wrasse not visibly breathing

[GSnake]

Hi,

today after some work in the tank i put my lid on and went out for a while. when i came back not long after I found my golden rhomboid fairy wrasse on the floor, and my feeding portal toppled over - it fell into the tank. It somehow managed to jump at the portal hard enough for it to fall sideways and then it jumped out. ill have to keep a weight on it for next time.

so anyways, his body was still wet, tail a little dry, when I grabbed him and put him back in the DT, and he actually did a half like swim away to corner. a cleaner shrimp picked at his tail while he was breathing heavily. So i put him in my acclimation box in the DT instead. now about 30mins later, hes not breathing visibly and is upside down with his mouth open. is this fish a goner? or is just extremely stressed and sleeping like. maybe he is still breathing but Its not noticeable.

anyone have a similar experience with fish that jumped and not breathing or shocked? its about 1hr since the incident.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi,

today after some work in the tank i put my lid on and went out for a while. when i came back not long after I found my golden rhomboid fairy wrasse on the floor, and my feeding portal toppled over - it fell into the tank. It somehow managed to jump at the portal hard enough for it to fall sideways and then it jumped out. ill have to keep a weight on it for next time.

so anyways, his body was still wet, tail a little dry, when I grabbed him and put him back in the DT, and he actually did a half like swim away to corner. a cleaner shrimp picked at his tail while he was breathing heavily. So i put him in my acclimation box in the DT instead. now about 30mins later, hes not breathing visibly and is upside down with his mouth open. is this fish a goner? or is just extremely stressed and sleeping like. maybe he is still breathing but Its not noticeable.

anyone have a similar experience with fish that jumped and not breathing or shocked? its about 1hr since the incident.

Sorry - it should be moving its gill covers, if it isn't, I'd say it has passed. I've held fish in water currents to revive them before and it sometimes works, depending on what the reason was that they stopped breathing in the first place.

Jay

 

[Karen00]

Sorry - it should be moving its gill covers, if it isn't, I'd say it has passed. I've held fish in water currents to revive them before and it sometimes works, depending on what the reason was that they stopped breathing in the first place.

Jay

Hi Jay. I saw you mention this technique in another post. Do you hold the fish stationary in the current or do you move it in a forward motion (or forward then backward then repeat)? I had a freshwater fish jump out years ago and I wish I had known this technique back then. It might not have helped but might have. Hopefully there isn't a next time but I would like to be prepared.

OP: I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sure we've all experienced this! I hope he's still alive!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi Jay. I saw you mention this technique in another post. Do you hold the fish stationary in the current or do you move it in a forward motion (or forward then backward then repeat)? I had a freshwater fish jump out years ago and I wish I had known this technique back then. It might not have helped but might have. Hopefully there isn't a next time but I would like to be prepared.

OP: I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sure we've all experienced this! I hope he's still alive!

I’ve tried both ways- not sure which works better. I’ve only been able to review a few fish over the years. It only works on fish that have stopped breathing due to an acute issue: jumping out, overdose of anesthetic or shipping stress.

Jay

 

[Karen00]

I’ve tried both ways- not sure which works better. I’ve only been able to review a few fish over the years. It only works on fish that have stopped breathing due to an acute issue: jumping out, overdose of anesthetic or shipping stress.

Jay

Thank you so much!

 

[i cant think]

Hi,

today after some work in the tank i put my lid on and went out for a while. when i came back not long after I found my golden rhomboid fairy wrasse on the floor, and my feeding portal toppled over - it fell into the tank. It somehow managed to jump at the portal hard enough for it to fall sideways and then it jumped out. ill have to keep a weight on it for next time.

so anyways, his body was still wet, tail a little dry, when I grabbed him and put him back in the DT, and he actually did a half like swim away to corner. a cleaner shrimp picked at his tail while he was breathing heavily. So i put him in my acclimation box in the DT instead. now about 30mins later, hes not breathing visibly and is upside down with his mouth open. is this fish a goner? or is just extremely stressed and sleeping like. maybe he is still breathing but Its not noticeable.

anyone have a similar experience with fish that jumped and not breathing or shocked? its about 1hr since the incident.

To me, this fish is a goner - My first naoko fairy jumped, hit the mesh lid and was sat on the sand bed gasping. He had a spinal injury (As most fish get from this) and about 30-40 minutes after he died. I hope you can revive him however from the description of how he swam it sounds like he got a spinal injury during the jump.

 

[GSnake]

Mines a goner, the smell gave it away this morning. After dropping 5 and a half feet to the ground it was likely injured.

Spinal injury from the mesh? These wrasse are fragile. Another time, I had a mirror set up for a day or two for a tang and just observation, my flasher rammed into the glass of his reflection and I believe it was a spinal injury too. Surprisingly loud thud from a one inch fish