Sick wrasse

M

_Mackus_

New member
I have a sick McCosker's flasher wrasse. Noticed that he was mostly laying on the sand yesterday. This morning he was upside down on sand bed, he would move around if disturbed but swim back down to bottom. I easily caught him with a net and moved him to a bucket with tank water and treated with Prazipro. He doesn't appear to have any fungus or growths or anything. Mostly laying on his side, hiding inside a piece of pvc pipe, I made him swim out to take some pictures.

Anything I should be looking for to help diagnose? Anything I can do to treat besides the Prazipro?




In order for us to provide the best possible help, please provide the following information. It will really help us and it will be information we need.

1. How old is this aquarium?
~7years

2. If less than six months old, what is ammonia level?
N/A

3. What is SG of this aquarium? How measured?
1.024 with refractometer today

4. When was the last fish added to this aquarium?
3 wrasses (including the sick guy) added about a week ago. All other fish appear fine.

5. Was it quarantined? If so, how? And how long? Was it prophylactically treated? How?
12 days tank transfer. Simultaneously treated with prazipro.

6. If you are using a copper based medication, which one? How often do you measure level? When?
N/A

7. If you are using hyposalinity, how did you calibrate your refractometer?
N/A

8. Please describe in detail, the appearance of the fish? If there is one or more pimples, are they lumpy? What color?
Looks normal to me except for behavior.


9. Please describe the behavior of the fish as best you can. Is it acting reclusive? Is it always up towards the top of the aquarium? Is it avoiding light? How active is the fish?
Reclusive, hiding. Very inactive, mostly laying on its side unless disturbed. I did see him eat some pellets while acting this way last night, but he didn't eat when I dropped some pellets in today.

10. Is the fish eating? What?
Ate pellets last night but not tonight.

If you could copy and paste this in your post filling in whatever answers you can, it would help us greatly and speed up our ability to answer. Thanks in advance!! [emoji106]
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Is he breathing fast or labored ? Any other fish showing any sign of increased mucous/ slime coat . It's hard to tell by pictures . Hard to tell if no outward signs or symptoms of usual suspects . Hate to hear that he is that weak . Usually not a good outcome . Maybe humblefish or Dmorty or lagatbezan can chime in .
 
Flasher wrasses will sometimes just lay on the sand, but upside down is unusual. I'm wondering if it could be a swim bladder issue or spinal injury. Is he swimming vertically at all, head up or down?
 
Still alive this morning. Doesn't appear to be any better or worse.

Laying on his side mostly. If I shake the pvc pipe he's laying in, he will swim slowly for several seconds then settle back down, laying on his side. He's not swimming right though, bobbing around and rotating, then lays back down.

Breathing seems normal. He is kind of alert, his eyes will move around to look at things.

Thanks for the help.

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My wrasse is still alive, but is not showing any improvements. I'm surprised at that combination, would've expected death within a day or two or a recovery.

Any more thoughts on what might be ailing him? He remains laying on his side at almost all times. If I disturb him, he'll take a quick, clumsy lap around the bucket I've got him in as a hospital tank, and then settle back down. I saw him eat the first day in the main tank, but not since.

Could be it his swim bladder since he's having trouble swimming right? Gonna dive into the search function to learn more, but any obvious treatments if that is the case?


Sadly, during the time I've been treating (or more accurately, monitoring) my McCosker's Wrasse, my Royal Flasher jumped out of the tank and dried out on top of the 1/4" netting that is suppose to keep him in. I have almost all the tank covered well, but the area around my overflows I can't cover and he must have hopped out there. Bad week for my wrasses :(
 
Could be the swim bladder, but you would need to see a bulge (evidence of a gas bubble) in order to attempt venting.

A spinal injury is another distinct possibility. Those either self correct or the fish dies. :(

It would be a shot in the dark, but you could try dosing Kanaplex (or another broad spectrum antibiotic) just in case this is being caused by an internal infection of some sort.
 
I will try an antibiotic, thanks.

Some better photos of him from when I changed the water in his bucket. Maybe they will help.
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Started a combo of Furan-2 and Kanaplex I picked up from the LFS. I've read up on instructions for using them together, which is a 5 day treatment. Other recommendations say to use antibiotics for 10 days. Should I double up and let it go for 10 days (assuming he makes it that long)?

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So I'm on Day 9 of treatment with antibiotics. Using Furan-2 and Kanaplex. Basically doubling up on the treatment to have it last 10 days total. Changing the water every 4 days.

Really haven't seen much change in the wrasse. He still mostly lays on his side at the bottom of the bucket. He isn't eating much if at all (I have not seen him eat, but I do think he may have picked at a couple pieces of food I've dropped in). He will swim around if I disturb him, but settle back down quickly.

Any more thoughts on what could be ailing him if the antibiotic treatment isn't having success?
 
HumbleFish said:
When he swims, does he do so normally? Or is his head pointed up or down??
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call it normal swimming but nor is he obviously bobbing or listing with either his head pointed up or down. He barely swims though. He usually just kind of slowly falls back down to the bottom and then settles himself onto his side. I have not glanced into the bucket and seen him swimming around of his own volition, he only gets up and moves when I disturb him either to change the water or to check if he's still alive.

Gonna do another water change tonight, will see if I can get a more up-to-date photo of him. I think he is starting to show some stress and damage on his fins.

Is there anything I could put in that he would be more likely to eat? I've tried flakes, pellets, brine shrimp, and nori and I haven't noticed him eating any of it.
 
_Mackus_ said:
I wouldn't call it normal swimming but nor is he obviously bobbing or listing with either his head pointed up or down. He barely swims though. He usually just kind of slowly falls back down to the bottom and then settles himself onto his side. I have not glanced into the bucket and seen him swimming around of his own volition, he only gets up and moves when I disturb him either to change the water or to check if he's still alive.

Gonna do another water change tonight, will see if I can get a more up-to-date photo of him. I think he is starting to show some stress and damage on his fins.

Is there anything I could put in that he would be more likely to eat? I've tried flakes, pellets, brine shrimp, and nori and I haven't noticed him eating any of it.
Click to expand...

It sounds as though he has possibly suffered a spinal injury. Pretty common in fairy & flasher wrasses. It either self corrects in time, or the specimen eventually withers away & dies.
 
The wrasse is still doing the same thing...lying at the bottom of the bucket. Still alive but not looking any better. He will move around if I disturb him, but doesn't move much of his own accord. I've offered him a few different food types and haven't noticed him eating anything, but he doesn't yet look like he's thin or starving.

I have, in the interim, lost two other fish. So I'm worried there may be something larger and more problematic going on. One of my other wrasses (a Carpenter's) has simply disappeared. He didn't jump out (or if he did, I never found him...I do have cat though), and I never saw a body in the tank, but I haven't seen him in over a week.

I also lost a Midas Blenny. The orangish/greenish patch that is under their jaw on the bottom side running back to his pectoral fin turned a sort of grey color and I found him lying on a rock breathing heavily, much more heavily than the wrasse has ever appeared to struggle. He had been hiding a lot more than usual the previous couple days. I moved him to the hospital bucket with the wrasse and tried to start treating antibiotics, but he lasted less than a day.

My clowns, foxface, and flame angel all continue to look very healthy and are eating consistently. I really hope whatever is happening doesn't take them down as well. I'm gonna wait a good 4-6 weeks before trying to replace the lost fish, and continue to give the McCosker's wrasse a chance to get back to health.
 
I think it was inevitable, but still a sad ending. My wrasse finally died. Held on for damn near a month, but never made any improvements from when he stopped swimming and would just lay on his side most of the time.

Appreciate the advice from everybody.
 
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