like others have been saying.

But if I am not mistaken they give you a credit for the fish, no other option but a refund. At least they did...I'm not sure how the guarantee policy has changed. I know you need a photo of the dead fish, and they'd like you to preserve it in the freezer, in a bag with salt in some cases.

oh I sent them an email and said I have pics and the body if need be. I forgot to add some salt, thanks for that!

I'll probably just take a refund if that's possible. At least now I've seen one in person so if my LFS screws it up and gets me the wrong fish I should be able to tell.