Fairy wrasse Photo Library

[quiksilver]

Don't know if you guys ever listen to the show or anything but I am now officially along for the ride here now. SPECTACULAR fish. I am only allowed to get one fish this time in my reef and have always said it would be a wrasse. I think this confirms it, I need really rare gordeous specimen. This thread is definetly helping me decide.

 

[bronco7777]

There are several things that can cause popeye. But as far as fairy wrasses go, I think eyes getting scratched by nets or other objects as these fish are being caught or transfered is a big contributor. These fish are such nervous and jumpy critters that in many cases their flopping around in a net or bumping into something begins the problem and then infection, external parasites, or other issues speed up the eye problem.

Zemuron, I've not used furazone because maracyn 2 has always done the job for me.

 

[CeeGee]

maracyn is the way to go IMO as well (for popeye). I am hopefully treating a sick lubbocks with maracyn 2 right now.

bronco,
do you know if lubbocks are collected with cyanide or not? I had a healthy one that jumped into my return pump so I replaced him with another specimen obtained from the same store. He has been in quarantine for weeks now and I have treated him with prazipro because he is eating but continues to lose weight. The prazipro apparently hasn't worked and I am now trying maracyn 2. The fish is extremely thin and I don't understand what is keeping him hanging in there. He continues to eat though. Very frustrating as the fish is gorgeous aside from looking like karen carpenter.

 

[heuerfan]

Don't know what happened but my Female Flame Wrasse died this morning, only had it for 9 days. It was eatting very well until yesterday i noticed it was hiding and breathing faster than normal. Any ideas why it died? I'm hoping the male will be okay, he looked great yesterday. I also know someone else who bought a pair of Flames from the same diver and they did not make it also after 2 weeks. Poor collecting process?

Thanks for your help,
Steven

 

[bronco7777]

CeeGee, its hard to say what it could be. I've had wrasses in the past have the same ailment. Likely an internal parasite or worm. The fish eats well but internally it's not getting the nutrition it needs. In most cases it dies of starvation. Don't mean to bum you out. But I recommend you try the forum boards (Fish Disease treatment) to try and have the experts pinpoint the cause. Then you may need to start treatment with a specific medicine.

Maracyn is good in that it provides many vitamins that the fish might not be getting with regular food consumption....or even spark up an appetite if the fish is not eating. Outside of fixing scratches, torn fins and popeye I view Maracyn as an IV for sick fish. When treated in a QT tank the fish has no choice but to drink in the Maracyn because it's diluted in the water.

As far as cyanide goes, it all depends on the collectors. There are many collectors. Some do the right thing and use only hand/net collecting techniques. Others take the stupid short cuts like cyanide, which harm much more than just the fish. As if we already didn't have enough problems with global warming affecting the reefs! There's no way to know if your fish was collected in this manner.

heuerfan, that may be a reason for the losses that you and your friend have had with the flames. But then again I don't know. It could be other illnesses like velvet in a bad or infected batch of fish. Just hard to say since I can't see the fish in person.

 

[CeeGee]

Thanks for your time bronco.

If this maracyn 2 doesn't help the fish I am afraid that nothing will. I honestly believe it to be cyanide caught. The fish is very very bright in coloration. Much brighter than the other that I had which was no slouch itself. It is wasting away while eating. All points to cyanide to me.

One more thing bronco, where would one locate a female solar and female McCoskers? I plan on setting up a larger tank in the future and if possible these guys could probably use some hotties.

My solar jumped last night while feeding. I turned around and I heard ploop! Got him back in the tank and he seems fine except for a little bit of damage to his fins. Glad I cover the tank . I have newer better fitting covers coming I hope they don't find a gap in the meantime!

 

[bronco7777]

McCosker males are a bit hard to find, let alone females. Your best chance would be to find a place that gets juveniles. Most wrasses are females as juveniles. Someone that gets shipments from Africa on a regular basis.

Female solar fairies are a bit easier to find. Typically missed labled as ruby head fairies by many LFS's. You'll need to look around but it's not impossible. As far as a specific online store.....can't say. Check with Live Aquaria or Marine Center.

 

[Peter Schmiedel]

As we collect the pictures in this thread :

 

[snorvich]

Finally, some pictures

Finally, some pictures

Finally here are some pictures. Despite doing extensive underwater photography, aquarium photos are much more difficult that I would have expected. So, the quality of these photos leaves something to be desired.

Female C. Earlie

Male C. Earlie

From Briane Greene . . .

 

[snorvich]

And part of a pair of C. Johnsoni

Also from Brian . . .

 

[snorvich]

And a male C. Rhomboid (again from a pair)

From Brian . . .

 

[snorvich]

And a partial view of my fairy wrasse dominated tank . . .

although I have fairy wrasses in my other tank as well.

I am starting to feel like a computer geek. Who would have ever thought that would happen

 

[snorvich]

And part of a C. jordani harem of 5 . . .

Also from Brian . . .

 

[snorvich]

Technical details . . . no flash on any of these pictures because I cannot figure out how not to get a reflection. No photoshop except to reduce the dpi and hence image size. Some loss of picture detail when saving to a jpg. For those who care.

 

[LargeAngels]

Those are sweet!! I really like the full tank shot.

 

[snorvich]

Thanks. Actually the full tank is only a half tank. I could not figure out how to do a full tank shot even with a fairly wide angle lens. Any instruction on aquarium photography would be appreciated. (8 foot tank)

 

[snorvich]

Just out of curiosity

Just out of curiosity

Does anyone know what this one is?


If it is indeed from the Solomon Islands, I certainly do not recall it.

 

[The Beaut]

Snorvich, very nice tank and great collection of wrasses.

 

[H.Tanaka]

Snorvich,
So many great shots and excellent tank with nice fishes.

The last fish is Cirrhilabrus condei, male. If it actually came from the Solomons the fish has a red area on the anterior part of dorsal fin. Vanuatu males do not possess it.

 

[snorvich]

Thanks to The Beaut and H. Tanaka for the kind words. It is my hope that I live long enough to emulate your photographs, Dr. Tanaka.

I considered C. condei but the coloration did not seem quite right for one that originates from the Solomons. There is a bit of a strange situation on LiveAquaria. If it is a C. condei, then their pricing is inconsistent in Divers Den and their normal wrasse section. I was hoping it was something else.