Melanurus Wrasse Sick

petebsbll

New member
Hello all

Display - 65 gallon established and solid water quality. Nitrates always below 10 ppm and have had the same 5 fish for close to 5 years.

I just want to make sure I try everything I can to save my melanurus wrasse. He/she is around 5 years old, and wasn't a juvenile when purchased, so I'm not ruling out old age.

A few months ago I noticed my wrasse was having a difficult time eating the pellets and other items offered. Generally he/she would eat from the sand bed. When the wrasse kept losing weight and losing the food to the other fish getting it first, I decided it was time to put him in a QT tank. Eating was challenging still, but with other fish out of the picture the wrasse slowly regained back some weight. I put the wrasse back in the display and began actually submerging a clear plastic container for him/her to swim in and eat the food from the bottom. This worked well for a month or so. About 2 weeks ago my wrasse lost his appetite and slowly stopped eating. I moved the wrasse back to the QT tank and he/she hasn't ate for nearly 2 weeks now.

It may potentially be loss of vision. One eye is hazy inside, the other shows mild signs. It doesn't appear to be protruding or look like your classic case of popeye. The body is paler in color and other than weight loss I can't seem to notice any other symptoms. I may have spotted 1 or 2 little white specs. This leads me to believe potentially having a parasite involved. They could also just be small scars from brushing against rocks or going under the sand?

I haven't added any additions to the aquarium, but I'm wondering now if the stress could have caused flukes or some other type of internal parasite/infection to kick in?

The wrasse is breathing heavily and staying near the surface when not under the tiny container of sand I provided in the hospital tank. I did a 4 day cycle of Furan 2 hoping it would clear up any potential infection, but there have been no signs of improvement.

I'm currently treating with Prazi and debating beginning FW dips. I also have read conflicting information about treating with Prazi and Furan 2 at the same time. Any thoughts here? I haven't started a second dose of antibiotics yet. I'm just looking to see if anyone has any feedback or suggestions. I researched quite a bit and have been in the hobby for sometime, but I'm by no means an expert.

Thanks!
 
Have you ever seen stringy white poo come out of him? Some species of gastrointestinal worms are manageable, but as the fish ages he/she is less capable of overcoming them.
 
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