to flush... or not to flush... that is the question

[Russ265]

so...
my carpenter wrasse decided it was a good idea to jump out of my tank and land 6 ft down on my tile.

unfortunately he was behind my tank and it took a good 5 minutes before i got a spare container and finagled behind my 7ft tank to grab him.

he was breathing after a lil swirl and then hopped out of the container so i just popped in the display.

well... he did the "hide to die" thing. crabs came out, tangs wanted to eat him so i put a net over his little crevice to give him some time.

well...

its been 4 hours and the guy is still hiding, panting and has cupped fins.

not sure if the porcelein gods should accept my sacrifice, or give him the benefit of the doubt.

thoughts?

 

[120reefkeeper]

What will be will be .... I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[pirate2876]

 

[Duke4Life]

What will be will be .... I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

+1 Give him some time

 

[Russ265]

my issue is my lights will go out soon. if he is lying there... all sorts of critters come out to clean the tank. not ones happy about dying wrasses - or thanksgiving for them

 

[Duke4Life]

But if he is ok he will move if they come near. Only other option is 2 catch and place in an separate tank or an acclimation box.

 

[eliramos]

Don't flush him!
My yellow coris did the same thing I don't even know how long he was on the floor I just heard my dad yell!
There's a fish on the floor!
I put him back in the tank and the starfish went straight for him!
I netted him and left him in good flow to get his gills some good circulation.
After a few hours I let him back in and he went straight into the sand.
The next day he was out and about and it was as if it never happened!
Give the little guy a chance! But I think netting him is safer than covering him in a hole, crabs can move the net.

 

[Russ265]

k well good news fellas (for now)

i went to put him in an acclimation tank, so i moved the rubble and he went from panting on his side on his death bed to swimming around the tank like nothing happened. well almost like nothing... he is swimming around the tank noticeably "lower".

i dont think im out of the woods yet... but it is interesting to see how he changed from his rest period in the crevice to now....

 

[michellejy]

Oh, wonderful news. I was just about to second the acclimation box suggestion. I'm glad he seems to be recovering.

 

[fishroomlady]

great news! I was going to vote to give him some time

 

[cmcoker]

My McCoskers took a trip down the overflow, landed in my filter sock when I was staring at the sump after a water change.

He had been missing a few days and he came out after a water change. I don't know if he was in the pipe while I was doing the water change or got caught when the water started flowing again.

On return to tank, he swam funny and was hanging out under a powerhead and more reclusive than normal. I thought he had spine or neuro injury from the trip down the pipe (he had to smack into the pipe after around a 4 ft drop to make the trip).

He recovered nicely and is back to normal.

Give him time.

Edit to add link to thread from my experience, video of weird behavior.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mccoskers-wrasse-head-trauma.237624/

 

[Russ265]

My McCoskers took a trip down the overflow, landed in my filter sock when I was staring at the sump after a water change.

He had been missing a few days and he came out after a water change. I don't know if he was in the pipe while I was doing the water change or got caught when the water started flowing again.

On return to tank, he swam funny and was hanging out under a powerhead and more reclusive than normal. I thought he had spine or neuro injury from the trip down the pipe (he had to smack into the pipe after around a 4 ft drop to make the trip).

He recovered nicely and is back to normal.

Give him time.

Edit to add link to thread from my experience, video of weird behavior.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mccoskers-wrasse-head-trauma.237624/

im seeing the same behavior from mine. albeit... in this one section.

normally i flush when they are in question like this but it would be a pain to trap him.

 

[WilRams]

My dog was playing peek a boo with something under his foot for a few minutes. I finally decided to check out what the ruckus was and to my surprise my sixline had jumped ship! I was in the middle of transferring tanks so he must have gotten spooked. I picked him up and into the tank. Surely he was dead as he sank to the bottom... A while later I checked back and he was good to go! Whew.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Fish, especially wrasses, can be quite resilient to jumping out of a tank and being out of the water.

Also, when putting them back in the tank, keeping them cupped in your hand and pointing their face into moderate flow pushes oxygenated water past their gills, almost like cpr for fish. They may be a little'puch drunk' for a few hrs, but often bounce back.

 

[Russ265]

update:
no carpenter wrasse an hour after lights on. He is usually my early riser with the copperband butterfly.

ill go rock diving if i dont see him after work

 

[4FordFamily]

update:
no carpenter wrasse an hour after lights on. He is usually my early riser with the copperband butterfly.

ill go rock diving if i dont see him after work

Stress leads wrasse to hide he has a good shot based on what you shared thus far

 

[Duke4Life]

Stress leads wrasse to hide he has a good shot based on what you shared thus far

Flashers I think stress more than some of the others.

 

[evolved]

^ Yeah, Paracheilinus tend to be quite spooky. I wouldn't expect you to see much of him for 2-3 days.

 

[Russ265]

24 hours since i last saw this wrasse.

ill give it another day or so, but i am not hopeful.

 

[4FordFamily]

24 hours since i last saw this wrasse.

ill give it another day or so, but i am not hopeful.

Now that it's able to move about the natural tendency would be to hide until it recovers fully to avoid being preyed on. I wouldn't expect to see it for up to a week.