Ear Muff Wrasse disappeared

jbaxx725 · Jul 29, 2022

I purchased a ear muff wrasse from wwc 2wks ago, upon observation on arrival he seemed quiet healthy swimming around the bucket i use for acclimation. I dripped acclimated him for about 3hrs before adding him to the tank, he swam around like normal for a good 15 to 20 mins. before disappearing into the rock work & sand i haven't seen him since. I checked my sump to see if he might of jumped back there all my tank perimeter's are good my other fish seem fine, i know wrasses are sometimes notorious for hiding for a few days before coming out but two wks. seems a tad bit long. I called wwc and spoke to a rep. last wk. he was telling me be patient and that ear muffs are really notorious for hiding for a while but now another wk has gone by and still nothing. I 'm scratching my head thinking about what i might have done wrong, does anyone out there have any thoughts or suggestions ???

Tired · Jul 29, 2022

Drip acclimation after shipping is often not a good idea. When you open the bag and introduce more oxygen, the ammonia that's built up during shipping becomes more toxic, so you want to get the fish out of that water as soon as possible.

What other fish do you have, in what size tank?

jbaxx725 · Jul 30, 2022

I did see that someone else had mentioned that about dripping after shipping in another post but i've always done it without a problem, the tank is 50 gals. been up in running for about 5yrs. live stock includes a ocellaris clown,royal gramma,black-axil chromis and a pintail wrasse they all get along well.

Tamberav · Jul 30, 2022

wrasses are prone to shipping stress issues. I have a earmuff but bought it locally and it is an easy keeper otherwise.

Tired · Jul 30, 2022

Doing something without a problem a few times doesn't mean that thing will never cause problems. With fish, it can also mean that there was a problem, and the fish successfully hid it.

Any chance the pintail wrasse went after it?

jbaxx725 · Aug 1, 2022

Hey guy's guess who came out of hiding yesterday after 2 1/2 wks.the earmuff, i was out in about running some
errands when i get this frantic phone call from my wife screaming i see the fish i see the fish i think
she was more excited then me LOL!!! Anyway i come home and he's swimming around like nobody's
business i fed him some frozen brine & mysis shrimp and he lapped it right up, i was doing some
research and found out that certain wrasse suffer from jetlag just like people and it's not uncommon
for them to be missing in action for a week or two until there biological clock is reset who would of
figured

Tired · Aug 1, 2022

That's great! Poor lil guy was just disoriented. The least bad reason for him to be vanishing.

Sink_or_Swim · Sep 8, 2022

jbaxx725 said:
Hey guy's guess who came out of hiding yesterday after 2 1/2 wks.the earmuff, i was out in about running some
errands when i get this frantic phone call from my wife screaming i see the fish i see the fish i think
she was more excited then me LOL!!! Anyway i come home and he's swimming around like nobody's
business i fed him some frozen brine & mysis shrimp and he lapped it right up, i was doing some
research and found out that certain wrasse suffer from jetlag just like people and it's not uncommon
for them to be missing in action for a week or two until there biological clock is reset who would of
figured

My melanurus wrasse dove into the sand and didn't see him for days after initially adding him to the tank. Then just like your earmuff, one day he just decided he was finally comfortable cruising the tank lol. Glad it's ok!

i cant think · Sep 8, 2022

Halichoeres and any sand sleeping wrasses can hide for several weeks after introduction. This is normal and no a Cirrhilabrus isosceles is not likely to go after another wrasse.

If possible, get all your sand sleeping wrasses locally. This will reduce risk of stress and mouth issues (usually caused by the fish trying to swim down in a bag with no sand).