Skittish Lineatus Wrasse in Quarantine

nivekid · Mar 22, 2018

Hello All,

Last Friday I brought home a healthy and fat Lineatus Wrasse. In the LFS I visited him for two days and watched him a lot on both days before buying. He was eating everything they put in the tank with him, was bold, and not skittish at all. I bought him along with a yellow chrysus wrasse and they are both in quarantine together.

The first four days of quarantine went great! They were both eating like pigs, bold, active, and friendly. Well two days ago I was topping off the QT with fresh water and somehow spooked the Lineatus wrasse. He hit the side of the tank, then the net top, and then hid under my bag of biological media brought from the DT. The next morning he was fine and friendly. He came up and ate while I was there, but was slightly more cautious.

Nothing else has happened since then (to my knowledge) but he has continually gotten more and more cautious/skittish. All day today he won't come out if he senses any movement within 6-8 feet of the tank, not even for food. The yellow chrysus wrasse is acting just fine, if not more comfortable. As I'm writing this I can see the Lineatus wrasse out and swimming just fine. He has no visible injury and swims just fine, but if I move he'll hide right away. I put some food in a bit ago and then promptly walked away. He came out after about 2 minutes and I saw him eat just fine.

Should I be concerned in any way? Tomorrow would be the one week mark in QT and eating well. I was going to start the first round of Prazi, but should I wait until he feels safe again? Also, I was going to do a water change tomorrow, but I don't know how without freaking him out. Any advice would be appreciated. He's a great fish and I don't want to mess anything up!

saltyhog · Mar 22, 2018

That very well could be completely normal behavior. My wrasses would act like that for a while after jumping out of the tank or hitting something in the tank hard. The fact that he is acting more normally when you're not around is actually encouraging to me.

Keep an eye out for him hovering near the filter return, avoiding light, etc. That would suggest something far worse.

Deinonych · Mar 22, 2018

^^^
Agree. Wrasses spook easily, and they tend to act weird in QT in general. These are highly social fish that are used to being with large groups of their own kind in the wild. I suspect he'll come around to being less skittish the more he associates you with food. I like to spend a lot of "tank time" with fairy wrasses in QT so they get used to humans being in front of the tank.

tdileo · Mar 22, 2018

I agree it’s normal. This post hurt my heart though. A few weeks ago my lineatus must have jumped or swam into a wall hard and damaged his spine. He can’t swim anymore and hasn’t eaten on his own since then.. I hope you never have to deal with that and yours lives for a very long time.

nivekid · Mar 22, 2018

Thanks for the encouragement guys. It may have also been the change from a shop to a home. He was used to constant movement and activity outside his tank. Now he's in a home where we leave for work and there isn't anything happening for several hours, then activity in the evening time. He's out and about right now swimming just fine.

Any ideas of how to do a water change without freaking him out too much?

nivekid · Mar 22, 2018

tdileo said:
I agree it’s normal. This post hurt my heart though. A few weeks ago my lineatus must have jumped or swam into a wall hard and damaged his spine. He can’t swim anymore and hasn’t eaten on his own since then.. I hope you never have to deal with that and yours lives for a very long time.

That's horrible. I've read about this several times with these guys. Sorry for your situation.

eatbreakfast · Mar 22, 2018

The more you are around, the quicker he will overcome his fears. The early incident has him "once bitten, twice shy". He will overcome it.

Labridaedicted · Mar 22, 2018

My Lineatus is a big ol' baby. Hides under overhangs most of the time.

He has actually hit rocks and a pipe in the overflow so hard that he occasionally rips the tissue off his head sometimes when he darts. He has healed up fine each time, though. They're pretty tough fish.

evolved · Mar 22, 2018

Just move a bit slowly around the tank - nothing to worry about. It also helps if the lighting isn't super bright.

All in all, no worries.

nivekid · Mar 23, 2018

Thanks all. Yesterday he ate with me 4' away from the tank. I think all is well!

DarthSimon · Mar 23, 2018

I have a terminal super male Lineatus.... I would move him right to your display..... Let him get comfortable, probably much more space.... He will be fine within a day or 2.....

Also when you do your water change shut your lights off. When I used to do manual water changes the lights out would make them more comfortable. They say down lower closer to the rock work......

Good luck!!!

evolved · Mar 23, 2018

DarthSimon said:
I would move him right to your display..... Let him get comfortable, probably much more space.... He will be fine within a day or 2.....

An adequate QT period is far safer.

DarthSimon said:
Also when you do your water change shut your lights off.

FWIW, I have never turned off my lights to do a water change.

DarthSimon · Mar 23, 2018

evolved said:
An adequate QT period is far safer.

FWIW, I have never turned off my lights to do a water change.

I do QT my fish, I have put a few healthy fairy wrasse directly into display. I also buy from a dealer the does a 30 day QT with treatment....

Evolved, you never had a wrasse jump during a water change?

evolved · Mar 23, 2018

DarthSimon said:
I do QT my fish, I have put a few healthy fairy wrasse directly into display. I also buy from a dealer the does a 30 day QT with treatment....

Personally, there's only one QT I trust, but to each their own.

nivekid · Mar 23, 2018

He's acting better today. Even did fine with the water change. I started the first round of PraziPro. He'll stay in the QT with the yellow chrysus wrasse the full period.

evolved · Mar 23, 2018

DarthSimon said:
Evolved, you never had a wrasse jump during a water change?

Sure have, but lights on or off wouldn't change that. And even in those instances, I've never had one die because of it.

saltyhog · Mar 23, 2018

To me it's much easier to get wrasses to calm down and identify me with food in QT than it is in the DT.

QT is more than just disease prevention for me. It's to prepare the fish for the display tank/competition. It's a place to fatten them up and get them so tame that if there is ever a need to catch them it's easy. I've put fish in the DT that have finished QT protocol but not "settled in" as well as I liked and every time I've done that I've regretted it. JMO.

d-man · Mar 24, 2018

^100%.

If they aren’t doing well in QT it’s a bad idea to put them into DT. They will tend to hide even more from the activity and often starve to death.

True I’ve had to add a fish or two to my QT which helped show the wrasse or angel howto eat the prepared food, but that’s only last measures for me.

Deinonych · Mar 24, 2018

saltyhog said:
To me it's much easier to get wrasses to calm down and identify me with food in QT than it is in the DT.

QT is more than just disease prevention for me. It's to prepare the fish for the display tank/competition. It's a place to fatten them up and get them so tame that if there is ever a need to catch them it's easy. I've put fish in the DT that have finished QT protocol but not "settled in" as well as I liked and every time I've done that I've regretted it. JMO.

Agree 100%! I would also add that an acclimation box is critical to long term success.