Mccosker's Wrasse Help

[avanmg88]

I just got home from the grocery store and my Mccosker's wrasse is lying down on the sand bed in the back corner. What is happening?

He's been eating and active since I bought him from the LFS except for today. It looks like he's breathing heavily with sudden big breaths. All other fish are fine (Rainsford goby and Mandarin dragonette).

Can someone please help me! I don't know what to do!

 

[SaltyT]

How long have you had the McCoskers? Can you upload a short video of him to YouTube and post it in this thread? Seeing him and how he’s breathing will allow us to help you better.

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I just got home from the grocery store and my Mccosker's wrasse is lying down on the sand bed in the back corner. What is happening?

He's been eating and active since I bought him from the LFS except for today. It looks like he's breathing heavily with sudden big breaths. All other fish are fine (Rainsford goby and Mandarin dragonette).

Can someone please help me! I don't know what to do!

Hi, more background information is needed here. The link below gives you some info as to the things we need to know about your tank and this case, in order to try and figure out what might be going on:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[avanmg88]

How long have you had the McCoskers? Can you upload a short video of him to YouTube and post it in this thread? Seeing him and how he’s breathing will allow us to help you better.

#fishmedic

Thank you for responding but sadly there's nothing we can do now. I watched him take his last breath and isn't moving anymore. I don't know how and why this happened but I will test my water and see if my parameters were the culprit. The salinity is at 1.026. As for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate, I will need to test for those.

 

[avanmg88]

Hi, more background information is needed here. The link below gives you some info as to the things we need to know about your tank and this case, in order to try and figure out what might be going on:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

While I am testing my water parameters, here is what I can tell you. I've had him in the tank for a little over a week now. He was perfectly healthy in the store and when I brought him home. He was shocked when he was first put in (i.e. flushed colors, stuck to the sand bed) but quickly found a spot to hide and have some comfort. I fed him the next morning and he ate like a pig. He was constantly out swimming around the tank exploring until yesterday.

Currently, my salinity is at 1.026

 

[SaltyT]

Thank you for responding but sadly there's nothing we can do now. I watched him take his last breath and isn't moving anymore. I don't know how and why this happened but I will test my water and see if my parameters were the culprit. The salinity is at 1.026. As for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate, I will need to test for those.

I’m sorry for your loss

 

[Jay Hemdal]

You should take a look at the first post on this link, its about a unknown disease we are seeing in some wrasses. Your symptoms may not line up 100% with this, but worth consideration I think:

Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[avanmg88]

You should take a look at the first post on this link, its about a unknown disease we are seeing in some wrasses. Your symptoms may not line up 100% with this, but worth consideration I think:

Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD) There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thank you for this. I just read it and most symptoms lined up with what my Mccosker's was experiencing. He would almost exclusively swim with his tail down and when I pulled him out, he had a slight bend in his spine. I'm thinking this UNWD was the cause of death. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that right before he unalived, he seized with his colors being almost completely washed out then reverted back to normal coloration once he passed.

 

[i cant think]

Thank you for responding but sadly there's nothing we can do now. I watched him take his last breath and isn't moving anymore. I don't know how and why this happened but I will test my water and see if my parameters were the culprit. The salinity is at 1.026. As for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate, I will need to test for those.

The way you described him sounds like a spinal injury. If you have a lid then is there any way he could’ve hit something that wasn’t netting? For example, in my lid I have a metal bar that needs to be in the middle to keep the lid covering the whole span of my 4’ tank.
Flasher wrasses when doing their thing will swim a ton, much more than they do normally. They’re similar to tilefish in which they will launch out of the water like a tiny rocket. If they were to hit something that wasn’t betting then it could potentially risk a spinal injury.

Here’s my lid, the metal pole in the middle is just above where netting can rebound so causing less of a risk for spinal injury however when I had my first naoko he somehow hit either the sides or the middle and got a spinal injury. He displayed the same symptoms as you mentioned.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The way you described him sounds like a spinal injury. If you have a lid then is there any way he could’ve hit something that wasn’t netting? For example, in my lid I have a metal bar that needs to be in the middle to keep the lid covering the whole span of my 4’ tank.
Flasher wrasses when doing their thing will swim a ton, much more than they do normally. They’re similar to tilefish in which they will launch out of the water like a tiny rocket. If they were to hit something that wasn’t betting then it could potentially risk a spinal injury.

Here’s my lid, the metal pole in the middle is just above where netting can rebound so causing less of a risk for spinal injury however when I had my first naoko he somehow hit either the sides or the middle and got a spinal injury. He displayed the same symptoms as you mentioned.

That is the key to the Unknown Wrasse Disease - it presents like a spinal injury, but there is never any corresponding facial injury. Turns out, it is a neurological issue that affects the nerves. Could be a virus, I have some samples out for analysis to see.

Jay

 

[i cant think]

That is the key to the Unknown Wrasse Disease - it presents like a spinal injury, but there is never any corresponding facial injury. Turns out, it is a neurological issue that affects the nerves. Could be a virus, I have some samples out for analysis to see.

Jay

Its potentially not a UNWD and is instead a spinal injury. I’d personally try leave the options open until knowing more however so far it is narrowed down to Spinal Injury or UNWD. I’ve personally never come across the Unknown Wrasse Disease myself however there is possibly one thing that could separate the two, for example the time that the owner had the wrasse for.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Its potentially not a UNWD and is instead a spinal injury. I’d personally try leave the options open until knowing more however so far it is narrowed down to Spinal Injury or UNWD. I’ve personally never come across the Unknown Wrasse Disease myself however there is possibly one thing that could separate the two, for example the time that the owner had the wrasse for.

The keys to diagnosing this is: the fish continue to feed, even when they tail drag or show bent spines. They don't stop feeding until the symptoms become more advanced. It is most often seen in fairy and flasher wrasses, sometimes yellow wrasse and perhaps others. It flew under the radar for so long because everyone was just attributing it to a strike injury. I became curious when I was seeing cases where the symptoms got progressively worse - that just doesn't happen in a strike injury. Those are acute and happen instantly, not over days.

As I said, this case didn't line up in all respects, but without some sort of facial injury, I would rule out a strike injury.

Jay

 

[i cant think]

The keys to diagnosing this is: the fish continue to feed, even when they tail drag or show bent spines. They don't stop feeding until the symptoms become more advanced. It is most often seen in fairy and flasher wrasses, sometimes yellow wrasse and perhaps others. It flew under the radar for so long because everyone was just attributing it to a strike injury. I became curious when I was seeing cases where the symptoms got progressively worse - that just doesn't happen in a strike injury. Those are acute and happen instantly, not over days.

As I said, this case didn't line up in all respects, but without some sort of facial injury, I would rule out a strike injury.

Jay

One thing I find strange is the fish was eating happily until today, hopefully the OP can give a more detailed idea of the state the flasher was in (Although it’s dead it may be best to still try get to the bottom of it).