Wrasse acting oddly

[hnnhflns]

We brought home a large red cord wrasse. We acclimated and dipped it in safety stop (malachite green and formalin) before we put it in the display tank. It immediately swam behind the rock work and laid down. It has been laying behind the rock for several hours now, sometimes switching the direction it lies. We have a very deep sand bed, but it hasn't buried itself. It is breathing slowly or at least at the same rate as other fish in the tank.

Any ideas on what is up with the wrasse?

Update: We moved the rocks to have a better look at it, and it buried itself in the sand. It had started forming a mucus cocoon around itself, and now part of the mucus is ballooning out of the sand. I have left the rocks away from the area so that I can watch it breathing through the sand

 

[Deinonych]

Just let it be. It's stressed out due to being in a new environment. Whatever you do, don't disturb it when it's in the sand.

 

[eatbreakfast]

^Agreed. It faced a harrowing ordeal and is exhausted and scared. He may very well stay buried for an extendedtime. DO NOT GO DIGGING AROUND FOR HIM.

 

[hnnhflns]

I wasn't going to go digging for it. I just thought it was odd that it was lying on the sand instead of burying itself. I kept the rocks away from the area it eventually buried in just so I could some-what monitor the fish. I checked on it an hour ago and just its head was sticking up. It is now swimming fine around the tank, it paid a visit to my cleaner wrasses, but other than that it looks happy. I guess it was just really stressed last night. I was really worried about the odd behavior combined with slow breathing.

 

[Spork3245]

He's likely fine. Every time I've ever added a wrasse into my DT he hid for up to a day before coming out again. Sometimes they even act weird/shy for the first week depending on the species.

 

[bat21]

Fast breathing is what you should worry about. Slow breathing usually means healthy and relaxed.