Radiant Wrasse Woes

[IFbettas]

I got a new radiant wrasse last friday. He didn't dart straight into the sand like I thought he would, so I went upstairs to get some mysis to feed my other fish, and maybe him too. By the time I got back downstairs he was gone. I noticed an area where the sand was disturbed so I thought he was in the sand. I never saw him alive again. Today I was using a turkey baster in the tank to get the detritus suspended. I used it in the overflow to get the detritus that settles on the bottom out and sure enough a dead wrasse floated up too. I'm not sure how he died, his colors were still vibrant. There were no other signs of how he died. I'm positive he wasn't in the overflow last night, as I had checked to see if he could've gotten in there. I'm just really bummed, because I had waited along time for my lfs to get one, and the radiant wrasses had always been one of my all time favorite fish. :(

Do you have any idea what could've happened to him?

Rant over...:)

[snorvich]

Well all fairy and flasher wrasses jump. It is difficult to keep them in with anything other than a barrier with 1/4 inch holes. Fairy wrasses are not sand burrowers, when they sleep they form a caccoon. What other fish are in your tank?

[IFbettas]

The radiant wrasse I was referring to is Halichores iridis. It is known to bury in the sand. It is not a fairy or flasher wrasse. The other fish in the tank are: yellow tang, sailfin tang, male lyretail anthias, firefish, ocellaris clown pair, and an ocellated dragonet. For the 5 minutes that I watched him before I went upstairs none of the other fish bothered him at all. The clowns just checked him out and then went back to their territory. I'm positive he ended up in the overflow today because I looked in there yesterday, because I wanted to make sure he didn't jump in it. He must have been near death already right? A healthy wrasse wouldn't die from just being in an overflow right? A lot of people have fish living in their overflows that they can't catch.

[timnnell]

I have a radiant and he for sure is not a fairy or flasher and does burry in the sand. Mine has never been much of a jumper, but the ones at work have jumped out many times. That really sux about your loss. I had a pair of oscellaris clowns and the moment I put the radiant in the tank, they commensed to kicking his butt. So now that the clowns are in the fuge everything is fine. Wrasse comes out all day long and never hides, except to sleep.

[LukFox]

For some reason some radiants just don't make it long in captivity. Not sure why, though. If they get settled they're very hardy fish. I don't think your overflow killed it. I found mine in there a couple times and just fished them out. Fish were fine.

[buzzbombtom]

most dont ship well, they injure their bottom jaw more often than not trying to bury in the bottom of the bag that they are ship in, i would not buy one until it was in the store for a few weeks, one week min. just what i have noticed, and snorvich as was stated its not a fairy or flasher ;)

[snorvich]

Sorry, I did not know you were referring to Halichores iridis which IS a sand sleeping wrasse. That's why I hate using common names.