Wrasse Mouth Injury or Parasite?

[cmcimino]

I received two wrasse from Live Aquaria yesterday, a linespot flasher wrasse, and a royal flasher wrasse. Both seemed extremely stressed when they got in to no surprise since they are wrasse. I acclimated both by exchanging water from the QT and discarding the bag water over the course of an hour. The royal flasher wrasse has recovered pretty well and is swimming and eating, however the line spot flasher wrasse is laying in a PVC pipe not really moving much and not eating. He is alive because I can see his gills and eyes move. This morning I could see what looked like something in his mouth, but its hard to tell what it is. Do I need to go ahead and freshwater dip him in case it is flukes, or should I just treat the water with something like Ruby Reef Rally? See picture below, its not the greatest but I only have ambient light on the tank at the moment.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Flukes would be my first guess. The laying around is normal, many wrasses will lay at the bottom of the tank or behind decorations for the first few days until they feel more comfortable.

You can do a freshwater dip to provide immediate relief and confirm flukes are present. Treatment would be two doses of either Praziquantel or General Cure (Praziquantel + Metronidazole) 5-7 days apart, with a 20-25% water change before the second dose.

I also highly suggest food soaking with general cure or metroplex and focus for 10 days as well...since wrasses are notorious for having internal parasites as well. Symptoms of internal parasites are white-stringy poop, bloating, heavy breathing/lethargic, and in late stages refusing to eat at all.

 

[Highgrade]

Flukes would be my first guess. The laying around is normal, many wrasses will lay at the bottom of the tank or behind decorations for the first few days until they feel more comfortable.

You can do a freshwater dip to provide immediate relief and confirm flukes are present. Treatment would be two doses of either Praziquantel or General Cure (Praziquantel + Metronidazole) 5-7 days apart, with a 20-25% water change before the second dose.

I also highly suggest food soaking with general cure or metroplex and focus for 10 days as well...since wrasses are notorious for having internal parasites as well. Symptoms of internal parasites are white-stringy poop, bloating, heavy breathing/lethargic, and in late stages refusing to eat at all.

+1

 

[cmcimino]

I got home and dropped some food in and the fish ate and hes starting to move around some more. Still somewhat lethargic. Since he doesn't seem like hes in immediate danger I opted out of the FW dip because I didn't want to stress him out anymore. I treated with Prazipro, and will monitor him over the next couple of days. If he gets worse I'll dip him. I have some Focus and Metroplex on hand, but can I feed it if dosed Prazipro?

 

[cmcimino]

I forgot to include a picture of his full body.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I have some Focus and Metroplex on hand, but can I feed it if dosed Prazipro?

Yes, you can.

Side note- prazipro can be an appetite suppressant so don’t be alarmed if he rejects the medicated food at first try. If so, just try again after the prazipro is removed. Entice might help make it more palatable in either case as well.

 

[ngoodermuth]

He looks pretty good to me He still has stress markings, so definitely still adjusting to QT life. Good luck with him!

 

[HairyGary]

Looks ok to me. I would observe but make sure you have enough aeration in the water when using Prazi. Also, wrasses tend to need a few days to adjust to QT especially when the glass sides and bottom are not painted.