Sick wrasse

tidefanjam · Apr 18, 2019

This flasher has been in my qt since I got him last Saturday, been swimming and eating normal until today, now he’s just sitting on bottom, breathing heavy and seems to have trouble keeping balance, and paid no attention to food. I did a freshwater dip but couldn’t find any visible flukes after. Could this be gill flukes? I have prazipro, ruby reef rally, copper, and metroplex on hand but haven’t treated with anything yet. There is also a crescent wrasse in the qt tank with him that so far is still acting normal and eating well.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 18, 2019

tidefanjam said:
This flasher has been in my qt since I got him last Saturday, been swimming and eating normal until today, now he’s just sitting on bottom, breathing heavy and seems to have trouble keeping balance, and paid no attention to food. I did a freshwater dip but couldn’t find any visible flukes after. Could this be gill flukes? I have prazipro, ruby reef rally, copper, and metroplex on hand but haven’t treated with anything yet. There is also a crescent wrasse in the qt tank with him that so far is still acting normal and eating well.

Can you post a video? When you say trouble keeping balance do you mean swimming in spirals, vertically, etc?

tidefanjam · Apr 18, 2019

I don’t know how to post a video, but he was just rocking side to side while sitting on the bottom, not really swimming around at all.

4FordFamily · Apr 18, 2019

Do you have an ammonia alert badge by Seachem?

Did you dose biospira to prevent ammonia?

That’s my hunch, but it could be flukes or velvet, or any number of things unfortunately.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 18, 2019

tidefanjam said:
I don’t know how to post a video, but he was just rocking side to side while sitting on the bottom, not really swimming around at all.

The FW dip you did, how long was it? If ammonia is not an issue I think I would start with a 90 min RRR bath then start bringing copper up. How long has he been doing this?

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 18, 2019

This is why wrasses can be tough, they can carry velvet, etc and never show symptoms. The wrasses I’ve QT’ed I learned the hard way to start with a FW dip to check for flukes and if negative to start copper immediately.
Feeding med laced food for the first 14 days is important also.

tidefanjam · Apr 18, 2019

4FordFamily said:
Do you have an ammonia alert badge by Seachem?

Did you dose biospira to prevent ammonia?

That’s my hunch, but it could be flukes or velvet, or any number of things unfortunately.

I do have a badge, and I did cycle the qt with biospira before I ordered the fish, I just tested for ammonia just to make sure and it’s clear

Heavymman · Apr 18, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
This is why wrasses can be tough, they can carry velvet, etc and never show symptoms. The wrasses I’ve QT’ed I learned the hard way to start with a FW dip to check for flukes and if negative to start copper immediately.
Feeding med laced food for the first 14 days is important also.

How long can they carry velvet, I’m trying to grasp the life cycle of these parasites and from what I’ve read Velvet is a 4 day full cycle (I guess most common strain)

tidefanjam · Apr 18, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
The FW dip you did, how long was it? If ammonia is not an issue I think I would start with a 90 min RRR bath then start bringing copper up. How long has he been doing this?

It was 5 minutes, he just started today

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 18, 2019

Heavymman said:
How long can they carry velvet, I’m trying to grasp the life cycle of these parasites and from what I’ve read Velvet is a 4 day full cycle (I guess most common strain)

I don’t have the scientific answer to the exact timeframe of their life cycle but i know they keep coming in waves and both being wrasse one can succumb while the other holds it off due to its slime coat.

tidefanjam · Apr 19, 2019

Well, He didn’t make it, was dead this morning, the crescent in the tank with him is still acting normal as of this morning, if he is still ok when I get home I’m gonna give him a ruby reef rally bath , can I use prazipro and coppersafe at the same time in the tank? If I can’t get this one thru qt I’m done with wrasses I’m 0 for 3 so far. My clown, starry blenny, striped blenny, and cardinal have been healthy since I got them more than a year ago, although I only quarantined the striped blenny.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 19, 2019

tidefanjam said:
Well, He didn’t make it, was dead this morning, the crescent in the tank with him is still acting normal as of this morning, if he is still ok when I get home I’m gonna give him a ruby reef rally bath , can I use prazipro and coppersafe at the same time in the tank? If I can’t get this one thru qt I’m done with wrasses I’m 0 for 3 so far. My clown, starry blenny, striped blenny, and cardinal have been healthy since I got them more than a year ago, although I only quarantined the striped blenny.

You can use Prazi with copper just aerate the tank heavily as Prazi depletes O2. I feel you in Wrasses they are a bit different to QT I started out 0-3 also (Uronema) then I bought 3 more and only lost 1 to velvet (same symptoms as you) but I got the two into my DT and knowing what I now know I’m going to do a couple more.

tidefanjam · Apr 19, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
You can use Prazi with copper just aerate the tank heavily as Prazi depletes O2. I feel you in Wrasses they are a bit different to QT I started out 0-3 also (Uronema) then I bought 3 more and only lost 1 to velvet (same symptoms as you) but I got the two into my DT and knowing what I now know I’m going to do a couple more.

They seem to be challenging to say the least, the flasher that didn’t make it looked to be full grown, I know I’ve read that the older ones don’t ship as well, the crescent fairy I got with him was much smaller and younger, I’m hoping he will be a bit tougher, I added prazipro this morning, I read during my research on all this that 24 hours is all that is required with the prazipro, so I may do a water change then and start the copper after that, then in a week run the prazipro again.i have metroplex and focus that I’ll start mixing with his food

Spar · Apr 19, 2019

I lost my flame fairy wrasse this morning as well, sorry man, sucks. I had mine in CP, not sure if that was the issue or not. There is a comment above that says to use CP rather than copper, but in https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/ it says to do the opposite, just in case you decide to QT another flame wrasse in the future.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 19, 2019

Spar said:
I lost my flame fairy wrasse this morning as well, sorry man, sucks. I had mine in CP, not sure if that was the issue or not. There is a comment above that says to use CP rather than copper, but in https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/ it says to do the opposite, just in case you decide to QT another flame wrasse in the future.

I’ve used copper power without issues related to the copper itself. None of the Fairy or halichoroes wrasse I’ve QT’ed have shown sensitivity to it. I do ramp up over 3-4 days though.
I’ve lost 2 to Uronema, 1 to injury, 1 to velvet but have gotten 2 into DT. My failure was the observation period not truly realizing they don’t always show symptoms until it’s too late. I now start copper immediately even if the wrasse look healthy.
The Uronema came on so fast I don’t think I could’ve stopped it.

Heavymman · Apr 19, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I’ve used copper power without issues related to the copper itself. None of the Fairy or halichoroes wrasse I’ve QT’ed have shown sensitivity to it. I do ramp up over 3-4 days though.
I’ve lost 2 to Uronema, 1 to injury, 1 to velvet but have gotten 2 into DT. My failure was the observation period not truly realizing they don’t always show symptoms until it’s too late. I now start copper immediately even if the wrasse look healthy.
The Uronema came on so fast I don’t think I could’ve stopped it.

I think @Spar was referring to CP as Chloroquine phosphate which should not be used with Wrasses. Not copper power