Leopard Wrasse not doing good- help?

[DracoKat]

Hi all,

I came back from my 2 week vacation to see my leopard wrasse skinny and pale. She looks a bit beaten up too, frayed fins. She was beaten up before I left for my trip.

She wants to eat, she gets excited with food, she'll eat, but spit out the food right after. She's swimming normally too, just really skinny and pale.

All other fish are fat and healthy. My pet sitter was good about feeding them, she followed my instructions.

I am in the process of setting up the hospital tank and will try to catch her. Anything I can to do try to save her? I've had her for 1.5 years and I'll be sad to lose her now, she's one of my favorites too.

all water parameters are good and within range

 

[Big G]

Sometimes if a fish has internal parasites (worms) they can't keep food down. I'd consider placing the fish into a QT and treating with GC - General Cure. It has both metro and prazi. So it takes care of both internal (worms) and external parasites (flukes).

 

[DracoKat]

I don't have general cure, but I do have prazi and metro. Letting the hospital tank sit for a bit to make sure the salt's mixed before I catch her

 

[KMench]

How long have you had her for?

 

[DracoKat]

for a little over 1.5 years. doubt it's worms but I will treat anyway.

Got her out nice and easy, she usually lets me pet her so I wasn't concerned about getting her out. She's in QT now

 

[KMench]

Maybe just try feeding her some small foods and giving her time to recover in QT. My wrasses will spit out food that’s too big for them. That’s about my only thought..
Do you have a pic?

 

[DracoKat]

Just snapped a few pics. You can see how skinny she’s gotten

 

[landlubber]

Hi all,
I came back from my 2 week vacation to see my leopard wrasse skinny and pale. She looks a bit beaten up too, frayed fins. She was beaten up before I left for my trip.

If something has taken issue with your wrasse and is making its life difficult it would present that way. i guess you'll know soon if quarantine drastically improves its health. in this case I would use a sand bottom or a dish of it at the very least so the fish has some safe space.

 

[DracoKat]

I think you may be right, at least I hope so and some peace and quiet will help her.

good idea on a dish of sand, will get some for her now

 

[Mark Gray]

I have never kept a leopard wrasse but it needs pods and sand

 

[Big G]

I don't have general cure, but I do have prazi and metro. Letting the hospital tank sit for a bit to make sure the salt's mixed before I catch her

I'd run a powerhead aimed up rippling the surface to make sure the fish gets enough O2. Good on you for taking such good care of your little buddy. Beautiful fish. Love me some wrasses.

 

[DracoKat]

I have never kept a leopard wrasse but it needs pods and sand

she's been eatng everything I put in the tank. from LRS Reef Frenzy to brine to pellets, she wasn't starving.

I have an air stone in there, the only powerhead I have is way too powerful for the 10g QT, at least its something for now!

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

If possible I would try to get a small Tupperware container filled with 2 inches of sand for her to hide in.

If she hides that’s a good side for now as I have never had nor heard of a leopard dying while in the sand bed.

I agree with Big G. She may be battling something internally. Was this wrasse quarantined prior to introducing it 1.5 years ago? Were all other fish QT’d as well?

 

[HB AL]

Since it’s atleast interested in the food for the time being I would try some live brine, live black worms, live pods, and hopefully it will swallow them. Treating it is a good first step but if it hasn’t eaten in a long time it’s gonna need to get some in it or it’s only a matter of time before it dies. Years back I ran into a similar situation with a wrasse, treated with meds but got a syringe without the needle and injected a food slurry into it for a week to get some food in it while being medicated, and at that point it started eating the live food on its own, then back to its normal diet after a few days of live. I don’t think it would have made it a couple more days without me injecting food into it as it had been almost 2 weeks of it taking and spitting the food out.

 

[Flippers4pups]

she's been eatng everything I put in the tank. from LRS Reef Frenzy to brine to pellets, she wasn't starving.

I have an air stone in there, the only powerhead I have is way too powerful for the 10g QT, at least its something for now!

Watch your ammonia. Good it's eating. What's it's poop look like?

 

[4FordFamily]

If the fish has truly been eating well and that thin in a couple of weeks then it’s quite likely internal parasites are at play. You might soak food in metroplex and focus (to bind the meds to the food so it’s consumed). This should help. Internal parasites can take a while to kill, a fish that was recently beat up may have just been what tipped the scale in the internal parasites’ favor by weakening the immune response of the fish.

It doesn’t look good, but if it’ll eat metro and focus soaked food you have a chance! I also highly recommend you feed live black worms as they’re nutritious and help a lot with malnourished fish.

 

[DracoKat]

I haven't added anything new to the tank in months.. about 6 months ago was the last coral added. last fish added was about 9 months ago.

all fish has been QT'd before adding to the DT. Treated as needed.

I haven't seen any poop in the QT since placing her in there, can't comment on that one yet

I placed a dish of sand in the tank. I can't find her so I assume she went into the sand.

tomorrow I will get some live food, the LFS by my job carries them.

I hope all she needed was a break from the other fish and time to heal.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I haven't added anything new to the tank in months.. about 6 months ago was the last coral added. last fish added was about 9 months ago.

all fish has been QT'd before adding to the DT. Treated as needed.

I haven't seen any poop in the QT since placing her in there, can't comment on that one yet

I placed a dish of sand in the tank. I can't find her so I assume she went into the sand.

tomorrow I will get some live food, the LFS by my job carries them.

I hope all she needed was a break from the other fish and time to heal.

I agree on @4FordFamily on trying some metro with some focus. I've done this even in my DT with very good results.

 

[DracoKat]

Hi people

It's been a few days and my leopard wrasse has not eaten. She's been hiding in the corners, drifting to her side or upside down, and not going into the sand.

She does not look any better, but worse. Her stomach is bloated, so she must have parasites. Her color is not good either

She's miserable. I thought she was gone, so when I went to net her, she swam away

I am considering euthanizing her, I can't stand to see her like this and I really don't think she'll be coming back from this.

Any suggestions on euthanizing her humanely and quickly? Something that won't shock me either.

 

[DracoKat]

A pic

@4FordFamily @Flippers4pups @Humblefish

additionally, I've tried feeding live black worms and brine shrimp. She won't even acknowledge the food