Question about wrasse behaviour in QT?

[tenurepro]

Hi All,
Just added a flasher wrasse to my QT Friday night. Was hiding in a PVC pipe for a day and half now but he finally came out to eat some frozen shrimp this afternoon. I observed him for a bit and noticed that he was 'scratching' / 'flashing' the PVC pipe. Please see the attached video...
Is this normal territory marking behaviour (he was attaching his reflection also), or a sign of external parasite (of which, nothing seems obvious to the naked eye). p.s. see video @ :24 sec mark for behaviour
@evolved ?



I haven't started any meds yet... i typically like to watch for a few days first, make sure fish are eating before i do a couple of rounds of prazi

thanks in advance!

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I think part of that is because he sees his reflection but I would do a FW dip to check for flukes.

 

[tenurepro]

Hi All,
Just added a flasher wrasse to my QT Friday night. Was hiding in a PVC pipe for a day and half now but he finally came out to eat some frozen shrimp this afternoon. I observed him for a bit and noticed that he was 'scratching' / 'flashing' the PVC pipe. Please see the attached video...
Is this normal territory marking behaviour (he was attaching his reflection also), or a sign of external parasite (of which, nothing seems obvious to the naked eye). p.s. see video @ :24 sec mark for behaviour
@evolved ?



I haven't started any meds yet... i typically like to watch for a few days first, make sure fish are eating before i do a couple of rounds of prazi

thanks in advance!

wrasse keeps doing this behaviour today to, but appears healthy; any other ideas about this ?
thanks!

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

wrasse keeps doing this behaviour today to, but appears healthy; any other ideas about this ?
thanks!

Did you FW dip him?

 

[tenurepro]

No yet - I was waiting for some kind of consensus to emerge about the behavior before deciding on a course of action

 

[4FordFamily]

Often they harbor ich and velvet in the gills, this or flukes are common reasons for scratching. Wrasse aren’t likely to show other symptoms of ich it or even velvet for quite a long time and they’re often phenomenal “Typhoid Marys” for the display tank as a result.

Let us know the result of the freshwater dip.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

No yet - I was waiting for some kind of consensus to emerge about the behavior before deciding on a course of action

Flashing is typically a sign of parasites/flukes, a FW dip kept between 4:30 and 5 min is harmlesss and if he has flukes it will provide him relief. It will also either confirm or not if he has flukes. If he does have them and you wait too long it may become too late.

 

[4FordFamily]

Flashing is typically a sign of parasites/flukes, a FW dip kept between 4:30 and 5 min is harmlesss and if he has flukes it will provide him relief. It will also either confirm or not if he has flukes. If he does have them and you wait too long it may become too late.

I could not agree more.

 

[tgrick]

I'm on the reflection side...

I treat all my fish prior to Main Display tank. I do not deviate from copper and/or CP. That said, wrasses give me trouble in quarantine. I have 2 in my main display and a 3rd is about to be added this Wednesday. My 'successful' protocol was as follows:
1) Let him alone for observation only for about a week. I returned to the store to check other fish in the tank he was in and nothing seemed sick...great. (This might be an important step BTW...retuning to purchase place)
2) Treat with prazi. I'm never certain if I should do copper 1st or prazi 1st. My logic with a wrasse is now gill flukes 1st because they seem to be able to withstand ick/velvet better than most.
3) Copper. I use hanna checker and SLOWLY over 10 days or so raise copper. I stop around 1.6.

I have lost wrasse in the past while in copper. So, now I dose prazi thinking flukes might have been the reason. In any event YMMW...

 

[ngoodermuth]

My best guess would be flukes, but like others have said ich in the gills will cause similar behavior. The yawning at the very start of the video is another symptom of gill parasites.

I don’t, however, think this is “normal” behavior...definitely something irritating him.

I agree with the freshwater dip to check for flukes. If no flukes show, I’d start copper treatment for ich. Just ramp up the level very slowly... I’ve never had issues with wrasses in copper as long as I took a few days getting it to therapeutic. Especially if you are using cupramine vs. copperpower.

 

[tenurepro]

Thanks guys. Will do a fw dip later today.
Merit of cooper vs ttm ?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Thanks guys. Will do a fw dip later today.
Merit of cooper vs ttm ?

Copper kills velvet too... ttm only treats ich.

 

[evolved]

Hi All,
Just added a flasher wrasse to my QT Friday night. Was hiding in a PVC pipe for a day and half now but he finally came out to eat some frozen shrimp this afternoon. I observed him for a bit and noticed that he was 'scratching' / 'flashing' the PVC pipe. Please see the attached video...
Is this normal territory marking behaviour (he was attaching his reflection also), or a sign of external parasite (of which, nothing seems obvious to the naked eye). p.s. see video @ :24 sec mark for behaviour
@evolved ?



I haven't started any meds yet... i typically like to watch for a few days first, make sure fish are eating before i do a couple of rounds of prazi

thanks in advance!

That's telltale behavior of flukes being present, IME.

 

[tenurepro]

That's telltale behavior of flukes being present, IME.

ok, setting up for a FW dip; will report back the results later

 

[tenurepro]

Ok, did a 5 min FW dip and nothing came off the fish... Fish is otherwise super healthy and eating. I wonder if i just wait and observe for a bit; not sure i should jump to cooper without obvious symptoms

 

[tenurepro]

Hi all - can I please get you opinion on My qt plan ?
So I actually needed up another wrasse to the same qt system (a pintail fairy wrasse - I couldn’t resist). I’ve been slowly adding copper (coopersafe) over the past couple of days - checking with Hanna cu checker as I dose; I’ll be st above therapeutic levels by tomorrow (aiming for 1.7 ppm).
My plan was to keep the two wrasses at therapeutic cooper for 14 days, then transfer them into a new cooper free tank with new equipment, give them a couple of days of rest, then do two rounds of general cure for internal parasites, then observe for a week before adding into dt. The reason for doing copper on for 14 days because I don’t wish to expose these potentially more sensitive fish any more than needed.

Does this sound like a good plan ?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Hi all - can I please get you opinion on My qt plan ?
So I actually needed up another wrasse to the same qt system (a pintail fairy wrasse - I couldn’t resist). I’ve been slowly adding copper (coopersafe) over the past couple of days - checking with Hanna cu checker as I dose; I’ll be st above therapeutic levels by tomorrow (aiming for 1.7 ppm).
My plan was to keep the two wrasses at therapeutic cooper for 14 days, then transfer them into a new cooper free tank with new equipment, give them a couple of days of rest, then do two rounds of general cure for internal parasites, then observe for a week before adding into dt. The reason for doing copper on for 14 days because I don’t wish to expose these potentially more sensitive fish any more than needed.

Does this sound like a good plan ?

I would dose the GC with food for 10-14 days to treat for internal parasites and then two rounds of GC 5-7 days apart after copper for flukes.