Radiant wrasse behavior

[skr791346]

I need advice on what my next step should be on a Radiant wrasse I'm quarantining and interpreting the way its acting.

Started from a sterile quarantine, it's stayed in 1.75 copper past the therapeutic amount of days. (on it's 11th day today)

Went through 2 rounds of GC, 3 rounds of metro

During quarantine, showed issues with eyes and mouth, started Spectrogram / Triple Sulfa, on its 10th day now and looking better.

Now it's out all the time, eating well, very alert and swimming around.

But it's still occasionally scratching its body. (Not gills but side of the body) It seems to only scratch inside the small Tupperware of sand I have in there, not on anything else (pvc / tank bottom). At first, I thought it might be food hunting behavior but I'm also noticing some minor head twitching...though I can't tell if its normal behavior for a Radiant as this one is extremely hyperactive always looking for food now.

Nothing came off in a 5 min FW dip

Should I still give it a bath in Fenbendazole? It will be my first time trying Fenbendazole and I want to avoid it in case it's stressful.

One thing to note: I also have a Lubbock in the same quarantine and he's not showing any scratching / head twitching behavior at all.

 

[Big G]

Did it start the scratching after you started treating with Triple Sulfa + copper?

Triple Sulfa is not recommended to be used with any copper medications:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I need advice on what my next step should be on a Radiant wrasse I'm quarantining and interpreting the way its acting.

Started from a sterile quarantine, it's stayed in 1.75 copper past the therapeutic amount of days. (on it's 11th day today)

Went through 2 rounds of GC, 3 rounds of metro

During quarantine, showed issues with eyes and mouth, started Spectrogram / Triple Sulfa, on its 10th day now and looking better.

Now it's out all the time, eating well, very alert and swimming around.

But it's still occasionally scratching its body. (Not gills but side of the body) It seems to only scratch inside the small Tupperware of sand I have in there, not on anything else (pvc / tank bottom). At first, I thought it might be food hunting behavior but I'm also noticing some minor head twitching...though I can't tell if its normal behavior for a Radiant as this one is extremely hyperactive always looking for food now.

Nothing came off in a 5 min FW dip

Should I still give it a bath in Fenbendazole? It will be my first time trying Fenbendazole and I want to avoid it in case it's stressful.

One thing to note: I also have a Lubbock in the same quarantine and he's not showing any scratching / head twitching behavior at all.

Fenbendazole is easy on fish but does require a 12 hour bath at 95mg a gallon.

 

[PGT253]

Same behavior as mine. I qt'ed for 3 months with TTM and hypo but the scratching never stop. I've had him for almost a year now, still scratching in the DT but he's getting fatter and fatter everyday.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Not common, in saltwater but if its the same spot look for something that looks like a 2 prong fork. This will be visible to the naked eye.

Also fish do just get itchy, especially sand dwelling ones as need to get whatever got in between their scales out or to help shake off a scale that is shedding.

 

[skr791346]

Did it start the scratching after you started treating with Triple Sulfa + copper?

Triple Sulfa is not recommended to be used with any copper medications:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

Unfortunately, I'm not too sure - for the first few days, it kept itself buried in sand until I started adding Spectro / Triple Sulfa. Few days after, it started coming out more and more to feed. I was nervous about mixing it with copper but I checked with some of the veterans on here privately confirming it was ok. FWIW, I haven't noticed any negative effect from mixing the two, all fish seem to be eating well and active with no signs of labored breathing.

Fenbendazole is easy on fish but does require a 12 hour bath at 95mg a gallon.

I recall reading your reply on another fenbendazole thread that you lost one of the fish after a bath; do you mind me asking what species it was and what you think might have caused it?

Same behavior as mine. I qt'ed for 3 months with TTM and hypo but the scratching never stop. I've had him for almost a year now, still scratching in the DT but he's getting fatter and fatter everyday.

I had a similar situation with a Coris Wrasse that went through all the quarantine steps yet continued to scratch even after 2 months in quarantine. Ultimately ended up adding it to DT with no issues. Wondering if this is a common behavior for Halichoeres species? Just concerned that it seem to be scratching his body.

Not common, in saltwater but if its the same spot look for something that looks like a 2 prong fork. This will be visible to the naked eye.

Also fish do just get itchy, especially sand dwelling ones as need to get whatever got in between their scales out or to help shake off a scale that is shedding.

I didn't notice any spots like that - visibly, his body looks fine. He just seem to scratch every 5 minutes or so, making it seem like more of a pattern due to something irritating it consistently.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Unfortunately, I'm not too sure - for the first few days, it kept itself buried in sand until I started adding Spectro / Triple Sulfa. Few days after, it started coming out more and more to feed. I was nervous about mixing it with copper but I checked with some of the veterans on here privately confirming it was ok. FWIW, I haven't noticed any negative effect from mixing the two, all fish seem to be eating well and active with no signs of labored breathing.


I recall reading your reply on another fenbendazole thread that you lost one of the fish after a bath; do you mind me asking what species it was and what you think might have caused it?


I had a similar situation with a Coris Wrasse that went through all the quarantine steps yet continued to scratch even after 2 months in quarantine. Ultimately ended up adding it to DT with no issues. Wondering if this is a common behavior for Halichoeres species? Just concerned that it seem to be scratching his body.


I didn't notice any spots like that - visibly, his body looks fine. He just seem to scratch every 5 minutes or so, making it seem like more of a pattern due to something irritating it consistently.

It was a Ruby Head Fairy and about 18 hours AFTER the bath he started breathing heavy and died. I then determined it was velvet put the remaining two back in copper and now on day 13 no more flashing I assuming the thick slime coat protected them the whole time until it got into the ones gills.

 

[skr791346]

It was a Ruby Head Fairy and about 18 hours AFTER the bath he started breathing heavy and died. I then determined it was velvet put the remaining two back in copper and now on day 13 no more flashing I assuming the thick slime coat protected them the whole time until it got into the ones gills.

Do you know if it's possible to mix Fenbendazole with copper during the bath?

 

[Gareth elliott]

Its an algaecide could reduce o2 levels when mixed together.

No idea if there are chemical interactions besides that.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I dragged my wrasses through 14 days of copper with FW dips then did the fenbendazole

 

[skr791346]

A quick update: I went ahead with the fenbendazole bath mixed with copper at 1.75 (in case flashing observed was due to ich or velvet). Was nervous as heck the whole time but both survived this morning and they are back to eating in their new sterile quarantine tank.

One thing I noticed is that the milky cloudiness from fenbendazole completely cleared when I checked in the morning post 12hrs. I'm guessing medication fully dissolved at this point. Moving forward, would it be better to pre-mix fenbendazole, wait for it to fully mix / clear the water before doing the bath? I added fenbendazole mixed in a cup of tank water about 30 minutes prior to bath and I could see small particles of fenbendazole blowing around still for the first few hours.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

A quick update: I went ahead with the fenbendazole bath mixed with copper at 1.75 (in case flashing observed was due to ich or velvet). Was nervous as heck the whole time but both survived this morning and they are back to eating in their new sterile quarantine tank.

One thing I noticed is that the milky cloudiness from fenbendazole completely cleared when I checked in the morning post 12hrs. I'm guessing medication fully dissolved at this point. Moving forward, would it be better to pre-mix fenbendazole, wait for it to fully mix / clear the water before doing the bath? I added fenbendazole mixed in a cup of tank water about 30 minutes prior to bath and I could see small particles of fenbendazole blowing around still for the first few hours.

Hopefully it works!

 

[skr791346]

Update: Radiant went through a second bath on Saturday. Still seeing scratching behavior two days later.

I'm going to try one more bath this weekend.