Help new six line not well.

[bjhubb]

I got a new six line wrasse 5 days ago. Very healthy looking. Acclimated for about 30 minutes and added to 10 gallon qt with large HOB filter on it and pvc for hiding places. I am currently using the exact same setup to quarantine a strawberry pseudochromise. The pseudochromise has been doing fine other than a little ich about 2 weeks into quarantining. I dosed him with Rid Ich for about 7 days and he has been fine for the last 2 weeks. I am going to wait 2-3 more weeks before I add him to the dt. When I got the six line I decided that I would just treat him for the first week with Rid Ich even though he showed no signs. He has been doing very well and eating whatever I have fed him (mysis and flake). Last night I notice that he didn't seem as active but he still ate alot and showed no other signs. I decided that I would do about a 10% water change in both qt's. I use water from the display which is still fallow because of an ich problem about 4 months ago(did not qt till that problem). All parameters are good and the same in all three tanks. This morning the wrasse was trying to sit on the bottom of the tank but he was having a hard time staying upright and he was gasping and the pseudochromis in the other qt was just fine. The only thing I could think about doing was a 25-30% water change and adding stress coat. I did this and left for work almost positive that the wrasse would be dead after I got home. He was not dead but really no better. He can sit up some of the time but he is still gasping and stays pretty still most of the time. So I did another 25% water change and added stress coat. Is there anything else to do or just cross my fingers.

[THE ROOK]

Are you testing the water?

[bjhubb]

Tested last night. Ammonia and Nitrites=0 Ph=7.9 Nitrates=10 Sg=1.025 Temp 77

[bjhubb]

Six line wrasse is still alive after 2 days. It seems like the gasping has slowed a little. I don't know if it means that he is closer to death or he is getting better. He is still not active and will only swim to upright himself or to change the direction that he is facing. Could this be a swim bladder problem and if so is there a treatment? I did two water changes yesterday and added stress coat twice. I added a little stress coat this morning but I am worried that I am adding to much. Should I do a water change this afternoon and add some more stress coat or will that add to much stress to the situation. I know that I am stressed over the situation.

[Ohiomom]

IMO a water change is never a bad idea..can only help..

[bjhubb]

Went to check on wrasse and he is actually swimming around a little and seem like he can balance himself alot better. Also I can't tell that he is gasping anymore because I have left the lights off to reduce stress, but it looks like he isn't gasping. I fed a couple off flakes of food to see if it peaked his interest but it didn't. This is by far the most activity in the last two days. I hate to get my hopes up but so far he has improved greatly over the last couple of hours. Should I do another water change this afternoon? I want to make sure that I do everything right as fragile as he still is.

[bjhubb]

Any ideas or suggestions?

[J4Life]

I don't think doing another water change would help, just keep an eye on him and be patient. Also I would try offering some of the froze mysis to see if he will eat that. Fish tend to respond better to frozen food more so than flake food.

Also doing a bunch of water changes all at once could actually increase the stress. Keeping the lights off for a little while is a good idea to help calm the fish down.

Hope that helps,

Bill

[bjhubb]

I tried to feed mysis soaked in garlic and he would eat and then spit it out. Tried to feed brine without garlic and he wasn't interested at all. Tried a couple of blood worms and not interested. Fed a couple of flakes and he was slightly interested. He had been eating the mysis soaked in garlic and the flake food very well until he got sick. Right now you would not know that he had almost been dead the last two days. But I'm a little worried about the not eating. Any ideas?

[J4Life]

Did you try the mysis without garlic?

[Ohiomom]

In a 10 qt..water parameters can get out of wack really quick. Fresh change of water done in 10-20% or so wil NEVER hurt or stress a fish out.

Did you use cycled tank water for the quarentine? Does the filter have mature media? It could also be a simple matter of not enough flow for oxegyn exchange..

Provide more info maybe we can help more..

[Hop]

Originally posted by bjhubb
Six line wrasse is still alive after 2 days. It seems like the gasping has slowed a little. I don't know if it means that he is closer to death or he is getting better. He is still not active and will only swim to upright himself or to change the direction that he is facing. Could this be a swim bladder problem and if so is there a treatment? I did two water changes yesterday and added stress coat twice. I added a little stress coat this morning but I am worried that I am adding to much. Should I do a water change this afternoon and add some more stress coat or will that add to much stress to the situation. I know that I am stressed over the situation.

If the wrasse is having "balance problems" it may be too late to do anything. Here is a post from about 5 years ago when I had a similar problem with a wrasse:

Sorry to hear about your wrasse. It would help a little if I knew what kind it was, but I'll assume it's of the Pseudocheilinus genus (sixline, eightline etc.) or a Halichoeres sps. (green wrasse), as these are commonly used to keep parasitic snails in check.

If it were any other recently imported fish, I would lean toward swimbladder damage from the collection, decompression and distribution process; however, wrasse have a well developed swimbladder, compared to most reef fish. They're able to cover a greater range of depths over a short period of time as a result. This attribute makes them a lot easier to decompress when collected from the wild.

Internal bacterial infections cause a build up of fluids in the fishes head, causing vertigo. If you were treating a number of fish, I would use neomycin at 250mg/10 gallons, along with chloramphenical at the same dosage. Repeat treatment regimen every second day for a total of three doses.

Since you seem to only have only one fish in QT (?), I would medicate the food as it will target the internal bacteria, rather than free-floating pathogens. Needless to say, this won't work with a fish that isn't eating. kanamycin is the drug of choice, as it's a good penetrating antibiotic. It's used (or was) in human medicine for hearing problems caused by bacterial infection. Your fish has a similar problem. Hearing is closely tied to balance. Kanamycin (Kanacyn by Mardel Labs) can be given in the food daily without adversely affecting water quality or invertebrates.

Internal fungal infection is also possible. Ichthyophonus (not to be confused with ich) is an internal fungal infection that almost all fish carry. Shipping and acclimation stress can cause it to multiply while the fishes immune system is depleted. The main symptoms are rapid breathing, twitching and vertigo. The symptoms will vary according to which organs are infected. "Pop-eye" (exophthalmus) is one symptom. A rigid open mouth is another.

Ichthyophonus will attack one fish at a time, and can take weeks to kill the fish. Unfortunately there is no known cure. It is advised to remove the fish showing symptoms in order to save the remaining fish (if any). You could try soaking the food in a capsule of kanamycin as suggested above. It's an unlikely cure for ichthyophonus, but it will help with secondary bacterial infections and other internal fungal infections like saprolegnia. Dose in food for ten days.

By the time we catch these things it's often too late. Antibiotics will kill active bacteria, but they won't reduce the swelling that's causing your wrasses symptoms. Garlic will boost the fishes immune system, but once again, it may be too late in the game for "chicken soup".

[bjhubb]

This afternoon I am going to try the mysis with out garlic. Tank has been fully cycled. I am using a HOB filter that is for a 55 gallon tank. I figured it would add another half gallon of water capacity and it would add plenty of water flow so that I would not need a powerhead. Do I have enough gas exchange with the HOB? The wrasse continued to get better as the evening went along and continues to do so. My wife saw the fish yesterday morning and then when she got home and she couldn't believe how much better the fish looked.

[Ohiomom]

Sounds like you are doing all you can..would wait and see. Nothing jumps out at me that may have been/is wrong. Wish you luck!