Sick Melanurus Wrasse

HumuhumuFan · Jul 18, 2022

Good evening, everyone. A few weeks ago, my Melanurus Wrasse started to look a little bit ragged. I just got back from a 4 day trip and it looks noticeably worse. He is in a 75g FOWLR tank with a 3" Yellow Tang, and a 2" Rectangle Trigger. I purchased the wrasse as an adult in December 2019.

Tank Parameters: Ammonia 0.0, Nitrite 0.0, Nitrate 40.0. The Nitrate is higher than I was expecting but I'll be doing a water change as soon as I finish making this post. They eat all eat a mix of Spectrum/OmegaOne Pellets and Flakes, nori, and frozen krill, brine, clams, mussels, table shrimp, squid.

He looks like he's missing scales and his fins are getting shredded. I know the first theory will be that it's the triggerfish beating him up, but I have never, ever seen aggression from the trigger towards anything besides hermit crabs that have the nerve to move during daylight hours. The tang is the boss of the tank. The wrasse still eats and doesn't seem to be thinning out.

I have a hospital tank to use but I'm inclined to think it's just old age. I understand 5 years to be about average for this type of wrasse and he was this size when I purchase him 2.5 years ago. If it's just him entering the twilight of his life I'd rather not pull him out of his familiar tank and put him in a sterile tank by himself and bombard him with chemicals. OTOH, if it's not old age and treatment would be likely to restore him to full health I'll treat him in a heartbeat. What do people think?

Jay Hemdal · Jul 18, 2022

HumuhumuFan said:
Good evening, everyone. A few weeks ago, my Melanurus Wrasse started to look a little bit ragged. I just got back from a 4 day trip and it looks noticeably worse. He is in a 75g FOWLR tank with a 3" Yellow Tang, and a 2" Rectangle Trigger. I purchased the wrasse as an adult in December 2019.

Tank Parameters: Ammonia 0.0, Nitrite 0.0, Nitrate 40.0. The Nitrate is higher than I was expecting but I'll be doing a water change as soon as I finish making this post. They eat all eat a mix of Spectrum/OmegaOne Pellets and Flakes, nori, and frozen krill, brine, clams, mussels, table shrimp, squid.

He looks like he's missing scales and his fins are getting shredded. I know the first theory will be that it's the triggerfish beating him up, but I have never, ever seen aggression from the trigger towards anything besides hermit crabs that have the nerve to move during daylight hours. The tang is the boss of the tank. The wrasse still eats and doesn't seem to be thinning out.

I have a hospital tank to use but I'm inclined to think it's just old age. I understand 5 years to be about average for this type of wrasse and he was this size when I purchase him 2.5 years ago. If it's just him entering the twilight of his life I'd rather not pull him out of his familiar tank and put him in a sterile tank by himself and bombard him with chemicals. OTOH, if it's not old age and treatment would be likely to restore him to full health I'll treat him in a heartbeat. What do people think?

I think something picked on it when you weren’t looking, and then due to older age, it just wasn’t able to easily repair the damage.
It is very common to never see one fish bit another, it is over in a split second, and may only happen once or twice a day over days/weeks, but the damage builds up.
Could you move it to an isolation basket or the QT to hold it to see if it can regrow its fins?
Jay

HumuhumuFan · Jul 19, 2022

I did live out one other detail that is probably relevant. In my experience with similar wrasses, when they are being bullied they just stay buried in the sand. Not the case here, he's out and swimming all day until lights out. Also doesn't try to avoid the trigger or the YT at all while swimming.

Jay Hemdal · Jul 19, 2022

HumuhumuFan said:
I did live out one other detail that is probably relevant. In my experience with similar wrasses, when they are being bullied they just stay buried in the sand. Not the case here, he's out and swimming all day until lights out. Also doesn't try to avoid the trigger or the YT at all while swimming.

I wonder if the fin damage started as a minor issue, but then, the wrasse’s age and condition just allowed the erosion to worsen? I don’t see in red/raw/jagged fin edges that might indicate fresh damage.
Jay