frustrated with wrasses

[luisse25]

i bought a blue star leopard wrasse about 2 weeks ago,looks very healthy and after 3 days i found it dead...
bought yellow coris wrasse last week,after 3 days dead again.....what seems to be the problem?

i had yellow coris wrasse before and it did very good in my tank...now that i tried it again it died....and its both wrasse....

any thoughts?

i really wanna get a wrasse as im planning to start putting clams in my tank,i know wrasse eats pyramid snails...but how will i get to keep wrasse if they keep dying?its frustrating to waste money just like that......

my tank has lots of crustaceans and critters(amphipods,pods,worms)

thanks

 

[Ilovereef]

Interesting... Wrasse is normally very hardy spiece and I have quite a fairy wrasse collection. I have my favorite red fairy warrase jumped out of the tank and land b/t the back of my tank (8' long) and the wall. It took me at least a minute desperately trying to get him out with a BBQ claw. He was not moving and covered with dust... threw him right back into the tank.. sunk to the bottom and laid there motionless but still breathing... he disapear after a few minutes and showed up again later...
Not sure what happended but any chance of over feeded? you might google for wrasse care though...

 

[luisse25]

thanks for the response thang...do u think they ate all the crustaceans in my tank(amphipods,look like small shrimps)and then overfed?

i tried a yellow coris wrasse before and ive had no problem...i got rid of it because its getting too big...now that i tried again after 3 days died.......

i have a mandarin and no problem...

but 2 wrasse in 3 weeks? i am so frustrated.....the swam and look healthy...then after 3 days just dead.....

do u think they have parasites?i didnt quarantine(which is a mistake) cause they look healthy....

now i regret not buying your mytery wrasse

 

[TJL]

Hey Luisse, do you have a sand bed at least 1-1/2" deep as both fore mentioned Wrasses require this to bury themselves to sleep and hide. A lack of an appropriate sand bed depth could highly stress them out. Just my .02 worth

Todd

 

[luisse25]

shoot!i think i have an inch of sandbed..though i see that it buried itself in the sandbed with no problem when they were still alive....do u think it burried and hit the tank floor and probably damage mouth or something?

i might have to start adding sand little by little before adding another wrasse huh?

 

[TJL]

Quick add-on, a Six-line wrasse does not require a sandbed as it sleeps in a mucus cacoon hidden in the LR or a barnicle

Todd

 

[TJL]

Probably not but would definately stress out looking for a deeper area to stay covered /feel safe in

You might be able to partition off a little deeper area with LR in one area, and as long as it is free and clear of obsticles and not front & center they should find it to thier liking

 

[leebca]

Stress from a poor sleeping arrangement usually isn't enough to kill a fish. There must be other stressors at work. Since this has happened more than once, investigate water quality (including source water variations), poisons, etc.

Not all marine life responds to poisons and water quality the same way. So saying 'the other life is okay' is not a reason to assume water quality is where it should be. Also, just because ammonia and nitrites have been tested at non-detectable, don't assume the water is okay.

The fish should be quarantined to be sure it is trained to eat and to remove other stressors, not to mention that it may be diseased. This would eliminate any concern of what it may find, run into, or eat in the DT.

This post may help with regards to water quality: Quality[/b][/url]

 

[luisse25]

the yellow coris wrasse was sleeping in one area where theres a lot of sand...i just dont get it....

i try to stay away getting a six line wrasse as i have tried it before..very mean wrasse

 

[luisse25]

thanks lee...i have a pair of clownfish in my main tank and another pair in my sump....i have 2 chromis....i have never lost a fish before.....all my corals are healthy....

do u think it has parasites already?

 

[iroll253]

maybe something stung them? Or just bad luck.. You could always try again. good luck.

 

[luisse25]

i will try another one...maybe later...

 

[bigblue141]

I read on about.com that 75-85% of wrasses come in with internal worms and must be QT'd.

 

[luisse25]

yes thats what i have read too...so when the 2nd wrasse i bought died i have a feeling that it might have parasites....i might have to buy a wrasse from a fellow reefer that have it for a while...

 

[jrgilles]

Hmm, I just bought a verimiculate wrass about 2 weeks ago from a lfs. Looked really healthy. Took him home and he hid in the sand for 2 days (expected). Came out for a few hours over the next 2 days, but never ate. Disappeared for 4 or 5 days in the sand. Found him dead about a week and a half after purchase.

When he resurfaced dead, his head was burried in the sand but his body was waving in the current. Even dead he still had great color and looked pretty healthy. Looked like it must have just died. Guess I'm not too good at identifying a health fish. $60 down the tubes. Now I'm also weary of wrasses.

Read about the worms when I got home. Wonder if that led to the distress that kept him from eating. Everything else in my tank looks great, chemistry is all good.

Guess he starved from not eating for a week, even though I was told at the store he was eating.

I also have a 1" sand bed, so maybe that was the problem, although he seemed to bury himself without any problems.

rob

 

[luisse25]

i bought mine from the lfs too...both wrasses came from the same lfs u mentioned....they really look healthy....both died..at least yours lasted a week...mine just 3 days...i dont think mine got starve in my tank im thinking maybe it has parasite/worms..they did buried in the sandbed with no problem..

 

[luisse25]

the first wrasse i bought was a vermiculate wrasse too....
the second was yellow coris wrasse.....what i dont understand is i have tried a yellow coris before and it did really good and outgrown my tank....

 

[jrgilles]

hmm, wonder if the wrasses came with some sort of illness either from the lfs or from wherever they ordered their wrasses from. seems odd that we each bought a vermiculate and they both died.

 

[OCDreefer]

I had two healthy wrasses for about six months. I feed twice to three times daily, little amounts. Then I switched to only once every other day.... they died shortly there after. Just my experience. I think the lack of food did them in.

 

[luisse25]

when i had my yellow coris wrasse before it eats anything and i feed daily and or every other day with flakes...never had problems