Wrasse not swimming

[Mrcote1]

I just got a Melanarus wrasse 2 days ago and he eats and looks healthy but he will not swim in the water column. He just swims along the bottom with his face against the glass. If I feed he will swim like nuts to get food and swim upwards a little bit but then goes right back to the bottom. I do have a container with sand but he doesn't swim high enough to get into the sand container. He is in a 20 gallon QT tank. Any ideas what it could be? I read a lot about swim bladders but I've seen it poop so I doubt its constipation.
Thanks

 

[Mrcote1]

 

[reef lover]

The humped back kinda seems to me like a spinal injury...he might not be able to stay up in the water column. #reefsquad

 

[saltyhog]

The behavior you describe sounds like what I see with a panicked Halichoeres. The nose down rapid swimming is them trying to find the "bottom" and dive in to the sand. Dim the ambient lighting and move slowly when your're around the tank and he may come around in a day or two. The picture is kind of how fish with spinal injuries look but they usually will try to swim upward but struggle to do so. The usually swim with the nose up with spinal injuries

 

[Big G]

Found that creating a "cave like" environment by painting the bottom, back and both ends of the tank in a dark blue or black color really helps, especially with nervous, jumpy fish while in QT. Beautiful fish.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

The humped back kinda seems to me like a spinal injury...he might not be able to stay up in the water column. #reefsquad

Looks normal to me

 

[Vahanyos]

He'll come around. As long as he's eating just give him a few days. In my opinion, two days is just not long enough to be worried...

 

[4FordFamily]

The behavior you describe sounds like what I see with a panicked Halichoeres. The nose down rapid swimming is them trying to find the "bottom" and dive in to the sand. Dim the ambient lighting and move slowly when your're around the tank and he may come around in a day or two. The picture is kind of how fish with spinal injuries look but they usually will try to swim upward but struggle to do so. The usually swim with the nose up with spinal injuries

I agree with this as well.

 

[Mrcote1]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Yea I think the photo makes him look hump backed but I've compared many online pictures to how he looks and the arch of his back is normal. When he swims for food he swims like a normal fish but he is startled easy and he swims nose down very quickly around the tank. Should I dump the sand out of the container into the corner of the QT so he can bury in it? Or will that just cause a huge mess as he tries to burrow in it
Im terrified of losing another wrasse. I lost an exquisite about a month ago in QT due to parasites and I just lost a pintail last week in my DT