Wrasse help

[Batman222b]

Wrasse help

I've lost 2 wrasse in the past few days and have a third that is on his way out. All water parameters are in the normal range. First wrasse I lost was a new edition. I'm assuming he was sick although my LFS had told me he was copper treated and I've never had an issue in 10 years with this shop. He went directly into my DT. Two days later I saw him and he looked like the pic. Trying to figure out what killed him. I talked with a few people I know and they told me to treat with Prazi. Day later, one of my smaller females was listless and laying in the sanded. Perished that night. Today I can home to find my diamond tale on the sand. He's in the QT now, but I'm assuming he's going to die. Both the send and third wrasse show no visible signs of damage, white sports, etc. I'm just baffled how to treat the tank as I don't know what I'm dealing with. Another LFS said it might be flukes and to treat with copper. I don't think copper will help with flukes. It's frustrating because I don't know how to treat because I don't know what's killing my fish. Any help would be appreciate!!!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wrasse help

I've lost 2 wrasse in the past few days and have a third that is on his way out. All water parameters are in the normal range. First wrasse I lost was a new edition. I'm assuming he was sick although my LFS had told me he was copper treated and I've never had an issue in 10 years with this shop. He went directly into my DT. Two days later I saw him and he looked like the pic. Trying to figure out what killed him. I talked with a few people I know and they told me to treat with Prazi. Day later, one of my smaller females was listless and laying in the sanded. Perished that night. Today I can home to find my diamond tale on the sand. He's in the QT now, but I'm assuming he's going to die. Both the send and third wrasse show no visible signs of damage, white sports, etc. I'm just baffled how to treat the tank as I don't know what I'm dealing with. Another LFS said it might be flukes and to treat with copper. I don't think copper will help with flukes. It's frustrating because I don't know how to treat because I don't know what's killing my fish. Any help would be appreciate!!!!

These fish are a must for quarantine.
Acclimation. . . . How did you acclimate and for how long?
Assuming dots are ich (hard to see in pics), you need to treat with coppersafe- Not cupramine (ionic form) and start at copper level 2.0 nd raise level over 24 hours to 2.15ppm. Monitor the coppersafe level with a reliable
Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone. Provide a deep bowl with sand for them
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off and with occupants exposed, they too should go into quarantine

 

[Batman222b]

There were no dots. Fish was pale on the right side and jaw was distended. Other two that passed had no visible signs of anything wrong. Both just hid and then died.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There were no dots. Fish was pale on the right side and jaw was distended. Other two that passed had no visible signs of anything wrong. Both just hid and then died.

It does sound like the new wrasse brought some disease into your tank that is infecting the other wrasses. What other fish are in that tank? It may well be that the wrasses are affected first, but that it will spread to other fish as well.

Trouble is, the pictures don't point to any specific disease. The discoloration around the face of that wrasse looks more like mechanical damage.

Can you post a clear video of the remaining wrasse, or if it didn't make it overnight, then a video of the remaining fish?

Jay

 

[Batman222b]

I can later today, but I can tell you none of my other fish are showing any signs. I have 1 other wrasse that is doing fine, a small Hippo, a diamond goby, and a bicolor blenny. The diamond that died last night had no physical symptoms, wasn't acting any different up until 2 days ago and then he was just hiding. He was the most social of all my fish. Always up by the glass.

 

[Batman222b]

Losing the last wrasse last night was a kick in the pants. I've been trying for the past few days to diagnose what's been going on. Like I said in my post, it's frustrating when you know there is something wrong, but you can't act because you don't know what you're treating. I keep narrowing down to the same ideas. Flukes, Brook, or Velvet. The issue is treatment is different for these. Thanks for the help!!

 

[Batman222b]

It does sound like the new wrasse brought some disease into your tank that is infecting the other wrasses. What other fish are in that tank? It may well be that the wrasses are affected first, but that it will spread to other fish as well.

Trouble is, the pictures don't point to any specific disease. The discoloration around the face of that wrasse looks more like mechanical damage.

Can you post a clear video of the remaining wrasse, or if it didn't make it overnight, then a video of the remaining fish?

Jay

 

[Batman222b]

Here are my videos.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks - I can't see anything wrong with the remaining fish, so just watch them carefully for now.

 

[Batman222b]

Thanks - I can't see anything wrong with the remaining fish, so just watch them carefully for now.

