Sick Flame Wrasse

JamesS · Apr 19, 2019

Hi guys, hoping you can help me with my Flame Wrasse. Since his arrival 16 days ago he has been very inactive and arrived with his tank mate an orange back wrasse who has been much more active. Both completed freshwater baths after arrival but saw no visible flukes on either. On the second or third day I saw white poop hanging from flame wrasse, not stringy but white. Completed two rounds of GC and thought it was a success as there was no more white poop. Both ate well during this period. I waited a few days before beginning Copper Power and I'm now on the second day of it. I'm at .71 per my Hannah checker. When I got home from work tonight I was going to add another partial dose but was surprised to find more white poop and my flame wrasse laying on the tank bottom looking very sick and breathing rapidly. Not sure if I should stop the copper, do a water change, start GC (I've got Prazi as well)??? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 19, 2019

JamesS said:
Hi guys, hoping you can help me with my Flame Wrasse. Since his arrival 16 days ago he has been very inactive and arrived with his tank mate an orange back wrasse who has been much more active. Both completed freshwater baths after arrival but saw no visible flukes on either. On the second or third day I saw white poop hanging from flame wrasse, not stringy but white. Completed two rounds of GC and thought it was a success as there was no more white poop. Both ate well during this period. I waited a few days before beginning Copper Power and I'm now on the second day of it. I'm at .71 per my Hannah checker. When I got home from work tonight I was going to add another partial dose but was surprised to find more white poop and my flame wrasse laying on the tank bottom looking very sick and breathing rapidly. Not sure if I should stop the copper, do a water change, start GC (I've got Prazi as well)??? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

Stringy white poop is from internal parasites. To treat those you need to feed metro or GC laced food for 14 days. Can you post a pic of the fish?

Maacc · Apr 19, 2019

Wrasses can be very sensitive to copper. If you can get hold of some CP, I would do water changes to get rid of the copper feed up for a few days and start a round of CP. As stated above the white poop indicates internal parasites and more medicated food will help with that.

JamesS · Apr 19, 2019

Thanks for the replies, I did a 25% water change last night and will do again today in attempt to remove the copper and get this guy eating again. Found him on his side this morning and started to take a couple of photos when he suddenly got up and swam around for a minute and then hid behind a PVC pipe. Praying he’ll pull through, I feel terrible that I’ve not been able to help him.

I’ll post a couple of photos once I figure out how to do it.

JamesS · Apr 19, 2019

Thanks for the replies guys. I did a 25% water change last night and will do so again when I get home from work. Hoping to get him eating and feeling better quickly. Found him on his side this morning and took a couple of photos and then he suddenly got up and swam around for a minute then hid behind some PVC. Praying he’ll be okay, I feel terrible that I’ve been able to help him. Thanks again for the help!