Tale of two wrasses - when to release from acclimation box?

GuppyHJD

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I wanted to add a bit of color to the tank and searched for a top half of the water fish. My LFS had two wrasses - an Exquisite and a McCorsker's. I got both based on some reading on R2R and TheWrasseGuy.com website.

I brought them home and floated the bags in the sump for 40 minutes. Then I drip acclimated them and the Exquisite was swimming around the container ate a pellet or two. I dropped the lights on the tank and put it in. My LFS advised against put them in the QT tank for concern about just adding to their stress. The Exquisite made a few fast laps around the tank and settled in. In an hour, it was times for lights out anyway. The next morning, he came out for the first feeding of the day and has been fine with the other fish. I saw the Coral Beauty made a dash at him but he cruised through some rocks and was never touched.

The McCorsker's wrasse laid in the acclimation container, did not move much just heavy breathing. I was concerned he had ammonia buildup in the bag from the store home so I acclimated him and them put him in a cage in the tank. He laid on the bottom of the cage the first night. The next day he seemed to be looking to get out of the cage so I let him swim in the tank. He swam for a few minutes and then tried to jump from the tank, hitting the screen top a few times. The Starry Blenny made a few runs at him and we noticed the fins were torn. We put him back in the cage where he has stayed for two days. He just lays on the bottom or on the magnet holding the cage and does not swim around. When offered food, he will eat brine shrimp and mysis shrimp. I tried some Selcon soaked pellets and he was not interested. SO - should I just leave him in the cage for 3-7 days and see how he responds? Other suggestions?

McC1.jpg McC2.jpg
 

vetteguy53081

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Give them 3-5 days and plan to introduce
 

dwest

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I would keep an eye on the other fish. If the blenny or others seem aggressive or overly interested, I would leave him in a while longer.
 
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GuppyHJD

GuppyHJD

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The Methylene Blue arrived today. The McCosker's wrasse has been swimming "normal" since last night around his acclimation box. He is eating whenever I push food in there and watches food outside the box. Should I still do the methylene blue bath? I am thinking another day or two in the box and then release him after the nightly feeding on Tuesday? Or would it be better to release him in a morning ? I cannot move rock around much but will move the Blenny tunnel to one side of the tank and move the other two rocks that are movable to mix things up.
 

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