Wrasse Ghost fish

[Jeremy K.A.]

Hey everyone I'm having an issue with my 55 gallon mixed reef. I have/had monti eating nudis so in the past 6ish months I've bought multiple Coris wrasses, yellow and green "over the course of months". EVERY TIME I buy one I acclimate it and add it to the tank, they disappear forever. I have not seen one of these fish since adding them, *Ever* and am absolutely done with them at this point since it's literally feeling like I've thrown my money out. I have a top on my tank, none have ever jumped out nor have I ever found any bodies. Any ideas? Is this even remotely normal?

 

[jhebi]

They may have jumped. Did you check back of your tank or hidden places. Wrasses like to jump.

 

[Gareth elliott]

What other fish do you have?

The entire genus are sand sleepers. And wrasses are known to hide for awhile after introduction. If this is within a month of adding its possible they are in the sand. Live foods, few disturbances may entice out. But dont go looking for them, will spook them further. A 55 g maybe a bit small for a green coris if remembering correctly they van get about 8 inches long.

When adding wrasses sometimes acclimation boxes will help with the initial introduction. Can be as simple as critter cage from petco.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

They may have jumped. Did you check back of your tank or hidden places. Wrasses like to jump.

They can wind up in the overflow box when the top is covered.

Sand was my first guess too...

 

[Jesterrace]

I agree, check the overflow and is the tank covered?

 

[CindyKz]

It is amazing how these critters hide. I was cleaning the overflow the other day in my AIO and found a shrimp that I thought had died over a year ago.

Wrasses, especially heliocheres, will hide. If you added the last one within the past month I would wait it out and try not to disturb anything. They come out when they think it's safe.

 

[mort]

If its multiple wrasse lost over months my first question is what else do you have in the tank? They are hardy fish so shouldn't just dissappear so something is probably bullying them into hiding.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Agreed that they shouldn't just disappear. It's true that they are sand buriers, but in most cases they don't die while buried.

 

[Softhammer]

For sure check your overflows. I had various wrasses end up in there about a dozen times until I cut acrylic covers.

 

[evolved]

Need some more info:

What fish are in the tank already?
What is your QT and/or acclimation protocol?
Where all fish purchased from the same source?

 

[Jeremy K.A.]

I don't have an overflow, not a drilled/plumbed tank. Also it is covered. Fish, there are 2 small bangaii cardinals, small sailfin tang, 2 barred dart fish, a buckshot clownfish, and recently a white ribbon eel. They have all been bought from the same LFS. For QT I just have the LFS keep them at the store for 2ish weeks after arrival since I don't have a tank for it. Acclimation is just replacing there water halfway with mine multiple times slowly for 30 minutes to an hour until its the same.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Were the missing wrasses added after the eel? White ribbon eels are generalists, not specialists for diet. So they will hunt fish if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[evolved]

Acclimation is just replacing there water halfway with mine multiple times slowly for 30 minutes to an hour until its the same.

What salinity does your LFS keep their tank at?

 

[Jeremy K.A.]

What salinity does your LFS keep their tank at?

1.020ish

 

[Jeremy K.A.]

Were the missing wrasses added after the eel? White ribbon eels are generalists, not specialists for diet. So they will hunt fish if the opportunity presents itself.

Only one was, the others were added before the eel

 

[evolved]

1.020ish

And you keep your tank at 1.025? That's a bit of a significant difference; could be contributor. Going down in salinity is easy on a fish, but going up more than 0.003 quickly is pretty tough on them.

 

[Jeremy K.A.]

And you keep your tank at 1.025? That's a bit of a significant difference; could be contributor. Going down in salinity is easy on a fish, but going up more than 0.003 quickly is pretty tough on them.

how long should it take?

 

[evolved]

how long should it take?

To safely raise 0.005? A couple days. Really best done in a QT.

 

[Breadman03]

And you keep your tank at 1.025? That's a bit of a significant difference; could be contributor. Going down in salinity is easy on a fish, but going up more than 0.003 quickly is pretty tough on them.

I had near zero losses on my initial stocking, but had a tank crash. While restocking, I couldn't seem to keep anything alive. After much frustration, I found that my LFS had dropped their salinity from about 1.024 to 1.020. I lowered my QT salinity and haven't had an issue since.