Harlequin Tusk

[rinconmike]

Late yesterday I got a new aus harlequin tusk. Around 4" to 5" long. He seemed fine at the fish store. Store said they had it for around 3 weeks. When I got home around 15 minutes from the store, I acclimated for around 55 minutes. First floated the bag for 10 to 15 minutes and then slowly added water to the bag every three to five minutes. The entire time he was lying flat in the bag.

I then released into the tank and he swam right to the bottom laying on his side. He has moved around a little in the tank but is just laying on side. Eyes move around and I think his breathing is rapid but maybe that is normal.

The tank is a 55 gallon QT that has been cycled. This tank had been set up for years but was fallow for the last 3 to 4 months and I added shrimp about a month ago to cycle again. Saw the ammonia spike and then down to zero for the last 5 days. The Salinity in the tank is now around 1.020. It was at 1.0225 but when I sa how low it was in the bag from the store, I lowered it a bit. Maybe I should have lowered it more?? Salinity in the bag from the LFS was around 1.017.

I am keeping the lights out for now. Anyone know if this is normal behavior for this fish?

thanks.

[kw22]

1.022-1.024 would be better for it.

[rinconmike]

Thanks. I will get that back up over the next few days topping off with salt water.

Hopefully he will start swimming soon and get off the bottom.

[rinconmike]

Fish still lying on side not moving much. I assume it is not the salinity causing this since at the store he was in 1.017. I just turned the lights on to see if the fish will become active and nothing. So i guess all i do is wait?

Should i leave the lights off or on?

[Kyuss]

I'd leave the lights off and double check parameters (PH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) of the QT.

[NovaSS]

when i got mine, he just got tossed around a lot in the water current and swam like he was dieing. he even got sucked down the over flow and I found him in the refugium the next morning. I fixed my overflows so he wouldnt get sucked down a pipe anymore. but it took little while for the tusk to get use to the tank and start acting normal. I would just let him be i would bring the salt back up to 1.023-1.024 and just try and feed him 2-3 times a day.

[rinconmike]

well fish seems to want to swim. Gets up and drops back down to his side.

I am out of town so had my wife run ammonia and nitrite tests. One test kit (instant Ocean) said zero on Ammonia and nitrite, but another (Hach) is zero on ammonia but nitrite was around .3ppm. Maybe it did not finish cycling all the way. When the ammonia was zero for several days i did not bother checking nitrite.

I had her add some amquel plus just in case. Three teaspoons which is around half a dose (full dose is around 5.5 teaspoons for a 55).

I get home tomorrow and can do a water change. Not sure if the nitrite is actually high or not and figured adding some amquel has no negative effects. I have no meds or anything in there.

Also, dropped some prawns in there, but the fish is not interested.

thanks for the help.

Mike

[albano]

In the future, have your QT salinity match the LFS water and after temp. acclimating the bag the fish can go right into QT...no dripping necessary.
IME tusks don't seem to like tank moves and it will often take a few days for them to adjust and start swimming around. Of course if your params are 'off', that is a separate problem.

[rinconmike]

I asked my wife to rerun the Hach test and she did. This time it read zero. It has been 30 min since we added amquel so either something was wrong with the first test or the amquel works really fast. My guess there was an issue with the first test and nitrites have been zero. So I do not think that is the issue and it is something else. I am letting the salinity go up slowly, but I do not think that is the issue since the fish was at the LFS for three weeks and their tanks are around 1.017 and fish seemed fine.

thanks,

Mike

[tom g]

hey there I recently purchased a harlequin husk around the same size looked great in store , got him home acclimated him and same thing
he would just lie on the sand and hide . its been a few weeks now and he is just as active as anyone else and goes for food like crazy give him some time at least that is what I did I was worried I must admit but hes a champ now .

[rinconmike]

thanks. how long did yours hide. mine is still laying on side most the time. once or twice nose pointed in the bottom corner. not interested in any food yet.