Thanks. Should I not pull them and QT? Something must be going on I. My tank for me to lose 3 fish in a week..right?

 

[Batman222b]

This might be lengthy, and I apologize ahead of time, but you are the first person in the past few days that I've gotten messages from that I would trust. I appreciate you replying!

If I am to just observe my fish currently, which I will, I still can't help but to wonder what happened to the other 3. I know the 1st was more than likely the start of this mess, but what he transferred to my tank is the mystery and why did it not hit all of my other fish or maybe it will. ‍

I'd like to get your opinion on medication I should have on hand? I'm seeing a lot of mentions about always having copper and Prazi on hand. I have both now. What else should I stock up on?

Another question is that if all fish remain OK, how long should I wait until I add new tank mates? I think moving forward I'd just put in a QT for observation only, unless something comes up. Would this be a good move?

This experience has made me think about purchasing a UV sterilizer. Would this be overkill?

Thanks again for the follow up and input!!! Means a lot. Has been a stressful few days.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This might be lengthy, and I apologize ahead of time, but you are the first person in the past few days that I've gotten messages from that I would trust. I appreciate you replying!

If I am to just observe my fish currently, which I will, I still can't help but to wonder what happened to the other 3. I know the 1st was more than likely the start of this mess, but what he transferred to my tank is the mystery and why did it not hit all of my other fish or maybe it will. ‍

I'd like to get your opinion on medication I should have on hand? I'm seeing a lot of mentions about always having copper and Prazi on hand. I have both now. What else should I stock up on?

Another question is that if all fish remain OK, how long should I wait until I add new tank mates? I think moving forward I'd just put in a QT for observation only, unless something comes up. Would this be a good move?

This experience has made me think about purchasing a UV sterilizer. Would this be overkill?

Thanks again for the follow up and input!!! Means a lot. Has been a stressful few days.

The issue that I see: moving fish into a QT works, if you move ALL fish and you know what to treat them with. The QT also needs to have a stable biofilter, else you might lose fish due to high ammonia.

The most prudent way to go here would be to set up the QT using biomedia from your DT, get it ready to go and then watch the fish for symptoms. If those show up, hopefully they will point towards a specific, treatable disease and you can then move the fish over and treat them for that specific issue.

As far as how long to just observe the fish in the current tank? I usually watch closely for 30 days. The upside of all this is that you will then have a QT ready to go to quarantine any new purchases!

 

[Batman222b]

I have a QT set up. I have live rock in there and always keep the water full and running.

 

[Batman222b]

What do you think possibly killed my fish?

 

[Batman222b]

Thanks again for the response — it really helped me think through the next steps, and I appreciate you taking the time. I know you’ve got a lot of experience, so I wanted to kindly circle back to a couple of questions I asked earlier that I’d still love to get your take on, if you don’t mind:

• What medications do you usually like to keep on hand? I’ve got copper and Prazi now, but I’m wondering if there are any others you consider essential or have found especially useful.

Also, curious to hear your thoughts on UV sterilizers — are they worth it in your opinion, or more of a nice-to-have?


Really appreciate all your help and insight!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks again for the response — it really helped me think through the next steps, and I appreciate you taking the time. I know you’ve got a lot of experience, so I wanted to kindly circle back to a couple of questions I asked earlier that I’d still love to get your take on, if you don’t mind:

• What medications do you usually like to keep on hand? I’ve got copper and Prazi now, but I’m wondering if there are any others you consider essential or have found especially useful.

Also, curious to hear your thoughts on UV sterilizers — are they worth it in your opinion, or more of a nice-to-have?


Really appreciate all your help and insight!

Sorry - I don't have enough clues to make an educated guess as to what killed the wrasses.

I keep coppersafe (or copper power) on hand, as well as prazi. That covers about 80% of the treatable parasitic issues. I also always have some broad spectrum, gram negative active antibiotics around - Neoplex or Kanaplex for example.

UV sterilizers? That's complicated. For them to do any good, the pathogen needs to pass through the unit - and many disease issues don't go up into the water column enough to be controlled that way. UV can help lower the overall free floating bacteria/viruses in a tank, but their BEST use is when they are plumbed in a system as the water travels from one tank to another, to help reduce the spread of disease from tank to tank. Many home aquarium UV sterilizers are way to underpowered to control protozoans or flukes.