Wrasse Residual Shipping Stress?

[atp0726]

Ordered an Orange Back Wrasse and received it yesterday. Order came in as expected. When I opened the box and viewed the fish it actually looked like it might be dead. Still floated it for 20-30 min and then dumped in a bucket, checked salinity (very low at 1.015) and quickly tried to match as closely as possible. I was happy to see there was some movement and though it didn't look great was alive. fish still alive this morning, turned the lights on after work in the evening and still alive but does not seem to be doing well. Video below. Is he probably not going to make it or is this common for Wrasses post shipping? This is the first time I have ordered a Wrasse and I have heard accounts they dont always ship well. I also ordered a Yellow Watchman that seems to be doing great.

 

[Humblefish]

IME; That's typical wrasse QT behavior. Have you tried feeding him yet?

@evolved @eatbreakfast for second opinions

 

[melypr1985]

He's breathing pretty quick, but seems to be normal. Depending on what the wrasse guys have to say, I would give him another day or two to recuperate then begin your QT regimen.

 

[Humblefish]

Can we get a closeup video of him breathing?

 

[atp0726]

We'll see, just watched him before the lights go out and he rolled over on his side and didn't right himself. Added air stone for additional oxygenation. Tried feeding mysis a few times and no interest. Beautiful fish will be a bummer if he doesn't make it.

 

[Humblefish]

We'll see, just watched him before the lights go out and he rolled over on his side and didn't right himself. Added air stone for additional oxygenation. Tried feeding mysis a few times and no interest. Beautiful fish will be a bummer if he doesn't make it.

Do you have a PVC elbow in there for him to take shelter under?

 

[evolved]

Too bright; turn the light off or way down.

+1 to the PVC comment; he needs things to hide in. It will also appreciate a bit of flow; put a small power head in the tank if it doesn't already have something for decent circulation.

Overall the fish looks fine; it's simply stressed and the bright lighting isn't helping.

 

[Salty1962]

They can take a day or two before looking back to normal. My last one looked DOA and I placed him in an AE box, the next morning he was better and on day 2 was eating. Beautiful fish.

 

[atp0726]

Update: Fish still breathing this morning. Didn't look good last night so honestly a bit surprised. Hopefully, everyone is correct that this is normal Wrasse acclimation behavior.

I only turned the lights on for a few hours last night. My last Wrasse that was in QT would hide when just the actinics were on and only come out with white lights were lit, so I was hoping that was the case with him..

The QT is a 20 gallon long with 2 PVC sections. It has a HOB filter with a powerhead pointed toward the surface for agitation. I can add another if it would help.

Plan for today is to leave the white lights off, only have actinics come on. Leave airstone in tank and monitor.

@Humblefish if you think getting a close up of the gills would help I can try and get a picture later. I would probably need to turn the white lights on though. What are you thinking gill flukes, ammonia burn? I didnt drip acclimate and added a few drops of Prime to bucket while I was adjusting salinity.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Jim C]

Where did you order it from? I bought two within the past two months from saltwaterish.com and neither lasted a few days.

 

[atp0726]

Where did you order it from? I bought two within the past two months from saltwaterish.com and neither lasted a few days.

Crap, yep that's where he came from. Used them in the past and other fish did great and where packaged well.

 

[Jim C]

Crap, yep that's where he came from. Used them in the past and other fish did great and where packaged well.

Yep. Neither of mine could swim correctly out of the bag. They never had a chance. It's frustrating isn't it?

 

[atp0726]

Yea, sounds like mine. Really frustrating! Everything looked good when I got him too. Temp was good, packaged really well. Received the package by noontime. Only thing was lower than expected salinity of 1.015. Maybe wrasses don't handle that low of SG?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish if you think getting a close up of the gills would help I can try and get a picture later. I would probably need to turn the white lights on though. What are you thinking gill flukes, ammonia burn? I didnt drip acclimate and added a few drops of Prime to bucket while I was adjusting salinity.

My main concern is flukes or velvet might be in the gills. @Jim C stating wrasses he ordered from this same vendor only lasted a few days makes me wonder if they have a disease problem in their system.

Yea, sounds like mine. Really frustrating! Everything looked good when I got him too. Temp was good, packaged really well. Received the package by noontime. Only thing was lower than expected salinity of 1.015. Maybe wrasses don't handle that low of SG?

That is very low. Typically, even wholesalers maintain at least 1.019-1.020. They could be using low SG to suppress flukes and/or parasites, but it won't completely eradicate them.

 

[atp0726]

My main concern is flukes or velvet might be in the gills. @Jim C stating wrasses he ordered from this same vendor only lasted a few days makes me wonder if they have a disease problem in their system.



That is very low. Typically, even wholesalers maintain at least 1.019-1.020. They could be using low SG to suppress flukes and/or parasites, but it won't completely eradicate them.

He's still alive but barely. Is there any last ditch effort I could try like freshwater bath or will the stress of a bath finish him off? Currently laying on side and was laying upside down a few minutes ago.

 

[Humblefish]

He's still alive but barely. Is there any last ditch effort I could try like freshwater bath or will the stress of a bath finish him off? Currently laying on side and was laying upside down a few minutes ago.

Only thing you could do is perform a FW dip to check for flukes and/or provide temporary relief for the gills: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/video-how-to-do-a-freshwater-dip.286639/

But if he's too weak, it will likely finish him off.

 

[atp0726]

Wrasse didn't make it unfortunately.

 

[atp0726]

Yea, sounds like mine. Really frustrating! Everything looked good when I got him too. Temp was good, packaged really well. Received the package by noontime. Only thing was lower than expected salinity of 1.015. Maybe wrasses don't handle that low of SG?

Did you ever figure out what was going on with yours that died? After mine died I dropped it in some ro and didn't see any flukes fall off. Did your shipping water have a really low SG? Ugh, now in stuck with a $100 credit that I don't really want to use on another fish from them. I can't believe he was a healthy active fish when they bagged him up for shipment.

 

[Jim C]

Did you ever figure out what was going on with yours that died? After mine died I dropped it in some ro and didn't see any flukes fall off. Did your shipping water have a really low SG? Ugh, now in stuck with a $100 credit that I don't really want to use on another fish from them. I can't believe he was a healthy active fish when they bagged him up for shipment.

Never figured out what killed them. They had absolutely no ability to swim right out of the bag. As you described, they laid on their side breathing extremely heavily. I also dipped them after death and did not see any flukes. I just think we were sent dying fish. And the worst part is if you use your $100 credit on a fish it will not be guaranteed.

 

[atp0726]

Never figured out what killed them. They had absolutely no ability to swim right out of the bag. As you described, they laid on their side breathing extremely heavily. I also dipped them after death and did not see any flukes. I just think we were sent dying fish. And the worst part is if you use your $100 credit on a fish it will not be guaranteed.

Glad you said something or I may have turned around and bought another from them. There is obviously something going and doesnt sound like this is a coincidence. I am guessing there are others that have had similar experiences. I actually contacted them ahead of the fish coming to get the SG so I could match my QT and they said 1.o20-1.025 and then they came in at .015...what a joke. In the end its the fish that loses...get plucked from their environment and aren't given a chance !