No more wrasses for me

M

MellowReefer

New member
I guess I'm not meant to have a wrasse. Here is my history so far of wrasses I've tried to get through QT. I have a 30 gal QT with different sized PVC pipes, been set up over a year and many other fish have made it through without a problem.

1) An exquisite fairy wrasse from LiveAquaria. Very small and seemed weak but was eating for two weeks. No signs of disease. Died just after their 14 day guarantee but I called and they honored it anyway.

2) A solar fairy wrasse from a LFS I've gotten healthy fish from before. A bit larger than the last wrasse. Lived for about 10 days I think. After it died I read more about flukes and looking back I think it had flukes. I do treat every fish with Prazipro but hadn't started treatment yet with this wrasse.

3) A McCosker's flasher wrasse from LA died this past Saturday. Very small and seemed really out of it when I acclimated him, but then lived 15 days and was eating well. No signs of disease but a blenny I got in the same shipment (still alive) seems to have some sort of fungal infection (treating with Paraguard now).

Anyone else find that wrasses are not very hardy, or is it just me? :confused:
 
I recommend buying from LA DD section, I've never lost a DD fish. A red velvet wrasse I got a few months ago was perfect out of the bag--same w/ a potters' angel 5yrs ago, still finning. I'd also regard water parameters in the qt more highly than in the dt--sg of bag water, etc...
 
Diver's Den + 1, I've had couples wrasse from DD, McCosker, cleaner wrasse, leopard wrasse, all healthy and eat well.
 
Could there be a build up of something in your qt. You say its been set up for a year. I assume (don't know much about qt, except that I don't) it gets WC but shouldnt a qt tank be (sterilized) after use. Isn't that the point of it. BTW I haven't needed to qt because I've basically had the same fish for the last 3 years.
 
I am thinking about DD if I'm going to try another because I have heard many testimonials to their extremely healthy fish.

Build up of something in my QT? Between fish I remove all medication with a poly filter so there's no build up of that. I do a large water change after I'm done treating the current fish with cupramine, then use poly filter for a few days to remove the excess. I also test to make sure there's a zero copper reading before the new fish goes in. I keep the current fish in there until I get a new fish so that the biofilter doesn't die out in between uses. The most it went without fish was two days. Plus I have an ammonia monitor that would alert me if the biofilter wasn't keeping up.

If I am treating preventatively for disease with cupramine and prazipro, I can't see a need to disinfect the tank between uses. Like I said, I've had different fish in between the wrasse purchases with no issues with them.
 
Also wanted to mention I do always check the SG of the bag, and match the QT exactly before I begin acclimation. The last wrasse from LA was at 1.017 so I removed water and replaced with RODI until it matched exactly that. I just don't understand how this one looked so good and was eating and then one day it was hiding most of the day and the next day it died.
 
How soon are you using the cupramine? Just brain storming here. Maybe treat the water with nothing to start.
 
do you use Prime? and did you dose any Cupramine? that makes for a deadly combination...
very sorry for the losses- that is tough...
 
1st wrasse: Yes, I had started using Cupramine a few days before it died (so this was after at least 12 days of no meds). I split the dose over 5 days and I was on the second day. This made me think it was the Cupramine. At the time I posted the question on another forum and they said something must have been wrong because a healthy fish wouldn't die from that level of cupramine.

2nd wrasse: Also had started Cupramine, which I started after only 7 days because I thought the fish had ich because of its shaking back and forth (now I realize this was probably flukes, so I used the wrong med, from then on decided to do Prazipro before Cupramine on new fish)

3rd wrasse: No treatment for the first 12 days, then I started Prazipro. But I noticed the fish hiding more before I started the Prazipro. I head this med is very gentle on fish so I didn't think it would be a problem.

No, I do not use Prime or any water conditioner. Like I said, the tank has been cycled a long time and I use the ammonia monitor to make sure there's no ammonia.
 
humaguy said:
Prazi is gentle but it does affect some fish appetite...
Click to expand...

True, but in a heavily infected fish, though the medication is gentle, the sudden death of a large amount of parasites can easily kill a fish IME.
 
If you are buying fish from online and don't use prime to neutralize the built up ammonia in the shipping bag, that ammonia becomes extremely toxic for the fish once the bag is opened to air exchange. That could play a role.....
 
For the most recent wrasse I noticed the day before I started Prazi that it was not swimming as much, so I don't think it was the Prazi that killed it.

As for the other two, perhaps they were weak already and the Cupramine just pushed them over the edge. I want to keep crypto out of my tank, and I don't want to use hypo (too many stories of it not working) and I don't want to do tank transfer.
 
nbgen12 said:
If you are buying fish from online and don't use prime to neutralize the built up ammonia in the shipping bag, that ammonia becomes extremely toxic for the fish once the bag is opened to air exchange. That could play a role.....
Click to expand...

I use Seachem stress guard as soon as I open the bags. This product also neutralizes ammonia.
 
In this most recent order from LA, I also got a blenny who looked healthy when it arrived but his fins have become frayed (like they are disintegrating is the best way to describe) and he also has a white patch near his mouth about the size of the eraser on a pencil. From what I've read I am leaning towards a fungal infection but I've never seen anything like this before. So I started treating with Paraguard 6 days ago. I add the recommended amount every night. But he's not getting better. What do you think about this, do I need a stronger medication?
 
IME, some wrasses seem a little more sensitive to meds than your avg fish. Oftentimes, I'll have a wrasse in QT stop eating when treating with Prazi/copper while his tank mates continue eating. The OP of this CP thread claims he can't get a wrasse thru CP treatment.

Lately I've been using TT on all wrasses, treat with Prazi and then just observe. To minimize their exposure to any unnecessary meds. Seems to be working well.
 
SDguy said:
True, but in a heavily infected fish, though the medication is gentle, the sudden death of a large amount of parasites can easily kill a fish IME.
Click to expand...

Why is that? I would think the opposite would be true - that the sudden death of a large number of parasites would be a relief (like in a FW dip). Not saying you're wrong, I would just like to better understand this.
 
Deinonych said:
Why is that? I would think the opposite would be true - that the sudden death of a large number of parasites would be a relief (like in a FW dip). Not saying you're wrong, I would just like to better understand this.
Click to expand...

Parasites cause damage while attached. If they die all at once, as apposed to here & there, all of a sudden there are a tion of open wounds.
 
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