[rinconmike]

Well the tusk is a little more active. He swam a bit last night, but all day today just laying on his side. However, he is now staying inside a 4" pvc 45 degree elbow opposed to just somewhere on bottom of tank. If I knock the elbow (I know I probably should not), he comes out and swims a bit. I have not seen him eat, but he is fat still. I do have some prawns sitting in the bottom of the tank from last night but he has not interest in them.

Last night it did look like there was some stringy poop stuck coming out. I have read that can be a parasite or just stressed induced. I do plan on treating with prazipro, but was waiting until he started eating first.

The salinity is slowly rising. Almost to 1.021. Just topping off with salt water at 1.024.

I have left the lights on all day too thinking that may get him out more.

Anything I should do or just leave him be and wait?

thanks,

Mike

[NovaSS]

Just wait he will get more and more active. mine is now the boss of the tank during the day and is completely passes out at night. it sleep on the sand bed for 2 months before it found a sleeping spot somewhere in the rocks. That with a full grown cortez ray cruising around at night. mine loves mysis shrimp the most. but the more you mess with him the longer it will take.

[rinconmike]

Well it has been one week. Tusk is still staying inside his PVC fitting most of the time. He does not come out if I am by the tank; however, I have a IP cam watching the tank and I do see him come out and swim around for a minute or two and then back into the PVC on his side. I think he has eaten some. I had some mysis in there last night and it looked pretty much gone this morning. I put some in this afternoon, but he did not touch it yet. I am leaving the light out most the time, but am turning them on for a few hours in the evening. I am using a spare T5 that has both white and blue so I was using the white and tonight decided to go with the blue thinking maybe that will be less stressful.

I cannot tell if there are any signs of parasites or frayed fins since he is staying in his cave. The PVC is around 10 inches from the side of the tank so I can see right into it. I see nothing on him (i.e. signs of ich) but would like a better view if he would come out more.

On my previous fish I know they were eating within a day or two so by day 7, I would treat with Prazipro at the start of week two. But I think I may hold off another week.

thanks.

[NovaSS]

how is the tusk doing?

[rinconmike]

Tusk is more active. He is swimming more. Last night I fed and he was out of his PVC much more, but consistently goes back in. He swims for a few minutes, hides for a few, and back out. If I go in front of the tank he hides. So I have been watching him on a cam.

I fed mainly myisis and a small piece of silverside. He picked up the silverside and then seemed to struggle with with it. Struggle i mean his mouth moving funny and then he did spit it out. I guess this is normal. My red breasted wrasse does something similar but does not seem like a struggle chewing.

He is missing one upper tooth. I noticed this earlier in the week. I think he came like this and I just did not notice. I read they grow back. I know on my red breasted wrasse he loses a tooth from time to time and it has come back.

I do not see as much blue in him as I see on pictures. Could be he is now out much so i do not get good views. He does have the red on the end of the tail like the photo on liveaquaria so I am pretty sure he is the Australian tusk and not he Indo.

I will try and get a picture this weekend.

I see no signs of parasites but plan on starting prazipro this weekend. Will do tow treatments and then after i clean that out of the water do some Quinine Sulfate.

thanks,

Mike

[NovaSS]

I think he is fine just a really shy fish. I have a blue tang that doesnt go far from its cave and with the slightest movement in the same room as the tank it goes right into the rocks. also i dropped a live glass shrimp into the main tank a couple of days ago. the tusk went crazy chased it until he ate it. im glad to here it is eating.

[rinconmike]

Well today I put the tusk in my display and the the Red Breasted Wrasse took two bits at the tusk. One on each side of the the top of the back. so the tusk is laying on his side now, similar when first in QT. The wrasse is staying away. Question is should I take out the Tusk and put back in QT (he is laying in front so I probablly can) or leave him be and hope for the best.

