Welp, my Melanarus Wrasse is on his way out

[NefariousPillow]

I purchased a beautiful Melanarus Wrasse almost two months ago and from day one he has been an amazing fish. Super active, healthy, ate like a pig. He got along great with the rest of the fish when I added him to the main display and all was copasetic until this past Tuesday.

When I went to feed that day, I noticed that he was swimming vertically; his head was pointed up and his backend was down which appeared to be dead weight. He was essentially performing pirouettes to move about. I did some frantic research on here and based on what I read, he has a spinal injury. I isolated him and he continues to eat, but his condition still appears to deteriorate day by day. He's now taken to spending most of the day lying on the bottom of the tank. He'll stir if I get too close, but I'm just starting to lose hope. I read many with these injuries typically don't make it and I'm rather heart broken as this was the fish I was looking forward to getting more than any other.

I eventually want to replace him, but this appears to be so common with wrasses that I've started to grow cynical about the prospect of having another. The top of my tank is covered with a glass canopy so the only way I can see actively trying to prevent this in the future is to switch to netting. Two days before he started acting this way, I did add some Frogspawn for the first time to the tank and he did seem particularly interested in it although based on what I've read there is probably no correlation, but that was the only recent change.

Any thoughts? Just feeling really bummed.

 

[SaltyT]

Sorry to hear that. There's a slim possibility it could be a strike injury from the glass lid, but since you've had him less than 2 months it's more likely UNWD. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to euthanize him as they usually don't recover. Here's a thread regarding UNWD for more info:

Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[NefariousPillow]

Sorry to hear that. There's a slim possibility it could be a strike injury from the glass lid, but since you've had him less than 2 months it's more likely UNWD. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to euthanize him as they usually don't recover. Here's a thread regarding UNWD for more info:

Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for the resource, I appreciate this.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I'm sorry, my mel is one of my favorite fish I have. I'd be gutted if he got sick. Don't give up on wrasses - SaltyT has WAY more expertise with them, but I wouldn't think the majority of them get the UNWD. Possibly some are more prone to it though? I hope melanurus aren't typically one... hmm.

 

[NefariousPillow]

I'm sorry, my mel is one of my favorite fish I have. I'd be gutted if he got sick. Don't give up on wrasses - SaltyT has WAY more expertise with them, but I wouldn't think the majority of them get the UNWD. Possibly some are more prone to it though? I hope melanurus aren't typically one... hmm.

Thanks for the response. I'll probably try another one in the next couple of months as I just can't say no to them. The real question is whether I source it from the same place (Blue Zoo Aquatics) or try elsewhere. The nice thing about that retailer is that they are 20 or so miles from me so the fish doesn't have to travel far. Unfortunately, none of my LFSs have had them in stock, hence why I went the shipping route.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I've never been big on shipping wrasses (or any fish). Did you ask the LFS if they can order one, at least it's on them to keep it alive initially and get it eating.

If it's any consolation, I'm on my 3rd one over the past 3 years. One funky swim bladder issue (I think), uronema on the second (killed quick), and the third one has done well for about 2 years now. Don't give up on them, they are a beautiful working fish (keeps the worms and amphipods @ bay in my case).

 

[NefariousPillow]

Only one out of the three special orders if you could call it that, with their process being to simply add it to a list of requests. There's no upfront payment involved and they simply kept telling me that they didn't get it for one reason or another. Believe me I tried to avoid shipping. Maybe I'll get luckier with the store this time around.