Lethargic Fairy Wrasse In QT.

[64Ivy]

Okay, I've had a couple wrasse (1 Flasher, 1 Fairy) in QT for about a week now, just under observation at this point. Both came in stressed but have adjusted fairly well so far and were eating. The fairy in particular has always exhibited kind of 'strange behavior' though; pretty laid back, likes to rest on the bottom of the tank but not in the pvc I provided. I mean, ON the bottom, upright, leaning on the glass side, under or beside the airstone. Only when I feed does he swim around normally, chasing the food. Until this morning. For the first time, he didn't join the flasher in eating. He just sat there on the bottom, by the stone. My question is concerning protocol. I have most medications on hand except for CP, which I wouldn't want to treat wrasse with anyway. So how would you go about starting up a regimen? The fairy LOOKS good, by the way. No external lesions, spots, or discoloration. Water parameters are also good, save for a little bacterial bloom clouding things up a bit. At a loss here. Thanks in advance.

 

[MCooper]

My fairy wrasses never did well in qt sadly.

 

[Humblefish]

The "problem" with wrasses is their thick slime coat often hides symptoms of disease. You won't ever see ich or even velvet on a wrasse unless the infestation is heavy. However, this doesn't preclude them from harboring parasites inside their gills - out of sight. This can suffocate them to death, or just enable them to serve as a "parasite reservoir" for infecting other fish they share water with. It all depends upon exactly which parasite/worm is afflicting them, population of the pathogen inside their gills or in the tank, etc.

Knowing this, I always prophylactically treat wrasses for flukes (Prazipro) and ich/velvet (copper). Which really sucks because wrasses aren't particular fond of either medication. Life was easier before the velvet scare, because I actually had a higher success rate running them thru TTM: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

 

[4FordFamily]

The "problem" with wrasses is their thick slime coat often hides symptoms of disease. You won't ever see ich or even velvet on a wrasse unless the infestation is heavy. However, this doesn't preclude them from harboring parasites inside their gills - out of sight. This can suffocate them to death, or just enable them to serve as a "parasite reservoir" for infecting other fish they share water with. It all depends upon exactly which parasite/worm is afflicting them, population of the pathogen inside their gills or in the tank, etc.

Knowing this, I always prophylactically treat wrasses for flukes (Prazipro) and ich/velvet (copper). Which really sucks because wrasses aren't particular fond of either medication. Life was easier before the velvet scare, because I actually had a higher success rate running them thru TTM: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

Agree whole heartedly. I could not have said it better.

 

[64Ivy]

All right. Started first round of Prazi this morning. Next question is how slowly should I ramp up the copper to reach therapeutic levels when I reach that stage? 4-5 days maybe. I'm using Coppersafe, by the way.

 

[Humblefish]

All right. Started first round of Prazi this morning. Next question is how slowly should I ramp up the copper to reach therapeutic levels when I reach that stage? 4-5 days maybe. I'm using Coppersafe, by the way.

Yes, 4-5 days would be a good timetable to slowly ramp it up.