Sick longfin ruby fairy wrasse

[Cheems]

So I got a replacement fairy wrasse shipped to me today and it came in really rough. It can’t swim properly and is breathing heavily. I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do at this point but if anyone has any clue on how to help this wrasse it would be appreciated. I have other fish that I planned on quarantining in this tank together so if it is indeed a sickness I will have to figure out what to do. I am tempted to take a slime sample and look at it under the microscope to judge if this is a parasite. My only issue is that I’m worried it may harm the fish if I take a slime sample. My thoughts so far are it could be velvet. Thoughts?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

So I got a replacement fairy wrasse shipped to me today and it came in really rough. It can’t swim properly and is breathing heavily. I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do at this point but if anyone has any clue on how to help this wrasse it would be appreciated. I have other fish that I planned on quarantining in this tank together so if it is indeed a sickness I will have to figure out what to do. I am tempted to take a slime sample and look at it under the microscope to judge if this is a parasite. My only issue is that I’m worried it may harm the fish if I take a slime sample. My thoughts so far are it could be velvet. Thoughts?

Sorry to hear this, poor little guy. I have no idea, but hopefully someone else will come along. Vetteguy or Jay Hemdal is who you need here.

 

[Tcook]

Post your video on YouTube so everyone can see it. What temp did it come in at? Rapid breathing may suggest velvet or flukes. Had to gues without video to see. Is it darting or fladhing?

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 bat signal up

 

[Cheems]

Sorry to hear this, poor little guy. I have no idea, but hopefully someone else will come along. Vetteguy or Jay Hemdal is who you need here.

Yeah I’m going to do my best to see if I can help this guy. He’s somewhat large for what he is so that’s what I’m hoping will help

Post your video on YouTube so everyone can see it. What temp did it come in at? Rapid breathing may suggest velvet or flukes. Had to gues without video to see. Is it darting or fladhing?

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 bat signal up

I Don’t know what temp it came in at as it was my mother who opened the box and set it to float. I’ve never dealt with flukes or velvet. Im more aware of how to treat velvet than flukes so we will see. I have a bunch of fish medications, copper, prazipro, ruby rally pro, methalyne blue and much more

 

[Cheems]

It’s unfortunately still just sitting on its side and doesn’t look good. I gave it a bath in methalyne blue for around 20-30 minutes but I’m not sure how much it helped

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It’s unfortunately still just sitting on its side and doesn’t look good. I gave it a bath in methalyne blue for around 20-30 minutes but I’m not sure how much it helped

It may be an acclimation issue - do you know the salinity it was in versus what your tank is?

The best thing to do is to lower the light levels and not mess with it, just see if it can overcome the stress on its own.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

provide it a bowl of sand and lower white light intensity. I just saw Jay mention acclimation.
How did you acclimate fish and for how long?

 

[Cheems]

It may be an acclimation issue - do you know the salinity it was in versus what your tank is?

The best thing to do is to lower the light levels and not mess with it, just see if it can overcome the stress on its own.

Jay

I measured the salinity as it was acclimating and corrected it as needed. It floated for a long time however I did not drip acclimate like I do with some fish. I turned off the light as well so we will see if that helps.

provide it a bowl of sand and lower white light intensity. I just saw Jay mention acclimation.
How did you acclimate fish and for how long?

It floated for around 30 minutes to an hour and then it was added. Also why would it need a bowl of sand? I know some wrasse like to sit in sand but not this type to my knowledge.

right now im just letting it sit, its not really improving so we will see. I hope just leaving it alone will help

 

[Cheems]

somehow this wrasse is still hanging on just barely. Its sitting on its side breathing heavily still but its not dead. I am still unsure of what could be causing this but it may have come in too weak. Still anyone have any advice on how I can help it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

somehow this wrasse is still hanging on just barely. Its sitting on its side breathing heavily still but its not dead. I am still unsure of what could be causing this but it may have come in too weak. Still anyone have any advice on how I can help it?

How is it this morning? Generally, 24 hours is the turning point for fish with acclimation stress.....

 

[Cheems]

How is it this morning? Generally, 24 hours is the turning point for fish with acclimation stress.....

