Need help with wrasses

[Mr.Limpet]

I just lost my third of three flasher/fairy wrasses in quarantine. They were in there for two weeks. At the store they were eating well and active. After two to three days in quarantine they started coming out and feeding. After about one week, one by one they started hiding more and not feeding and eventually they died. The tank is bare with pvc pipes for hiding places and a power head for circulation. What am I doing wrong? When I first started up my tank, I just released three flashers straight out of the bag into my tank and they thrived. Should I not qt wrasses?

Does anyone have a better protocol for introducing wrasses?

[snorvich]

What are the water parameters of your QT? How do you measure SG? I personally have a cycled permanent quarantine tank. However, I never treat fish in this tank except with hypo.

[tony varrell]

Stop Qting them. Assuming you are buying the Wrasses from a reputable seller it's not necessary. I have lost more fish including wrasses in the qt process then I ever have from just acclaimating to temperature them putting them in the tank. I know this is controversial but it works for me. I have a large selection of fairy wrasses in my display all acclaimed to temperature then put in the display..

[Mr.Limpet]

Thanks for the replies. It is really appreciated as I love these fish and feel truly bad that I have failed them.

Snorvich- My qt water is from my display tank. I measure sg with a cheapo plastic float level device - same thing I use for my water changes. I was going to treat with prazipro. Do you qt your wrasses?

Tony - I am leaning towards temp acclimation rather than qt. I know that wrasses get freaked out for the first two or three days-a display tank with lots of live rock is more comfortable than a bare qt with some pvc pipes.

[snorvich]

I buy wrasses only from dealers e.g. Live Aquaria, that have put their livestock through a QT process. As such, they do not go through QT. I do acclimate them to temperature, SG, and pH so there is no shock. I also SOCIALLY acclimate them by floating them in a transparent breeders cup until there is no overt harassment by the tankmates.

[ginger7286]

I too love the wrasses. I find placing them in QT freaks them out. I personally acclimate them in my main tank. Haven't lost one.

[reeferstace]

I skip the QT for wrasses. I have heard (and experienced) that QT causes them much more undue stress than just putting them right in the DT (after proper acclimation, of course). The few wrasses I have purchased have been from club members' established tanks OR from LFS that I am familiar with and trust.

[Philwd]

I qt everything. I've found even with LA's qt process I've gotten wrasses with internal parasites. So everything gets QT with prazi treatment. I try to not go past 3 weeks unless I see another problem.

My feeling is given the time frame you are seeing issues is you are getting ammonia buildup.

[ento-reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14702294#post14702294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
I buy wrasses only from dealers e.g. Live Aquaria, that have put their livestock through a QT process. As such, they do not go through QT. I do acclimate them to temperature, SG, and pH so there is no shock. I also SOCIALLY acclimate them by floating them in a transparent breeders cup until there is no overt harassment by the tankmates.

+1. This is what I have been doing and so far I have had zero problems.

[revaltion131]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14704330#post14704330 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Philwd
My feeling is given the time frame you are seeing issues is you are getting ammonia buildup.

This is definitly a possibility, in addition to just being stressed to death. Do you have some sort of biological filtration in your QT?

Anyway, like many others, I've heard bad things about QT for wrasses. I agree that the amount of LR for good, natural hiding for a wrasse in a DT is going to help them calm down, but I can also see the issue of introducing sick fish.

[Mr.Limpet]

My water parameters are fine- I just tested post mortem. I didn't have any biological filters in qt. The qt is in my garage and with all of the comings and goings I think that it freaked out the wrasses. I have heard that some people actually drape blankets over their tanks to shield any lights for a few days.

[Philwd]

What size is your qt? I know that a normal sized wrasse in a 20g with no biofilter will create a NH4 level of .25 in 3 days. By a week you could easily be looking at a very dangerous level of 1.0. I am absolutely certain that is why you are losing your fish.

I do keep the room the qt is in dark for the first day. After that I turn on the lights with a timer as normal.

[revaltion131]

I would go out and buy a simple sponge filter. My LFS sold me one for $5 that is basically a large triangle of sponge that doubles as an airstone. If you don't keep the QT up full-time, you can put the sponge in your 'fuge during the times the QT is dry so that the bacteria remain established.

Mine is in the corner of a guest bedroom, off to the side of a window and between a tall bed and the wall. The tank doesn't get much traffic and all two (I know it's a ton) of new fish I've QT'd did fine and the three I have there now (1 Ocellaris, 1 Pearly Weed Wrasse, and 1 juv Pyle's) are doing great.

I would bet that being in a garage, especially if they were around cars starting and if all of the outside noises that could come in, could easily cause too much stress. I almost wonder if there's a possibility of contamination from chemicals kept in the garage too. But who knows, yours could be much different than mine, which has all of the car stuff, always stores at least one car, and has a muscle car being rebuilt in it.

Hope that helps a little.

[Mr.Limpet]

Philwd - I don't think that the ammonia level was too high. I've qt'd clowns, cardinals, and small blue tangs successfully in it. I will look into it though. I was planing on doing a water change at two weeks.

Rev - I have a sponge filter for my maxijet that I could store in my fuge for future use. My garage doesn't have any chemicals lying around. If I had time to restore an old muscle car I wouldn't have time for my reef! (Which one costs more time, money and aggravation?)

It does seem that most people don't qt wrasses. In a few weeks I will pick up a Lineatus supermale and just acclimate him into my DT which has no current inhabitants.