Yellow Coris Wrasse Swimming Odd

DIFish · Oct 3, 2022

Last night before I went to bed I noticed that my Yellow Coris wrasse was not acting like himself and was towards the back of the tank in a corner vs being out and active like normal earlier in the day. Today he has been in and out of the sand frequently, swimming vertically in circles. I have looked this up and it seems maybe he hurt himself and has spine issues?
I have had him for a few weeks, tank is a month old. None of the other fish are showing signs of a problem. Is this normal behavior or did something happen? At a loss as he seemed perfectly fine yesterday.
Temp-78f
Salinity-1.026
Ammonia/Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- ~7
DKH- 8.9

ying yang · Oct 3, 2022

Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

Not sure on your problem,bit reading your thread, this thread written by @Jay Hemdal came to mind.
Unsure if this what your wrasse got but give first post a read

DIFish · Oct 3, 2022

ying yang said:
Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

Not sure on your problem,bit reading your thread, this thread written by @Jay Hemdal came to mind.
Unsure if this what your wrasse got but give first post a read

Wow, that explains the behavior almost exactly. Although interestingly this fish was quarintened by an online vendor and has shown no symptoms until today. Very unfortunate if this is the case but I will keep observing and update on any changes.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 3, 2022

DIFish said:
Last night before I went to bed I noticed that my Yellow Coris wrasse was not acting like himself and was towards the back of the tank in a corner vs being out and active like normal earlier in the day. Today he has been in and out of the sand frequently, swimming vertically in circles. I have looked this up and it seems maybe he hurt himself and has spine issues?
I have had him for a few weeks, tank is a month old. None of the other fish are showing signs of a problem. Is this normal behavior or did something happen? At a loss as he seemed perfectly fine yesterday.
Temp-78f
Salinity-1.026
Ammonia/Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- ~7
DKH- 8.9

This could be the unknown wrasse disease, one key symptom is does the fish still eat or at try to? If so, then that is most likely the problem. There is no cure, sorry.

It isn’t from an injury if there is no corresponding missing scales, etc. that would arise from a strike injury.

Jay

DIFish · Oct 3, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
This could be the unknown wrasse disease, one key symptom is does the fish still eat or at try to? If so, then that is most likely the problem. There is no cure, sorry.

It isn’t from an injury if there is no corresponding missing scales, etc. that would arise from a strike injury.

Jay

He tries his best to eat and still plucks away at rocks when he runs into them. If it wasn’t for the swimming pattern I would think he is fine. I can grab videos if it would help. He was extremely healthy for 2 weeks leading up to this and very active. The only odd thing I noticed is that seemingly randomly he would “bounce” off of rocks but I think it’s unrelated.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 3, 2022

DIFish said:
He tries his best to eat and still plucks away at rocks when he runs into them. If it wasn’t for the swimming pattern I would think he is fine. I can grab videos if it would help. He was extremely healthy for 2 weeks leading up to this and very active. The only odd thing I noticed is that seemingly randomly he would “bounce” off of rocks but I think it’s unrelated.

That does seem like a classic case of this issue, sorry.
Jay

DIFish · Oct 3, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
That does seem like a classic case of this issue, sorry.
Jay

Not what I wanted to hear but very much appreciate the advice! If/when the wrasse passes would it be safe to add another? Do you think the disease stays in the tank and I would be unable to keep future wrasses?

Jay Hemdal · Oct 3, 2022

DIFish said:
Not what I wanted to hear but very much appreciate the advice! If/when the wrasse passes would it be safe to add another? Do you think the disease stays in the tank and I would be unable to keep future wrasses?

I’ve not seen strong indication that this spreads widely from fish to fish, but with new groups of wrasses, a certain percentage may develop the issue - perhaps 5%?
Jay

DIFish · Oct 4, 2022

Incredibly frustrating but here is a video of him searching for food on the rocks between floating vertically. Lots of sitting on the sand in the corner so it is definitely getting worse. I was able to confirm he also ate some pellets today which almost positively means it is UNWD. Are there any cure approaches anyone has been wanting to try? I realize that there currently is no cure but at this point he is already a goner so might as well try something out.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 4, 2022

Is it burying in the sand at night?
Jay

DIFish · Oct 4, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Is it burying in the sand at night?
Jay

Yes, and a few times during the day like it is more skittish/stressed than normal. Still comes out on que a bit before lights come on.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 4, 2022

DIFish said:
Yes, and a few times during the day like it is more skittish/stressed than normal. Still comes at on que a bit before lights come on.

Maybe hold it in a hanging isolation tank with sand in it? Then, just keep it fed and see if it can recover? You would need to cover the I do tank so it doesn’t jump out.
Jay

DIFish · Oct 15, 2022

Just an update. The fish died a few days back. About 2 weeks from noticing the first symptoms to death. I was not able to get him in an isolation tank as he would take off and bury himself every time I got close. I gave up as I felt I was putting even more stress on him. He attempted to eat until the last day when he was visibly weak. The last time I saw him alive he was half buried in the sand breathing very rapidly. Never saw anything resembling velvet/other diseases. All other fish in the tank are fine and showing no symptoms