Wrasses Stressed in Quarantine

[nickkohrn]

My Orange-Back Fairy Wrasse has been looking stressed for the past few days; it’s been lethargic and uninterested in food. I noticed that my Exquisite Fairy Wrasse has been acting the same over the past two days. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are undetectable. I did a five-gallon water-change (15g Quarantine tank) this evening and they seem to be even more stressed.

I have no idea what would be causing them to act this way. There should be plenty of oxygen in the water since I use an air stone and two HOB filters, but the Exquisite Fairy Wrasse seems to be hanging out at the surface and it’s coloration is almost gone.

I treated with PraziPro a week ago, and I realize that can cause lethargy and appetite suppression, but this is out of the norm for the Exquisite Fairy Wrasse; it has been swimming and eating well, through treatment, up until yesterday. They have not yet been through a copper treatment; they have only been through the first round of PraziPro (4mL in a 15g tank).

Any ideas of what I should be testing for, changing, dosing, or monitoring?

 

[Humblefish]

The labored breathing is very concerning. Assuming nothing environmental is causing it (e.g. ammonia, lack of O2); it's possible parasites or worms are afflicting the gills.

I would give him a 5 min FW dip and check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

A 30 min MB bath afterwards might not be a bad idea either: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/methylene-blue.257467/

If flukes show, dose the second round of Prazipro. If no flukes, assume parasite (e.g. velvet) and begin raising the copper level.

 

[nickkohrn]

The labored breathing is very concerning. Assuming nothing environmental is causing it (e.g. ammonia, lack of O2); it's possible parasites or worms are afflicting the gills.

I would give him a 5 min FW dip and check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

A 30 min MB bath afterwards might not be a bad idea either: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/methylene-blue.257467/

If flukes show, dose the second round of Prazipro. If no flukes, assume parasite (e.g. velvet) and begin raising the copper level.

Thank you for your help. I performed a five-minute freshwater dip, and I didn’t see any signs of flukes.


I started a copper treatment immediately after. Unfortunately, I calculated the 0.3mL/gal dosage not for my 15g tank, but for a 20g tank. I have a copper test kit, which I thought would suffice, but it doesn’t have a range that is high enough to test for 2ppm, so I will be picking up a Hanna Checker tomorrow.

 

[wangspeed]

The one at the top looks like it is very skinny and also looks to have possible spine damage since it isn’t swimming properly.

 

[nickkohrn]

The one at the top looks like it is very skinny and also looks to have possible spine damage since it isn’t swimming properly.

It was skinny, but actively swimming and eating when I obtained it. It has been behaving like this since yesterday. It was acting lethargically the day before that as it would lay along the bottom silicone. Today, I awoke to it acting as it did in the videos above. I will monitor it, but I am not anticipating that it will survive.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

It was skinny, but actively swimming and eating when I obtained it. It has been behaving like this since yesterday. It was acting lethargically the day before that as it would lay along the bottom silicone. Today, I awoke to it acting as it did in the videos above. I will monitor it, but I am not anticipating that it will survive.

Have hope! I have a Red Fin Fairy in QT that acted the same way the first night. I treated mine with GC as I’ve heard it’s easier on Wrasse’s for some reason even though it has Prazi in it. What are you trying to feed them? Because of this I am trying to ease mine into treatments as not to shock him.

 

[nickkohrn]

Have hope! I have a Red Fin Fairy in QT that acted the same way the first night. I treated mine with GC as I’ve heard it’s easier on Wrasse’s for some reason even though it has Prazi in it. What are you trying to feed them? Because of this I am trying to ease mine into treatments as not to shock him.

I’ve been feeding Reef Nutrition TDO Chroma BOOST and LRS Reef Frenzy (they would tear into the fleshy pieces and seemed to enjoy it).

 

[Reefpuck]

I had a pintail fairy wrasse in QT that looked fine for the first few days...but slowly started swimming awkwardly there after. Ended up swimming upside down for several weeks before finally dying.

I'm no expert, but as wangspeed mentioned...possibly spine injury or even swim bladder issues?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I’ve been feeding Reef Nutrition TDO Chroma BOOST and LRS Reef Frenzy (they would tear into the fleshy pieces and seemed to enjoy it).

I would think that would get them eating. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[nickkohrn]

I had a pintail fairy wrasse in QT that looked fine for the first few days...but slowly started swimming awkwardly there after. Ended up swimming upside down for several weeks before finally dying.

I'm no expert, but as wangspeed mentioned...possibly spine injury or even swim bladder issues?

What can cause spinal injuries? Possibly from jumping and hitting the screen top?

It’s strange that they have been seemingly fine since the week before Thanksgiving and now they are behaving abnormally.

I would think that would get them eating. I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you. Good luck with yours!

 

[Reefpuck]

Yeah I would assuming jumping or darting into the glass. If that's the case you're probably out of luck.

There's a thread on how to attempt to treat swim bladder issues...if that is the issue. Mine finally died when it couldn't swim the right direction to get the food.

