How to quarantine a wrasse?

[renato120]

I have, an ornate leopard wrasse, a black leopard wrasse , potters wrasse, blue star leopard wrasse and a meleagris leopard wrasse. I have never QT them. Some has been there for 4 years. All I did was make sure salinity and temp is the same as my tank, and dump them in. You could say Im lucky.
I do have some other wrasses, that I done the same way. Never lost any of them.

 

[Humblefish]

I feel QTing a freshwater black molly alongside a wrasse (and other med sensitive fish) is the best way to go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-black-mollies-vs-marine-fish-diseases.312166/

Not 100% foolproof, but no QT method is.

It should at the very least help detect velvet - and probably ich as well. I'm less confident about flukes or a bacterial infection showing up on a molly though.

 

[Crashjack]

Just got done quarantining two fairy wrasses and two yellow watchman gobies and used Coppersafe for the copper treatment portion. I raised copper levels over 7 days and all ended well, though I only treated at full-therapeutic for 11 days before plopping the fish into the DT. I determined that the API test kits are next to worthless and figured the fish were better off if I didn't try to do the full 30 days. Had I gone that long, I probably would have killed them in too high copper concentration, or the concentration would have drifted too low, and the quarantine would have been worthless. CP is way easier but isn't recommended for wrasses. Next time I'm forced to use copper, I'll use the Chemetrics copper test kit.

 

[Orm Embar]

Coppersafe and API test kit arrived today . . . I really hope that real life color matching is easier than the online pics which I really can't read accurately . . . why didn't they make the targets in the same shade as the (reacted) reagents?!

 

[Orm Embar]

Wrasse has only peeked out to nibble a bit of food for a second or two a few times in the last 48 hrs . . . maybe 2-4 mouthfuls? It's being very cryptic. I'm really hoping that it doesn't starve . . . especially after adding meds (planning on PraziPro in a day or two)

 

[mfinn]

I would wait until it's eating aggressively before doing any meds.
Did you find any Tigger Pods?

 

[Orm Embar]

I found this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/frozen-calanus-blister-pack-4-oz-piscine-energetics.html as well as the aforementioned ROE; I did find (but didn't buy) different live pods as I'm not sure how exactly to use that to feed (do you just pour some of the pod water into the tank? How much food is in there, does it last, etc)

 

[mfinn]

I found this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/frozen-calanus-blister-pack-4-oz-piscine-energetics.html as well as the aforementioned ROE; I did find (but didn't buy) different live pods as I'm not sure how exactly to use that to feed (do you just pour some of the pod water into the tank? How much food is in there, does it last, etc)

The reason I said Tigger Pods, is it is a live food. Gets them out and going after food. Some places that sell pods sell you the larger amphipods and I'm not not sure if the wrasses will view them as food. Haven't tried them.

When I add Tigger Pods I just dump maybe a 1/4 of the bottle in the tank and let the fish hunt, in the morning after the lights come on.
Then a few hours later I'll add a tiny amount of nutramar ova. Then again in the evening.
If the fish is going after those 2, after a couple days I'll add ROE instead of the ova, and try a small amount hikari mysis ( cubes, cause they are smaller).

This usually works, but not always.
Right now I've got a Potters Angel that refuses to eat frozen mysis or brine shrimp ( live or frozen). Only goes after the ROE and ova.

 

[Orm Embar]

Gotcha . . . what about cyclops? I don't think that I can find live Tigger pods (just Tisbe and cyclops, I think)

 

[mfinn]

Gotcha . . . what about cyclops? I don't think that I can find live Tigger pods (just Tisbe and cyclops, I think)

I'm not sure.
IMO live foods usually work best to get the feeding response going.
Try calling all the pet stores in your area. Someone should have some.

 

[Orm Embar]

Update: haven't gotten to the LFS today (ran out of time); wrasse is now eating significantly more Calanus which is helpful (but still relatively cryptic). Will see how more feeding goes, but it's eating progressively more daily which is reassuring.

Update: eating significantly more from the water column, less cryptic during feeding time and out for roughly 15 seconds or more sometimes. Still retreats a lot but definitely interested in food and feeding. Yay!

