Wrasse not looking too good

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

I am finishing up the second dose of PraziPro to treat flukes in my blue tang. The tang looks great so it did its job.
However, now my Carpenters flasher wrasse is looking very rough. His tail fin looks rotted away and he has a lesion on one side of his body and missing scales. He is also swimming as if his rear is paralyzed (as indicated by the downward orientation of his body in the pictures). He has always been the most outgoing fish in the tank and always came to greet me when I approached the tank. He is now much more skittish. He seemed fine before the first dose of PraziPro, but is now having issues.

MnFish1 · Feb 5, 2022

A couple questions:

1. How long have you had
2. Other fish in the tank? Any sign of bullying
3. Did you Quarantine, dip, etc the fish before putting it in
4. How are you dosing the prazipro?

Sometimes wrasses do not tolerate Prazipro well. Any chance you could have overdosed?

5. Any other symptoms?
@vetteguy53081 @fishguy242 @nereefpat @Jay Hemdal

Jay Hemdal · Feb 5, 2022

mrbacony said:
I am finishing up the second dose of PraziPro to treat flukes in my blue tang. The tang looks great so it did its job.
However, now my Carpenters flasher wrasse is looking very rough. His tail fin looks rotted away and he has a lesion on one side of his body and missing scales. He is also swimming as if his rear is paralyzed (as indicated by the downward orientation of his body in the pictures). He has always been the most outgoing fish in the tank and always came to greet me when I approached the tank. He is now much more skittish. He seemed fine before the first dose of PraziPro, but is now having issues.

How long have you had the wrasse?
One thing about prazi - if the wrasse also had flukes, and the prazi knocked them off, the open lesions in the skin can allow for secondary infection. The prazi itself isn’t a problem if dosed correctly.
Jay

jmichaelh7 · Feb 5, 2022

I just want to say that I had the same exact wrasse and once I dosed prazi .. it died. Maybe it’s the particular wrasse that doesn’t do good with it??

Just thought I’d share. All three other wrasses made it.

pull the plug on prazi

J.D. · Feb 5, 2022

I agree, I just lost a Rhomboid Wrasse after the 2 dose of Parzapro in my DT. I had it a couple of years without issue, after 2nd dose developed very rapid breathing and died after 2 days. I had suspected fluks slip through QT on a new addition. Given the cost of some of these wrasse its probley best to pull them and treat them separately in a QT system (if possibile).

nereefpat · Feb 5, 2022

That orientation makes me think spinal injury.

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

MnFish1 said:
A couple questions:

1. How long have you had
2. Other fish in the tank? Any sign of bullying
3. Did you Quarantine, dip, etc the fish before putting it in
4. How are you dosing the prazipro?

Sometimes wrasses do not tolerate Prazipro well. Any chance you could have overdosed?

5. Any other symptoms?
@vetteguy53081 @fishguy242 @nereefpat @Jay Hemdal

I have had the wrasse for approximately 6-7 months. No signs of bullying whatsoever. Everyone in the tank gets along great. I dosed 25 ml for the first dose and 20 ml for the second. I don’t think I overdosed.
I started running carbon this morning as well as Polyfilter to clear it out.

130 gallon Waterbox, but I dosed as if 100 gallons due to rock, sand, etc.

MnFish1 · Feb 5, 2022

mrbacony said:
I have had the wrasse for approximately 6-7 months. No signs of bullying whatsoever. Everyone in the tank gets along great. I dosed 25 ml for the first dose and 20 ml for the second. I don’t think I overdosed.
I started running carbon this morning as well as Polyfilter to clear it out.

130 gallon Waterbox, but I dosed as if 100 gallons due to rock, sand, etc.

Thanks - I might suggest if you can - to put it in a hospital tank - with a broad spectrum antibiotic - to treat infection. Hopefully it will continue to improve

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
How long have you had the wrasse?
One thing about prazi - if the wrasse also had flukes, and the prazi knocked them off, the open lesions in the skin can allow for secondary infection. The prazi itself isn’t a problem if dosed correctly.
Jay

About 6-7 months with the wrasse. I don’t think the wrasse had flukes, only the blue tang.
should I put the wrasse in a hospital tank and dose something for the lesions?

