Wrasse Poisoning ??

[jjowen]

I lost a yellow finned wrasse last night. He started acting funny about 5 to 10 minutes after feeding and I am wondering if I somehow poisoned him. I fed the whole tank mysis and two different types of flake soaked in Zoe. The wrasse was eating the mysis and then switched to the flake, but kept spitting it back out (typical behavior). A few minutes after the feeding I noticed the wrasse laying horizontal in a small cave in the rock work. My cleaner shrimp was tapping him with his antenna and after a minute the wrasse gave a twitch to move to the back of the tank where he wedged himself between the rock and the glass. He didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t show any signs of labored breathing, but I could tell something was wrong. I was able to move him out of the tank with my hand and into the qt/hospital tank, but I think he was dead by this time. I had the wrasse in my main tank for a week and a half. He was in the qt tank for a little over a week and at the LFS for about 3 week. I am trying to figure out what went wrong since he appeared healthy up to a couple minutes before he died.

The rest of the inhabitants are fine (gold rim tang, cherub angel, green mandarin) and I am wondering if I somehow poisoned the wrasse. The only inhabitant that I have lost from the tank in the last year and a half is another fairy wrasse who went carpet surfing (since tightened up the canopy). I have been feeding the same mixture of food soaked in Selcon and for a change switched to some Kent Zoe. I have only used the Zoe a few times in the last month, but have had the container for over a year. I am looking for a little insight to prevent this from happening again.

 

[leebca]

If you read this post on fish nutrition closely, you'll note that the recommendation is to use only fresh supplements and additives.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=785228

Try to buy the smallest bottle you can and when you do, ask how long it's been on the shelf. Be demanding in that it is fresh.

I doubt your poisoning concern. Higher probabilities include an acclimation problem, water quality issue, or stress issue that either you caused or which was caused up to several weeks before you got it. Not much more can be said, so long as you're sure the fish was not diseased or visibly injured.

If the mysis you serve comes in that foil, cubed packet, there is also a chance a piece of the foil got in the food which your wrasse ate. The wrasse family tend to gulp their food. I lost a dear fish friend of mine to that one.

I'd suggest using a quarantine tank in the future for no less than 6 weeks to avoid hurting the fish you already have and have become attached to. This is a good read on that:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.htm although Steven recommends a month.