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Any specific QT protocol for Dragon Wrasse
(Novaculichthys taeniourus)? Would sand be necessary for its QT?

 

[Humblefish]

Any specific QT protocol for Dragon Wrasse
(Novaculichthys taeniourus)? Would sand be necessary for its QT?

That's one wrasse I haven't tried Chloroquine on. Best to stick with chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power) + 2 rounds of General Cure (1 week apart).

I recommend filling a glass pyrex bowl with sand for him to burrow in at night.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

That's one wrasse I haven't tried Chloroquine on. Best to stick with chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power) + 2 rounds of General Cure (1 week apart).

I recommend filling a glass pyrex bowl with sand for him to burrow in at night.

Thanks @Humblefish! I’ve got CopperSafe (chelated Cu) and GC ready for the newcomer tomorrow. Sand-filled bowl is also ready.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

That's one wrasse I haven't tried Chloroquine on. Best to stick with chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power) + 2 rounds of General Cure (1 week apart).

I recommend filling a glass pyrex bowl with sand for him to burrow in at night.

@Humblefish Speaking of using chelated Cu, is the therapeutic range the same for wrasses or is it lower, considering their sensitivity to Cu?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish Speaking of using chelated Cu, is the therapeutic range the same for wrasses or is it lower, considering their sensitivity to Cu?

I treat all fish ~ 2.0 ppm nowadays. Most fish can tolerate that concentration; a few do not (and die). But I'm finding its more of an individual thing than species. (One solorensis does fine in 2.0 copper, another from the same batch withers away & dies.) On my last wholesale order, 72 fish went into the copper tanks and I lost 6. So, that was a 91% success rate. (P.S. All the wrasses made it ... Last shipment with 105 fish, 8 of the 9 losses were wrasses.)

I personally have not encountered this so-called "copper resistant velvet" ... But my success rate is roughly the same at 2.0 vs. 1.75, so I err on the side of caution.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

I treat all fish ~ 2.0 ppm nowadays. Most fish can tolerate that concentration; a few do not (and die). But I'm finding its more of an individual thing than species. (One solorensis does fine in 2.0 copper, another from the same batch withers away & dies.) On my last wholesale order, 72 fish went into the copper tanks and I lost 6. So, that was a 91% success rate. (P.S. All the wrasses made it ... Last shipment with 105 fish, 8 of the 9 losses were wrasses.)

I personally have not encountered this so-called "copper resistant velvet" ... But my success rate is roughly the same at 2.0 vs. 1.75, so I err on the side of caution.

I’d received my juvenile Dragon Wrasse yesterday (from LA) and placed it into QT. Oh my, it’s small; I reckon it’s probably between 1.5” - 2” long. A few hours later, I fed it a mixture of PE calcanus, Hikari mysis, and spirulina brine shrimp and I -think- it ate a few mouthfuls. Afterwards, I noticed it foraging around and picking at presumably something tasty. Are these foods adequate for a DW that size, or should I try something else?

 

[Humblefish]

I’d received my juvenile Dragon Wrasse yesterday (from LA) and placed it into QT. Oh my, it’s small; I reckon it’s probably between 1.5” - 2” long. A few hours later, I fed it a mixture of PE calcanus, Hikari mysis, and spirulina brine shrimp and I -think- it ate a few mouthfuls. Afterwards, I noticed it foraging around and picking at presumably something tasty. Are these foods adequate for a DW that size, or should I try something else?

If he's got a really small mouth, you can try calanus. That's a favorite of wrasses + anthias IME.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Hi All,

I need some advice regarding QT’ing C. Isosceles and C. Lineatus. It’s currently Day 6 of 7 in slowly adding copper to the QT and I’ve noticed lately that both C. wrasses have eaten less and less. The lineatus will eat some whereas the isosceles has stopped eating altogether. Prior to adding copper, both were voracious eaters. In addition to decreased appetite, both also seem to be breathing more rapidly than usual. I’m uncertain as to whether I should continue adding copper (currently at 1.3 ppm) since it appears that both C. wrasses are adversely affected. What do you guys think?

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Hi All,
I’m thinking of getting a C. jordani (Flame flasher wrasse). Has anyone tried using CopperSafe and/or General Cure to QT it?