Melanaurus Wrasse Killing Tankmates?

[BringingThatDottyback]

Has anybody seen a really aggressive melanaurus wrasse? I'm wracking my head over this. So far 3/4 fish added to tank after him have turned up dead, no physical damage. No water quality issues and other fish act and appear completly normal. 2 of them a dottyback and damsel died within a few days. No interaction between them and tankmates and didn't really see much of them before they died. My lantern bass died this morning and I know for a fact he was healthy and feeding and was definitely comfortable in tank.

The only reason I suspect wrasse is because last night the wrasse swam up to bass and the bass went into this weird seizure like swimming pattern like it was trying to intimidate the wrasse. The melanaurus wrasse I had in a previous tank was a complete coward who spent all his time hiding in caves, this one is the same size of being a full grown male or close too but is a lot more active and not hiding all the time. Only other tankmates are a hawkfish and chromis. I know hawkfish can be aggressive too but the hawkfish and bass always stayed away in different zones of the tank.

 

[blaxsun]

My melanarus decided to kill off a pair of elegance corals over the winter by eating the polyps off. Revenge? Spite? Boredom? Hard to say...

 

[Jdzzl03]

Mine is an assassin when it comes to my snail CUC no matter how much I feed. That said, he is a model citizen to other fish and they are not territorial from my experience. Any change in feeding or possible internal parasite issues with the other fish?

 

[A Young Reefer]

he assassinated my peliciers wrasse, my most painful loss yet. he also picks at my milka stylo it doesn't seem bothered about it though.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

I have a 6-7” melanarus, never seen any aggression towards another tank mate.

 

[SaltyT]

Has anybody seen a really aggressive melanaurus wrasse? I'm wracking my head over this. So far 3/4 fish added to tank after him have turned up dead, no physical damage. No water quality issues and other fish act and appear completly normal. 2 of them a dottyback and damsel died within a few days. No interaction between them and tankmates and didn't really see much of them before they died. My lantern bass died this morning and I know for a fact he was healthy and feeding and was definitely comfortable in tank.

The only reason I suspect wrasse is because last night the wrasse swam up to bass and the bass went into this weird seizure like swimming pattern like it was trying to intimidate the wrasse. The melanaurus wrasse I had in a previous tank was a complete coward who spent all his time hiding in caves, this one is the same size of being a full grown male or close too but is a lot more active and not hiding all the time. Only other tankmates are a hawkfish and chromis. I know hawkfish can be aggressive too but the hawkfish and bass always stayed away in different zones of the tank.

If you're not seeing physical damage on the deceased fish then it wasn't the melanurus. Since the fish that are dying are new additions I suspect disease is your culprit.

 

[BringingThatDottyback]

My melanarus decided to kill off a pair of elegance corals over the winter by eating the polyps off. Revenge? Spite? Boredom? Hard to say...

Thats crazy, I thought they were about as coral safe as could be.

he assassinated my peliciers wrasse, my most painful loss yet. he also picks at my milka stylo it doesn't seem bothered about it though.

What did the body look like? Did it have physical damage on the exterior?

 

[blaxsun]

Thats crazy, I thought they were about as coral safe as could be.

Me too. Not sure if he mistook the elegance for a pest or if it stung him and he exacted his own personal brand of revenge. The irony is that he's completely left the tube anemones adjacent alone. Go figure...

 

[BringingThatDottyback]

If you're not seeing physical damage on the deceased fish then it wasn't the melanurus. Since the fish that are dying are new additions I suspect disease is your culprit.

Do you have any suspicion on a disease that would kill a healthy fish overnight with no symptoms? 8PM he was swimming around looking fine and when I next saw tank at 11AM hes dead in a corner.

 

[A Young Reefer]

Thats crazy, I thought they were about as coral safe as could be.


What did the body look like? Did it have physical damage on the exterior?

he actually kept chasing it until one morning I found it laying on the floor. yes I do have a aquarium mish lid. and I did my best to stop the aggression. The fins were damaged when I found it on the floor.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Same mine plays nice with his tank mates and swims laps around the frag racks making figure 8’s. Seems to distracted by this to b a menace. Lol Hilarious

 

[A Young Reefer]

Do you have any suspicion on a disease that would kill a healthy fish overnight with no symptoms? 8PM he was swimming around looking fine and when I next saw tank at 11AM hes dead in a corner.

its definitely a fish, chases alone could cause too much stress ending in disasters.

 

[Arego]

Ours only gets that aggressive when he's fighting himself in a reflection. I actually started a thread about him literally killing himself. He's been fine since as he only does that behavior every few months now. He's 7 yrs old so he's huge otherwise he's very docile.

 

[BringingThatDottyback]

its definitely a fish, chases alone could cause too much stress ending in disasters.

So now I just have to narrow down between my wrasse or my hawkfish. Unless the tiny little chromis is hiding some dark twisted behavior. Do you think an aclimation box is worth trying? Its going to be a boring 55 gallon with only 4 fish.

 

[SaltyT]

Do you have any suspicion on a disease that would kill a healthy fish overnight with no symptoms? 8PM he was swimming around looking fine and when I next saw tank at 11AM hes dead in a corner.

Sure, velvet kills quickly with the most common symptom being rapid breathing. You've mentioned that these new additions are healthy, did they undergo a medicated quarantine before you added them? If so, then a disease is less likely depending on the length of time and medications used during the quarantine. Just trying to help you rule other things out since your fish aren't being physically damaged before death.

 

[BringingThatDottyback]

Sure, velvet kills quickly with the most common symptom being rapid breathing. You've mentioned that these new additions are healthy, did they undergo a medicated quarantine before you added them? If so, then a disease is less likely depending on the length of time and medications used during the quarantine. Just trying to help you rule other things out since your fish aren't being physically damaged before death.

No quarantine tank, I need to make some space in my freshwater fish room for one. When I say healthy I was going off physical appearance and behavior. The dottyback and damsel were only in tank for a day or two before diieing so while I was worried they were hiding a lot and didn't eat I figured they were just acclimating to tank. The lantern bass was swimming in open and a hearty eater. Like I said the night before it died I didn't see anything out of norm besides that weird movement when the wrasse swam close. I just was googling velvet and it seems the parasites are somewhat visible on the exterior. Definlty didn't see anything like that.

 

[SaltyT]

No quarantine tank, I need to make some space in my freshwater fish room for one. When I say healthy I was going off physical appearance and behavior. The dottyback and damsel were only in tank for a day or two before diieing so while I was worried they were hiding a lot and didn't eat I figured they were just acclimating to tank. The lantern bass was swimming in open and a hearty eater. Like I said the night before it died I didn't see anything out of norm besides that weird movement when the wrasse swam close. I just was googling velvet and it seems the parasites are somewhat visible on the exterior. Definlty didn't see anything like that.

Velvet looks like a dusting on the fish in advanced stages. Most fish die before that point. Usually the fish will display rapid breathing and stop eating. Some may hide or swim into the flow of power heads in addition to the rapid breathing.

Setting up a quarantine tank for future additions is a good idea. You can observe your new fish and get them settled and eating in a low stress environment - this is important if your melanurus bothers new additions. If a disease is suspected you'll be able to treat and ensure their health prior to introducing them to your display tank.

 

[bnord]

have a 4 -5 incher with a 3- 4 inch leopard and a 3 inch six line - and lots of other mixed inhabitants

Only untoward behavior is circling on the end pane of the tank