FYI, during QT I did two treatments of Prazi and one of Quinine Sulfate. no signs of ich or any parasites. There is some lympho on the tail (one spot) that prerry much came off when the wrasse was chasing him.

thanks,

Mike

[NovaSS]

the Harlequin tusk is suppose to be the only wrasse in a tank. some people have had luck mixing them, but most dont. The problem with most harlequin tusk is he will let fish bully them. Mine is the smallest fish in the tank but he kinda runs the tank. As shy as yours is i wouldnt want to push my luck with aggressive tank mates until it is fully adjusted to the display tank. I would pull the other wrasse and put it in qt for now. it is also common for the tusk to act the same as it did when you first put it in qt. tank transfers are ruff on these fish.

[rinconmike]

thanks. I do not want to pull the Red Breasted Wrasse so if I pull one, it would be the tusk, let him heal and then see if I can sell him or go back to the LFS.

Just not sure if I should pull him or wait it out.

Here are some photos

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h852ck03nyenlsv/2014-10-05%2016.08.35.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1r1aoumqo8zwx59/2014-10-05%2016.08.44.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n1zwgrlnrjnhxon/2014-10-05%2016.51.43.jpg?dl=0

After the first five to ten minutes, the Wrasse has left the tusk alone.

thanks

[NovaSS]

you can try putting a pvc pipe or something in there to give him a place to hide and heal.

[rinconmike]

The wrasse is leaving the tusk alone from what i can tell. Tusk seems to be bumping into rocks and the glass. Could that be a eye sight issue or just stress? Next concern is to see if he eats. In qt, never really saw him eat much, just all the mysis gone by next morning so i assumed he was eating.

[rinconmike]

Well wife called and the tusk has a chunk ripped out of its back. It is still alive and swims, but my guess is it will not last long. she took it out and put in QT until I can get home.

I am guessing that the tusk I got had issues, but I am not sure that even if I had an active one that it would survive with the wrasse in the tank.

[xkon]

Sorry to hear. The harlequin tusk is such a cool fish. I want to get one when I get my 135 set up and running. If that were my tank, I'd ditch the other wrasse and keep the tusk (or replace if it doesn't make it through)

[rinconmike]

thanks. he is gone. The chunk missing was too much. I believe it was the porcupine puffer that took the final bite out of him. Maybe I just had a bad tusk. However, from what I have read, some of the behavior such as lying on side when you first get them and hiding is normal. Maybe this one was too timid and others are more aggressive.

The Red Breast Wrasse is a nice looking fish too. Nice colors also so will probably hand on to that.

I have also read not to put more wrasse in one tank. I have tried two banana wrasse (different times) and over time the same thing happened. Found them with a chunk missing.

[xkon]

With the two banana wrasse, did you see if it was the two attacking each other or was there another culprit?

[rinconmike]

one banana wrasse at a time. about a year apart.

[clekchau]

Sorry to hear about your tusk :(

Any pics of the red breasted wrasse?

[albano]

Sorry to hear about your tusk :(

Any pics of the red breasted wrasse?

Yeah, in post #20

[rinconmike]

Well, it was around 6 to 7 weeks since I got the Tusk. I spoke the LFS and they are willing to give me a discount on a new tusk. He has some that seem very active in his tanks (the one that just died was no where near as active - probably should not have gotten it). So the question is, should I try a new one thinking it was just that particular fish or just say away assuming the same thing will happen even with one very active?

thanks,

Mike

[albano]

I think that I would try again, but it might be time to remove current fish, re-aquascape, then add all fish back at same time.

[NovaSS]

I think that I would try again, but it might be time to remove current fish, re-aquascape, then add all fish back at same time.

x2

[rinconmike]

Well I went and got another tusk. So far like night and day. The LFS had three Tusks all in separate tanks. All three seemed active and swimming a lot. I picked one that had the nicest teeth since all three seemed the same. I had them feed him and he ate frozen food. After in the bag, the Fish swam around in the bag (last one did not at all).

