Leopard Wrasse breathing heavy

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

Currently have a leopard Wrasse in hypo salinity in a QT tank. He's in there with a fire fish and a blenny who are both doing great. The fishes have been in QT for a week now and in hypo for four days. I do daily water changes (25%)

The Wrasse has been out of his sand today and is breathing very heavily and laying on its side. I have an air stone (I read hypo reduces oxygen levels) in there and have an additional powerhead aimed at the water surface. There are No meds in the tank.

I don't think he'll survive much longer and am wondering if I should take him out of Hypo gradually. Any advise is much appreciated.

A_game43 · May 7, 2017

First and foremost Thank You for Serving this great nation of ours! I was in the US Army for 8 years and loved every minute. I am by no means an expert in this field of Fish illness but I did have this same fish, not easy to care for, they do like pods to eat, getting them to eat frozen can be a challenge. Check or do you check your water for Ammonia build up? This is the quite one in Qtanks, once you feed in a Qtank try to remove the remaining food as soon as possible the leftover can cause Ammonia to spike.

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

Thank you and thanks for your service as well!

I ran an ammonia test and it came back as 0. I also syphon out the left over food and poop daily before water changes. There's a piece of live rock in there with PODS that was taken out of my refugium to feed the Leopard.

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

I'll help ya even though I'm ex-Navy.

Have you tested pH? Hypo can drive it down and you usually have to regularly buffer it.

4FordFamily · May 7, 2017

Leopards in particular tend to lay around in quarantine I wouldn't be too alarmed as long as the fish is lucid/aware of its surroundings. The heavy breathing could be stress. I know you're doing water changes but do you have the ammonia alert badge by seachem? It's a great gauge -- you may need larger water changes depending on the amount of ammonia present (anything other than yellow).

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

Humblefish said:
I'll help ya even though I'm ex-Navy.

Have you tested pH? Hypo can drive it down and you usually have to regularly buffer it.

No I haven't. Testing now.

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

4FordFamily said:
Leopards in particular tend to lay around in quarantine I wouldn't be too alarmed as long as the fish is lucid/aware of its surroundings. The heavy breathing could be stress. I know you're doing water changes but do you have the ammonia alert badge by seachem? It's a great gauge -- you may need larger water changes depending on the amount of ammonia present (anything other than yellow).

Yes I have the circular ammonia badge. I wasn't too concerned that it was on the bottom trying to hide on its side like a Tang but that he was breathing very rapidly and that I easily scooped him up as if he was paralyzed (my hand was in there during my routine syphoning of food and poop.

I'll try posting a video in a min

4FordFamily · May 7, 2017

USMC 4 LIFE said:
Yes I have the circular ammonia badge. I wasn't too concerned that it was on the bottom trying to hide on its side like a Tang but that he was breathing very rapidly and that I easily scooped him up as if he was paralyzed (my hand was in there during my routine syphoning of food and poop.

I'll try posting a video in a min

Sounds like it may be pretty ill, or it was sleeping at the time. Time will tell. I will say, leaving it be and keeping stress at an absolute minimum increases your odds dramatically.

Good luck!

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

Ran two tests and PH is low at 7.5.
Did a test on my DT and that was fine at 8.1.

On my way to the LFS. What PH buffer would you recommend?

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

USMC 4 LIFE said:
Ran two tests and PH is low at 7.5.
Did a test on my DT and that was fine at 8.1.

On my way to the LFS. What PH buffer would you recommend?

I haven't paid for pH buffer in years (see below):

Spread baking soda onto a clean baking sheet, and bake at 300F for 1 hour. This process drives off water and carbon dioxide from the baking soda, and the result is an effective pH buffer. You will need to experiment (start with a very small amount) to determine how much is needed to raise your pH to the desired level.

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

If you're already at the LFS, any product which contains sodium carbonate will do. Don't raise the pH too quickly.

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

LFS is closed.

I'll have to do the Baking soda method then.

THANKS for the diagnosis and fix!!!

robzombay · May 7, 2017

Just throw him in the tank already get him moving around, been long enough. Plus no sand bed for him to sleep

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

robzombay said:
Just throw him in the tank already get him moving around, been long enough. Plus no sand bed for him to sleep

Wouldn't do this for two reasons:

Fish has only been in QT 1 week <-- This is the main reason.
pH between QT & DT is too far apart.

robzombay · May 7, 2017

Yeah normally, but if he's breathing heavy get the pH right and put him in. Let him die in the qt or take a chance on the mt. Up to you.

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

robzombay said:
Yeah normally, but if he's breathing heavy get the pH right and put him in. Let him die in the qt or take a chance on the mt. Up to you.

Low pH is only one possible explanation for heavy breathing here. Parasites/worms in the gills or ammonia/toxins in the water are other possibilities. Parasites/worms would be spread to other fish in the DT if QT is ended prematurely.

USMC 4 LIFE · May 7, 2017

robzombay said:
Yeah normally, but if he's breathing heavy get the pH right and put him in. Let him die in the qt or take a chance on the mt. Up to you.

I'm cooking up some PH buffer right now. As Humblefish stated, he's only been in QT for a week and I don't want to risk introducing a diseased fish into the DT AND PH / salinity difference is significant enough where I might cause more harm than good.

In 30 mins the buffer will be ready.

Humblefish · May 7, 2017

USMC 4 LIFE said:
I'm cooking up some PH buffer right now. As Humblefish stated, he's only been in QT for a week and I don't want to risk introducing a diseased fish into the DT AND PH / salinity difference is significant enough where I might cause more harm than good.

In 30 mins the buffer will be ready.

Go slowly/dose the "baked" baking soda lightly, and test & retest until you know how much to use to raise it. Don't raise it more than 0.1 every couple of hours. If you can get it to 7.8 you should be "safe" for the night. But get it >8.0 tomorrow and keep it there.