It’s still alive somehow but barely. It’s just sitting on its side breathing deeply now. It’s been in there ~24 hours so I’m not sure

My main worry is it’s not seeming any better. I’d imagine after a while it will start starving and loosing energy too and I don’t imagine I can get it to eat but perhaps I could try if it doesn’t improve

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It’s still alive somehow but barely. It’s just sitting on its side breathing deeply now. It’s been in there ~24 hours so I’m not sure

My main worry is it’s not seeming any better. I’d imagine after a while it will start starving and loosing energy too and I don’t imagine I can get it to eat but perhaps I could try if it doesn’t improve

Fish won’t starve in a few days. I’d give this fish a bit longer to see if it comes around. Keep it calm under dim lights and not where any other animals can pick on it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I measured the salinity as it was acclimating and corrected it as needed. It floated for a long time however I did not drip acclimate like I do with some fish. I turned off the light as well so we will see if that helps.

It floated for around 30 minutes to an hour and then it was added. Also why would it need a bowl of sand? I know some wrasse like to sit in sand but not this type to my knowledge.

right now im just letting it sit, its not really improving so we will see. I hope just leaving it alone will help

This is a procedure for a freshwater fish. At minimum, you want to equalize the salinity and add tank water until they match. There are many methods of acclimation.
Just alone, you would have floated bag to equalize temperature and you want to empty bag and fish into a CLEAN bucket and they add tank water until AT MINIMUM you matched the salinity in the bucket with that of the tank. I add a cup of water every 15 mins until you have assured salinity, ph have been equalized

My acclimation method as an example (not the only one out there):
I generally:
Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display.

 

[Cheems]

This is a procedure for a freshwater fish. At minimum, you want to equalize the salinity and add tank water until they match. There are many methods of acclimation.
Just alone, you would have floated bag to equalize temperature and you want to empty bag and fish into a CLEAN bucket and they add tank water until AT MINIMUM you matched the salinity in the bucket with that of the tank. I add a cup of water every 15 mins until you have assured salinity, ph have been equalized

My acclimation method as an example (not the only one out there):
I generally:
Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display.

Yes im aware I didnt DRIP acclimate, but like I said in the beginning of that message I did still acclimate it to get the salinity and temperature to match, perhaps I could have checked ph however I was trying to get the wrasse in quickly as it had come in extremely rough and I was worried it would suffer more in the bag.

I probably caused some confusion as I said I just floated it but I forgot to include I made sure to match the salinities first in the second part of that message.

Fish won’t starve in a few days. I’d give this fish a bit longer to see if it comes around. Keep it calm under dim lights and not where any other animals can pick on it.

and yeah I am just worried as its not getting any better. I am keeping it under no lights at the moment but I may end up turning the lights on slightly so I can see it. Its still alive somehow but barely. Perhaps stress coat+ might help? Thats my only thought so far but other than that im not sure what to do as its not really getting any better or worse

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes im aware I didnt DRIP acclimate, but like I said in the beginning of that message I did still acclimate it to get the salinity and temperature to match, perhaps I could have checked ph however I was trying to get the wrasse in quickly as it had come in extremely rough and I was worried it would suffer more in the bag.

I probably caused some confusion as I said I just floated it but I forgot to include I made sure to match the salinities first in the second part of that message.

and yeah I am just worried as its not getting any better. I am keeping it under no lights at the moment but I may end up turning the lights on slightly so I can see it. Its still alive somehow but barely. Perhaps stress coat+ might help? Thats my only thought so far but other than that im not sure what to do as its not really getting any better or worse

Stress coat is nothing more than a water conditioner with aloe vera to help maintain protective slime coat and does not reduce stress as the name implies. Seachem neoplex or Ruby Rally pro would offer some protection but it sounds like fish may be on a decline

 

[Cheems]

Stress coat is nothing more than a water conditioner with aloe vera to help maintain protective slime coat and does not reduce stress as the name implies. Seachem neoplex or Ruby Rally pro would offer some protection but it sounds like fish may be on a decline

Yeah I’m aware it doesn’t help with stress but still the extra slime coat might help because it’s sitting on its side

I have ruby rally pro but I do agree that the fish seems to be on a decline. The only odd part is usually I feel like the fish would have already passed but it hasn’t

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah I’m aware it doesn’t help with stress but still the extra slime coat might help because it’s sitting on its side

I have ruby rally pro but I do agree that the fish seems to be on a decline. The only odd part is usually I feel like the fish would have already passed but it hasn’t

Theyre tough fish

 

[Cheems]

Theyre tough fish

True, although they aren’t a clownfish who will basically survive anything. I’m hoping it will stick in there a little longer and maybe I can get it to eat so it can gain a little energy

 

[Tcook]

What was the difference in specifi gravity between bag water and your tank water?

 

[Cheems]

What was the difference in specifi gravity between bag water and your tank water?

Hmm, it was within 0.001-0.002 I’m sure of that. However I don’t remember the specific numbers. The tank is at around 1.022 last I checked