Jagermeister
11/05/2007, 09:49 AM
I had two yellow wrasses that were in my 120 reef for about a month. They were very active and ate like pigs. I then added a melanarus wrasse (Halichoeres melanarus). He acclimated well and started eating like a pig also.
After about two weeks, I noticed the melanarus not swimming well (very eradically) and he had his mouth "stuck" open. I thought maybe he had a piece of food stuck in there or something. The next morning he was dead.
A few days later I found one of the yellow wrasses dead.
And two days ago the second yellow wrasse was exhibiting the same behavior of the melanarus, not swimming actively and his mouth was "stuck" open. At this point he was not breathing heavily.
Yesterday I found the yellow wrasse lying on his side breathing heavily. I put him into a hospital tank, added Prazipro to treat what I assumed was gill flukes or some other internal parasite, but it was too late. He died about an hour after adding him to the hospital tank.
The reef tank is 120 and has been set up for years. All parameters are stable:
Salinity = 1.026
NH4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0.05
Other inhabitants include blue-star leopard wrasse, potters wrasse, two-spot blenny, possum wrasse, 2-ocelaris clowns, 3- chromis, and a sailfin tang.
My questions:
1. Has anyone experienced this with wrasses before? It seemed to just bother the Halichoeres genus. The two leopards seem unaffected.
2. Does it sound like internal parasites? Gill flukes?
3. How long should I wait before adding other Halichoeres wrasses? i.e. do internal parasites or gill flukes hang out in the water column for a certain amount of time waiting for another host? Or are they only transferred by close contact between fish?
Oh yeah, lesson learned, quarantine, quarantine, quarantine.......
Thanks.
After about two weeks, I noticed the melanarus not swimming well (very eradically) and he had his mouth "stuck" open. I thought maybe he had a piece of food stuck in there or something. The next morning he was dead.
A few days later I found one of the yellow wrasses dead.
And two days ago the second yellow wrasse was exhibiting the same behavior of the melanarus, not swimming actively and his mouth was "stuck" open. At this point he was not breathing heavily.
Yesterday I found the yellow wrasse lying on his side breathing heavily. I put him into a hospital tank, added Prazipro to treat what I assumed was gill flukes or some other internal parasite, but it was too late. He died about an hour after adding him to the hospital tank.
The reef tank is 120 and has been set up for years. All parameters are stable:
Salinity = 1.026
NH4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0.05
Other inhabitants include blue-star leopard wrasse, potters wrasse, two-spot blenny, possum wrasse, 2-ocelaris clowns, 3- chromis, and a sailfin tang.
My questions:
1. Has anyone experienced this with wrasses before? It seemed to just bother the Halichoeres genus. The two leopards seem unaffected.
2. Does it sound like internal parasites? Gill flukes?
3. How long should I wait before adding other Halichoeres wrasses? i.e. do internal parasites or gill flukes hang out in the water column for a certain amount of time waiting for another host? Or are they only transferred by close contact between fish?
Oh yeah, lesson learned, quarantine, quarantine, quarantine.......
Thanks.