 

[Butuz]

Hi Nick, sorry to bring some more negative news on this. I had an orange back fairy wrasse and a blue flasher wrasse in 10g QT as well recently. First week, they were doing great (on paraguard). Then week two I switched to prazi, they slowly started to lose interest and were hiding in pvc pipes most of the time. Not sure if connected to prazi though. Week 3, I decided to move them to the display tank. Orange back disappeared into the rock work, didnt see him for 3 days, found him wedged between rocks, dead. Flasher wrasse did the same, did not see him for 2 weeks at all, figured he was dead. He shows up week 3, all disoriented, swimming erradically, head down, head up, etc. posted a video. Moved him to a fuge since he couldnt fight the flow. The guys here thought it was likely either spine injury or swimbladder issue. He died a few days later in my refugium. I have dug deeper, swim bladder issue seems to be common among these species. I hope yours do better.

 

[Smite]

Have hope! I have a Red Fin Fairy in QT that acted the same way the first night. I treated mine with GC as I’ve heard it’s easier on Wrasse’s for some reason even though it has Prazi in it. What are you trying to feed them? Because of this I am trying to ease mine into treatments as not to shock him.

Interesting. I treated with GC + copper on a pintail wrasse along with other fish. The wrasse started having issues righting himself and I assumed bladder issue or crack his head. Removed medication after treatment and he recovered. I saw more flashing with no ich so I've added GC since I had it on hand. What do you know? Pintail is back to swimming abnormally, upside down at times. Still chases down all food and eats great.

I plan to remove the GC with a large water chamge and carbon tonight so I'll see if it returns to normal once the GC is out of the water.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Interesting. I treated with GC + copper on a pintail wrasse along with other fish. The wrasse started having issues righting himself and I assumed bladder issue or crack his head. Removed medication after treatment and he recovered. I saw more flashing with no ich so I've added GC since I had it on hand. What do you know? Pintail is back to swimming abnormally, upside down at times. Still chases down all food and eats great.

I plan to remove the GC with a large water chamge and carbon tonight so I'll see if it returns to normal once the GC is out of the water.

Like I said I don’t know if it’s true but I’ve read a lot of posts where people say Prazi caused negative reactions with Wrasses. Then again if you google “I stubbed my toe” you will be told. You have 3 mos to live so who knows. Also which copper are you using? I know Humblefish said chelated copper (copper power) is easier on Wrasses.

 

[Overboard]

I am stumped and I am having similar problems. Same symptoms, and only fairy and flasher wrasses. The fish start out great, eating well, for 2 or 3 weeks, then lethargic, then heavy respiration, then dead. I have no problem with butterflies or angels using Chloroquine phosphate, but the wrasses I treat with Copper Power (slow ramp up over 5-7 days and test with Hanna meter). I have tested for flukes (have seen none so not sure I really know what I am looking at) but the FW dip seems really hard on stressed fish. I tried treating with General Cure (along with the copper) when symptoms appeared, without luck.

I need to find a new approach, clearly. Velvet had been my biggest concern, but maybe I should treat with GC first, alone? I have not read anything about copper imparting GC’s effectiveness, but maybe that is an issue?

Had velvet wipe out my tank 18 months ago and I am very concerned about adding an untreated fish, even after 72 days in the QT.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Crashjack]

I had a lot of problems quarantining fairy wrasses. Out of maybe 11-12 I ordered over the course of almost a year, 5 made it through QT. I’ve experienced similar symptoms before fish finally died and what ended up working the best was feeding GC/Focus laced food from the get-go and then after a week or so, performing the 2 GC treatments (in the water), followed by CP.

Oddly, most fish I was losing were lost or already exhibiting lethargic behavior before I added any medication to the water, and I saw no signs of external parasites or bacterial infections. This made me think intestinal parasites, which is why I started feeding GC/Focus laced food at the beginning of QT.

 

[4FordFamily]

That fish appears to have early stages of a spinal injury. As it swells it will worsen. I’ve had 40% survive and being that thin I’d be surprised if it recovers

Epsom salt can reduce swelling, one tablespoon per 5 gallons. Not much else you can do besides wait it out. If it makes it a week it has good prospects but it’ll need to eat and they often go through two weeks or more of barely moving, if at all, if they pull through.

Sorry for the trouble.

For what it’s worth @HotRocks and I have used Prazi and GC on dozens of wrasse without issue.

 

[Aaron-A2]

@4FordFamily - In response to a few comments in this thread (and in part to HotRock's "How I QT" post), do you normally run GC+Focus treatment in tandem with therapeutic copper?

 

[jp_75]

Where did you get fish from? Asking because i just lost Exquisite Wrasse today. It lasted one day....Came from Liveaquaria. No flukes, just stressed...

 

[4FordFamily]

@4FordFamily - In response to a few comments in this thread (and in part to HotRock's "How I QT" post), do you normally run GC+Focus treatment in tandem with therapeutic copper?

Yes, and often metroplex as well due to the frequency of uronema and brook. Well aerated water is of utmost importance. We aren't rolling that out for our official process yet, but several batches of fish are currently undergoing such treatment.

But yes feeding GC and focus with copper we do that all the time.