Got him home. Floated the bag for 15 minutes. Opened the bag and tested the salinity and it was at 1.0158. I got mine down to around 1.0167 (already previously dropped it to 1.018) and also floated another 15 minutes adding some tank water to the bag and got that up to 1.0162.

After around 30 minutes I put him in the tank, lights off. Fish swam around a bit. Last I checked he was sitting in an upper back corner.

I think this one will do better and do think there was an issue with the last one. In 6 to 8 weeks I will need to see what I want to do with my 150 and the fish in it. I do not want to change the rocks around, but maybe put a floating basket in it and put the Red Breasted Wrasse in that for a couple of days.


thanks,

Mike

[rinconmike]

The new tusk does not sit still. It is like night and day compared to the last. This guy is constantly swimming all over the 55QT. He ate a bunch of mysis, silversides, and prawns last night.

After seeing this guy, I think something was wrong from day one with the last one. I assume different fish have different personalities, but maybe the last was too lethargic. I am not sure what normal is with the tusk.

I think I will let this guy be for a week and then do some PraziPro treatments and then see if I want to use Quinine Sulfate - all out of precaution to kill anything I cannot see.

I am also going to top off with salt water to get the salinity back up to 1.024.

thanks,

Mike

[rinconmike]

New tusk is doing great. Very active and nice fish. He eats everything. I tried NLS pellets yesterday and he chomped them right up.

No signs of disease, but it has been less than a week. Debating if I should even use the Quinine Sulfate and prazipro as a precaution.

thanks,

Mike

[rinconmike]

So now I am debating what do to next with the tusk in QT. I think I am ready to take the red breasted wrasse out and probably bring him to the LFS.

Previously I was going to treat with Prazipro and Quinine Sulfate, but if the tusk is not showing any signs of disease i am now thinking of not treating at all. I have always been concerned with introducing a parasite into my display.

I figured I would post in this thread for some opinions on this. Should I just observe for two weeks and if no signs of anything, put him in the display (after removing the wrasse)? Or should I go ahead and treat with either Quinine Sulfate and or Prazipro? Is two weeks enough? I also emailed the crew at wet web media and their comment is do not treat if nothing is seen and take out after two weeks.

thanks,

Mike

[inigomontoya]

Two weeks in QT is not enough time for all the various problems to manifest themselves. I would give it another couple of weeks, definitely if you decide not to treat prophylactically. Whether to do that or not is up to you. HT aren't particularly ich magnets or anything so if it's good after a month-five weeks then you should be fine.
Some always treat regardless but if you keep in qt for a sufficient time you don't always have to do that.

[airplanes1016]

I'd wait longer than 2 weeks. I'd also be very concerned about the red breasted wrasse.

[rinconmike]

Tusk is still doing good. So far has been around 10 days. No signs of any parasites.

I plan on keeping in QT for 4 to 6 weeks, but debating if I should do a QS treatment or not.

thanks,

Mike

[rinconmike]

On day 24 for the new Tusk and so far all is good. The tusk seems very aggressive and eats like crazy. I have not treated him with anything and right now thinking I should not.

At what point can I assume there is no ich or anything else if the fish is not showing any signs? Is it safe to assume ich or something else would have surfaced by now?

I have no issue leaving him in the QT longer.

I do plan on pulling the Red Breasted Wrasse out of the display before I put the tusk in.

thanks,

Mike

[LukFox]

Glad to hear you are taking the red breasted out before putting the new tusk in. I don't think I would ever call a fish ich-free unless it was treated. The tank transfer method is very short and easy on the fish. I suggest reading about it in the disease forum!

[SteelMastiff]

I would go TTM for sure, I have a Tusk that just went thru it and handled it like a champ. Just because you see no obvious outward signs doesn't mean it isn't carrying any number of things.

[rinconmike]

I wound up doing one dose of QS. Two days ago i took the red breasted wrasse out and move to QT and put the tusk in the display. All is good so far.