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

MnFish1 said:
Thanks - I might suggest if you can - to put it in a hospital tank - with a broad spectrum antibiotic - to treat infection. Hopefully it will continue to improve

I was writing my response just as you were posting. Any suggestion as to the antibiotic to use?

MnFish1 · Feb 5, 2022

mrbacony said:
I was writing my response just as you were posting. Any suggestion as to the antibiotic to use?

The color of the fish makes it hard to see - does it look like significant red areas or streaking? To me the fin seems to be more concerning?

Usually a broad spectrum antibiotic is indicated. Kanaplex would be one suggestion. Neomycin? Part of it depends on what drug(s) are available in your area.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 5, 2022

Looks like the wrasse is suffering from a bacterial infection and tail rot as mentioned. Prazi works well but can during treatment can affect fish with low appetite and O2 content.
Im curious where your reading stand for : Ammonia-nitrate-ph- salinity- water temp
What test kit(s) are you currently using?
I personally would give ir a 90 min bath in ruby rally pro and then treat tank with ruby rally which is reef safe. It will attack any new flukes if present and treat both gram negative and positive bacteria as well

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

MnFish1 said:
The color of the fish makes it hard to see - does it look like significant red areas or streaking? To me the fin seems to be more concerning?

Usually a broad spectrum antibiotic is indicated. Kanaplex would be one suggestion. Neomycin? Part of it depends on what drug(s) are available in your area.

In one area it is pretty red and missing scales. I went to LFS today and all they had was Kannaplex and Neoplex. I bought the Neoplex and am heating the hospital tank as we speak. When I got back, the wrasse is looking worse. He was kind of laying on his side but started to swim again with encouragement. Once the water is warm I will be placing him in the hospital tank. Thanks all.
Fingers crossed.

MnFish1 · Feb 5, 2022

mrbacony said:
In one area it is pretty red and missing scales. I went to LFS today and all they had was Kannaplex and Neoplex. I bought the Neoplex and am heating the hospital tank as we speak. When I got back, the wrasse is looking worse. He was kind of laying on his side but started to swim again with encouragement. Once the water is warm I will be placing him in the hospital tank. Thanks all.
Fingers crossed.

I honestly think this is a good choice. I would make sure the water is very well oxygenated. He looks like a beautiful fish

MnFish1 · Feb 5, 2022

My impression would be that an antibiotic - as you chose is the best choice - as compared to an herbal remedy.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 5, 2022

Neoplex is a better choice and it covers an array of external issues. As fin tot is a secondary issue- treat at least 5-8 days.

mrbacony · Feb 5, 2022

Quick question about the treatment with Neoplex. The instructions say to treat once and it will last 7 days. However, with the hospital tank not being cycled, I will more than likely need to do a water change once or twice. So say I did a 50% water change (which would be 5 gallons since it is a 10 gallon tank), Do I need to add back 50% of the normal dose to account for the water change?

MnFish1 · Feb 6, 2022

mrbacony said:
Quick question about the treatment with Neoplex. The instructions say to treat once and it will last 7 days. However, with the hospital tank not being cycled, I will more than likely need to do a water change once or twice. So say I did a 50% water change (which would be 5 gallons since it is a 10 gallon tank), Do I need to add back 50% of the normal dose to account for the water change?

you would just want to make sure the concentration of the neoplex in the replacement water is the same as in the tank from the start - does this make sense?

mrbacony · Feb 6, 2022

MnFish1 said:
you would just want to make sure the concentration of the neoplex in the replacement water is the same as in the tank from the start - does this make sense?

Yes. So it sounds like the way I was thinking is correct. Just replace the percentage of the normal dose (i.e.- 50% water change, add back 50% of what a normal dose would be).

Thanks so much again for the help. Slowly learning how to take care of this fragile ecosystem. Cool thing is this is knowledge I will keep with me through all of reefing and (hopefully) will not have to ask again. And maybe share with someone else along the way.