6 line wrasse not doing well

[jonesdeini]

I bought a 6 line wrasse and a super fancy clown from my LFS on 12/28.
They both came from the same tank at my LFS.

I had a new QT setup that they immediately went into; a 29G, BB, with a HOB filter and an airstone. The biofilter was seeded with bio spira. The temp is 78F

I dosed Prazi on 1/14, then did multiple WCs after a week, and have not dosed anything since.

I do 5G WC every ~1.5 weeks. The nitrate has always been between 0 and 5 ppm. The SG is between 25 and 27(no ATO, so I add RO water every 3 days or so)

I feed frozen mysis and brine; it has always been well accepted.

This morning the wrasse was upside on the bottom of the tank, I know they have odd sleeping behavior so I have been observing to see if the fish would snap out of it.

The fish seems to be struggling to stay at the bottom and flips itself around every little bit. It also appears to have labored breathing.

I'm not sure what my next move should be. I appreciate any help!

 

[jonesdeini]

I have seachem cupramine on hand so I started dosing that today. I also have the seachem copper test kit to ensure I don't overdose.

 

[snorvich]

Do you see any visible issues? Before today, were there any behaviors that were different? Any ammonia in the QT tank?

 

[jonesdeini]

The fish looks darker.

Before today the fish readily took food and acted normal.

I just tested the tank and ammonia was 0.

 

[snorvich]

Peculiar. The time line does not suggest one of the common parasites. How is the clownfish acting?

 

[jonesdeini]

The clownfish is acting completely normal. Swimming around, begging for food.

 

[albano]

Sorry to hear of problem... Congrats on setting up QT, better to see the problem out of DT ...
IMO don't replace the 6line if this one doesn't make it, they can become a real PITA fish, that is not easy to remove

 

[jonesdeini]

ok so it gets even weirder. The wrasse was laying on it's side, abdomen swollen, basically looking horrible when I went to feed the tank. I gave them frozen brine and the wrasse perked up and appeared to eat a shrimp or two. I have never seen a fish look so bad and still take food. I am very confused...

 

[jonesdeini]

The 6 line passed; I didn't really expect it to come back from such a rough state. I guess there must have been symptoms that I didn't notice. I couldn't find anything that would cause such a quick demise.

So now I'm concerned for the clownfish. I've started seachem cupramine treatment.
Other than seeing the cupramine though and observing much closer than before, is there anything else you would recommend?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

You said the wrasses abdomen was swollen. Could he have had intestinal parasites? I know you dosed with Prazi but it doesn't always get intestinal parasites. Is the clown demonstrating any symptoms to warrant copper?

 

[jonesdeini]

I haven't noticed any symptoms.

It was always my plan to prophylactically treat with copper. I never did because I thought the fish were doing so well.