wrasse might be dying from moving stress
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Topic: wrasse might be dying from moving stress
Posted By: CMcTay
Subject: wrasse might be dying from moving stress
Date Posted: March 15 2015 at 8:04pm
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Bought a carpenters wrasse this afternoon, brought her home and acclimated her for two hours with a drip line. She seemed miserable the entire time, but no breathing heavy, just laying very still. I've just gotten her into the tank and she went straight under a rock and is laying there puffing heavily with all her color gone. I don't know what happened, but is there anything I can do RIGHT NOW to save her? I'm afraid interacting with her will just stress her out more, but it's agony sitting and watching her not knowing if she'll pull out of this or not. |
Replies:
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: March 15 2015 at 8:08pm
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I would leave it alone. Next time don't acclimate so long. It's not necessary and will likely cause more harm than good. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 15 2015 at 8:21pm
| I had read wrasses need longer acclimation time than most fish. Sigh :( try to do the right thing, and look. Thanks for your input, at any rate. I really hope she makes it. |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: March 15 2015 at 8:25pm
| If you arent leaving it in the bag for 2+hours. And the stores salinity is close to yours, is the less amount of time you need to aclimate.... one thing to look at would be getting a social acclimation box from elite aquatics. They are great |
Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 1:15am
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That would have been perfect, I wish I had known about it! She did get up and start swimming around a little, and then would retreat back to her spot under the rock. She was getting pestered by the damsel and hawkfish :/ to be expected, but now she's hiding somewhere I can't see her. I hope she's okay. She was swimming normally last I saw her though, so at least it's not the transition killing her anymore. I can QT the hawk and damsel if I need to to get her to come out if I don't see her in a day or two. |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 6:48am
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I will just let you know, i had 1 damsel fish in a tank before i added other fish. And it would not let me add any other fish. I would say it killed 10-11 fish. Sometimes they are fine but just stating what i see happen alot |
Posted By: proskier101
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 8:54am
wrasses will freak out the first few days in my experience. I had one dive in the sand and stay hidden for about 2 days. I thought it died. 
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Posted By: Pete Moss
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 9:12am
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I had a wrasse hide in the sandbed for an entire week when first introduced in the tank. After a week it started swimming around a little, and within two weeks it was all over the tank hunting for bugs. They're very easily spooked, and are often visibly stressed when first introduced. He might be just fine :) ------------- 125g 90g 2x33g 34g What stores do I recommend? Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 ) Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 ) Member of GCFB |
Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 10:21am
| That makes me feel so much better. Please be alive in there somewhere, little lady! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 11:25am
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Please feel free to ask here about anything you may wonder. We can give you the information that may save your reef. The Wrasse may pull through okay. I don't have trouble with Wrasse hiding, because of several things I do. It's the aquascaping and the fully developed very populated sand bed. The acclimation box I use is very simple and works just as well as the expensive ones. It's a quart size clear deli container with netting over the top and a piece of rubble and some macroalgae inside. That helps the new fish feel comfortable. Sorry, but that's too long of acclimation. Water can go foul and can injure fish gills during long drip acclimation like that. When a fish has come from a good tank, I acclimate for just about 10 minutes. Look below in my signature line for the Reefkeeping Tips. In that thread, scroll down to the tip labled "Secrets of adding new fish...". Aloha, Mark  http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=71912" rel="nofollow - MarksReef Coral Farm in Murray 808-345-1049 text/call ahead ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Pete Moss
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 11:59am
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Water doesn't go "sour" during drip acclimation if you're constantly adding in oxygenated clean water from the display. I've drip acclimated some fish for 8 hours and more due to the difference in salinity between my tank water and the water used at the fish distributor. I've never personally experienced any negative side effects to longer acclimation, only positive ones. A drip acclimation of only 10 minutes can be lethal if there are large differences in water quality and salinity. It also depends on the tolerance and hardiness of the fish. Just my experiences with acclimation. ------------- 125g 90g 2x33g 34g What stores do I recommend? Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 ) Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 ) Member of GCFB |
Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 12:08pm
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The lesson here definitely seems to be that I need to actually test and examine the differences between the LFS water and my water and act accordingly... I just followed what people generally 'seem' to do, and did a one hour drip into a specimen container for all my fish... or two hours in the case of my wrasse, since they allegedly needed more time. Lesson learned :/ poor sweet wrasse. As an aside, anyone have any good damsel catching methods? This little bugger is fast and I want him OUT so that my wrasse, if she's still alive, will feel more comfortable coming out of hiding sooner. Another aside: free damsel to good home :p
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Posted By: Pete Moss
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 12:46pm
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In my opinion, the best way to acclimate fish is to set up a secondary tank with low flow, and a small heater to maintain temperatures. Providing hiding spaces inside the tank ( 2" pvc elbows work great ) helps the fish feel more comfortable as it adjusts. A drip system from your existing reef, into the acclimation tank should be run for as long as possible to give the fish time to adjust. If the water from the fish store doesn't fill the tank enough to run a heater, just wait for the water level to rise before turning the heater on. ------------- 125g 90g 2x33g 34g What stores do I recommend? Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 ) Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 ) Member of GCFB |
Posted By: bstuver
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 1:43pm
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To catch the damsel I've always had good luck with the pop bottle trap as they just can't seem to resist food:) Just do a google search for pop bottle fish trap if you've never heard/made one. ------------- Jackie Stuver "wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 1:44pm
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My $0.02: It really depends on where you received the fish. If you buy the fish from a wholesaler or on-line and the fish has been in the bag, in the dark, for an extended period of time, then a short drip acclimation (in the dark) is a good idea. I think 8 hours may be too long, but that may also depend on the length of the shipment and condition of the water in which the fish was shipped. If you buy the fish locally, from a healthy, well lit aquarium then a shorter acclimation (float the bag, exchange the LFS water over 15-20 minutes, etc.) then release the fish into the aquarium is a reasonable practice. I suggest reducing the light to help settle the aquarium inhabitants and using an acclimation box as well. Of course, a quarantine set-up is certainly a best-practice and the safest way to avoid introducing damaging pest into your main display. Although, this may not be the best acclimation for the new inhabitant. Good luck! I hope your fish is ok. This is pretty common behavior for newly introduced wrasses. |
Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 1:54pm
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Thanks for all the advice, guys :) next time I will acclimate much smarter. Don't even get me started on quarantining first. I learned THAT lesson the hard way for the first time yesterday as well. This fish store trip was an all day disaster! haha. Ugh.
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Posted By: CMcTay
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 8:27pm
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She came out during feeding time tonight! :D and then she went right back to her hidey spot, haha. This is actually the best case scenario, she's alive and eating, and she has a great hidden spot where the damsel can't get to her until I can relocate him. I'm so relieved I could cry!
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 16 2015 at 8:52pm
  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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