Fairy Wrasse Swimming Odd

[FrankenTank]

I’m struggling to try and tell if this Orangeback Fairy Wrasse has something wrong with him. Got him from my LFS and he is a very healthy size and beautiful colored. When I feed he eats and does swim around to get the mysis out of the water column, but he just looks kinda like he struggles to swim. I’m not sure if this looks like a swim bladder issue or potentially Unkwn disease that wrasses can get. He’s in qt with copper but just doesn’t move quick and graceful like the other wrasses I have had do.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m struggling to try and tell if this Orangeback Fairy Wrasse has something wrong with him. Got him from my LFS and he is a very healthy size and beautiful colored. When I feed he eats and does swim around to get the mysis out of the water column, but he just looks kinda like he struggles to swim. I’m not sure if this looks like a swim bladder issue or potentially Unkwn disease that wrasses can get. He’s in qt with copper but just doesn’t move quick and graceful like the other wrasses I have had do.

This fish is porposing and showing indicators of a bent spine and does not appear to be bladder but rather a condition with wrasses known as UNWD which the fish shows neurological symptoms where it either cannot swim well, swims tail down or swims with a bent spine and despite all this, the wrasse will still attempt to feed and display no damage such as crashing into objects. Other could be depending where fish is from, cyanide capture which is delayed but the fish ends up in this state

 

[FrankenTank]

I’m struggling to try and tell if this Orangeback Fairy Wrasse has something wrong with him. Got him from my LFS and he is a very healthy size and beautiful colored. When I feed he eats and does swim around to get the mysis out of the water column, but he just looks kinda like he struggles to swim. I’m not sure if this looks like a swim bladder issue or potentially Unkwn disease that wrasses can get. He’s in qt with copper but just doesn’t move quick and graceful like the other wrasses I have had do.

This fish is porposing and showing indicators of a bent spine and does not appear to be bladder but rather a condition with wrasses known as UNWD which the fish shows neurological symptoms where it either cannot swim well, swims tail down or swims with a bent spine and despite all this, the wrasse will still attempt to feed and display no damage such as crashing into objects. Other could be depending where fish is from, cyanide capture which is delayed but the fish ends up in this state

UNWD, misspelled in my original post, but that’s what I was thinking. There is nothing I can do for him if it is UNWD right? Not much is known and there is no cure or positive prognosis, correct?

 

[vetteguy53081]

UNWD, misspelled in my original post, but that’s what I was thinking. There is nothing I can do for him if it is UNWD right? Not much is known and there is no cure or positive prognosis, correct?

Correct. Its an unfortunate effect

 

[FrankenTank]

UNWD, misspelled in my original post, but that’s what I was thinking. There is nothing I can do for him if it is UNWD right? Not much is known and there is no cure or positive prognosis, correct?

Correct. Its an unfortunate effect

I guess at this point the question then is what is the most humane thing to do?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’m struggling to try and tell if this Orangeback Fairy Wrasse has something wrong with him. Got him from my LFS and he is a very healthy size and beautiful colored. When I feed he eats and does swim around to get the mysis out of the water column, but he just looks kinda like he struggles to swim. I’m not sure if this looks like a swim bladder issue or potentially Unkwn disease that wrasses can get. He’s in qt with copper but just doesn’t move quick and graceful like the other wrasses I have had do.

While this does seem to be UNWD, the fish is also breathing really fast, and that’s not a symptom of that issue.

What copper are you using and at what level?

Here is my thread on UNWD:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/unknown-neurological-wrasse-disease-unwd.901856/

 

[FrankenTank]

I’m struggling to try and tell if this Orangeback Fairy Wrasse has something wrong with him. Got him from my LFS and he is a very healthy size and beautiful colored. When I feed he eats and does swim around to get the mysis out of the water column, but he just looks kinda like he struggles to swim. I’m not sure if this looks like a swim bladder issue or potentially Unkwn disease that wrasses can get. He’s in qt with copper but just doesn’t move quick and graceful like the other wrasses I have had do.

While this does seem to be UNWD, the fish is also breathing really fast, and that’s not a symptom of that issue.

What copper are you using and at what level?

Here is my thread on UNWD:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/unknown-neurological-wrasse-disease-unwd.901856/

Running Copper Power, current at 2.43 per Hanna Checker. I was thinking maybe the breathing was from the struggle to swim. He’s been in there for 9 days, 7 days with copper slowly brought up to therapeutic.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Running Copper Power, current at 2.43 per Hanna Checker. I was thinking maybe the breathing was from the struggle to swim. He’s been in there for 9 days, 7 days with copper slowly brought up to therapeutic.

Just any FYI for later use - ramping copper power up slowly is a mistake, it can allow disease to take hold at levels less than 2 ppm, and then, it is more difficult to clear a sick fish than to stop the problem from the start with a proper copper level. 12 to 24 hours is all that is needed, and then, that's just to ensure accurate dosing. Dealers put new fish right into 100% copper with no issues.

This idea all started when ionic copper was used - it was best to ramp that up over 48 hours or you would see issues with sensitive fish like flame angels. Somehow, that got taken to the extreme and then passed around the internet......