Naoko's Fairy Wrasse laying on side

i0nz

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I recently introduced a Naoko's Fairy Wrasse into my tank a few days ago. He has been pretty timid, hiding within the rock. I was able to get him to eat yesterday. Today he came right out once I turned the flow off and I saw it as an opportunity to feed him. He readily accepted it.

This evening I saw him out in the tank and decided to feed him. He ate a decent amount again. However I noticed him in one specific area in the tank, no longer in the rock scape but underneath an octospawn where he’s hanging out. He keeps going back and forth between swimming/flashing to lying on his side. He will swim for a minute or two then lay on his side for 20-30 seconds. I have only kept Leopard Wrasse and one other Fairy/Flasher Wrasse prior. I don’t recall either exhibiting this behavior. However he did come from a tank with sand and is now in a BB tank.

Not sure how common it is for this specific wrasse to exhibit the “faking death” behavior. I suppose one question is, are there other signs to look out for which should be considered more alarming or is this behavior fairly common when first introduced and or stressed?

Everything I’ve heard is that they’re very fast swimmers but so far he has been very timid/cautious and anything but fast.

Any shared knowledge and or input on this is appreciated.

IMG_4725.jpeg


Additionally I’ve noticed that on one side of his tail the markings look different. Not sure if his fine got damaged when netting him following the drip acclimation. This photo was taken just now during his up/down episode.
 

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i0nz

i0nz

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While he’s not fully laying on his side in the video he has been fully on his side several times.

 
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i0nz

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It also looks like the back of his dorsal fin is damaged in the area where the strange marking is on his tail
 
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i0nz

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Here’s one additional video which better shows his fins/scales

 

Jay Hemdal

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I agree, looks like some stress from bullying. The gramma made an open-mouthed pass at it in one video.

Jay
 

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Does the tail dropping starting at 37 seconds in the first video concern anyone?
 

i cant think

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I noticed that he doesn’t appear to be using it fully. You hate to read UNWD into every naoko that acts weird. Time will tell.
Honestly, I think Naokoae is the most prone to UNWD out of the Fairy wrasses unfortunately.
 

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I should have linked this earlier, but was on my phone.

 
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i0nz

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Sorry for the delayed response. I ended up going to sleep. He did not come out once today when feeding. I had to run to the store and I saw him lying on his side near the cave which he hides in. Out of no where he began swimming but more so floated up and spiraled then the powerhead pushed him into a torch.

Needless to say I kind of panicked and netted him out while putting him into a 5 minute fw dip. I’m not completely sure if that was the right move or not with him being in this stage but I also didn’t want to see him fall into one of my torches. His behavior and breathing significantly mellowed out in the FW dip. I returned him to the tank where he’s currently breathing a little faster on his side but he’s not floating around the tank anymore.

I’m guessing he’s probably a goner at this point. I appreciate you referencing UNWD. I will read the linked article right now so I know what to look out for.
 

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