Wrasse Help

[hamiltro]

I have gotten a Wrasse from someone that was moving and just wanted to store there saltwater tank. Well this Wrasse was very thin and needs a lot of TLC I have had the wrasse in my tank for a little over a week now and it does seem to be doing better but still really thin, plus i have noticed on one side he has some red showing. Any ideas on what to do to help this guy get back to great shape. Also any idea on what kind of wrasse this is?? I am feeding seaweed, mysis shrimp, and carnivore cubes that contains random stuff, and Brine Shimp: (note i rotate on what i feed them) plus krill, squid, and silversides <-this is more for the puffer

Any ideas are welcome thanks

[hamiltro]

one more trying to slow the backups 

[jd]

Is he eating well? Have you noticed him getting picked on?

I would feed him as often as you can, making sure he eats till hes full. Maybe some some selcon and soak his food in it. If hes eating I would just give him some time. I don't know about the red rash however.

[~reefchik~]

Looks like a blueheaded wrasse. 

To borrow info from F & S:

"The Bluehead Wrasse should be housed in a 75 gallon or larger aquarium with plenty of live rocks for hiding and a sandy substrate to burrow into at night. Larger, gregarious tankmates are recommended since the Bluehead Wrasse will demonstrate territorial behavior and harass new additions to the aquarium. If possible, the Bluehead Wrasse should be the last fish added to the aquarium. The Bluehead Wrasse may be kept with a mate if the aquarium is 125 gallons or larger. The Bluehead Wrasse is a carnivore whose natural diet consists of fish, crustaceans, motile invertebrates, and worms. As such, the Bluehead Wrasse may eat unwanted mantis shrimp or bristleworms in the aquarium. The Bluehead Wrasses does not eat corals or macroalgae.

The Bluehead Wrasse diet should include vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with a high quality marine flake and marine pellet food."  HTH 

[hamiltro]

Thanks for the info reefchik, well right now he is in a 55 but really as soon as i get my RODI I will be setup the 120, I never would have guessed that he is was territorial,

JD the misses say the copperband picks on it sometimes, but all that could mean is that it swims near it and chases it away from it spot, I will stare at the tank a while tomorrow and give a better update.

[~reefchik~]

I hope that red sore on his side heals up ok.  I'm not much of a fish vet, so I don't know how serious that is.

I love wrasses. The blueheads are really beautiful.  We saw lots of them snorkeling in the Caymans a few years back and I have always wanted one.

[Joel]

That is a Blue Head Wrasse, (Thalassoma bifasciatum) looks to be a male. These are collected in southern Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

I would feed mostly meaty foods right now. Including squid in the diet can help fatten him back up but keep the diet varied.

The red spot is likely an abrasion,  possibly from trying to bury itself in the substrate or perhaps got pinched in the rocks. If your substrate is coarse like crushed coral or dolomite, this is pretty common.

If this were my fish I would feed it heavily and soak it's food in Selcon & Marine Vitachem.  I would keep the aquarium extra clean (water changes and filter cleaning) and use ozone injection or a fresh & properly sized uv to reduce organisms that will affect that open sore. Ozone is the better choice if it is an option. If your substrate is coarse, replace it or move the wrasse to an aquarium that has a softer substrate. (coarse substrate can harm the fishes body when they try to bury themselves.) Also, vacuum your sustrate to decrease the population of nuciance organisms and debris.

Fish are somewhat like us in that if we (and they) are properly nourished, well rested and in a clean, stress free environment, the immune system often can repair or cure what is wrong. So everything you can do to strengthen this fish and improve it's environment, the higher the likelihood  it will heal.  If you see that the sore gets worse, then putting the fish in a quarantine system and treating with a broad spectrum antibiotic may be needed.

Hope this helps and good luck,

Joel

[Rayman]

cool fish! good luck with the rescue.

[wolfeden3]

If you can , get some fresh shrimp big or small doesn't matter use a food processor to mulch it up then make sure to spot feed him as much as possible... I have several wrasse when they get like that they need fresh fatty foods and it probably wouldn't hurt to get some liquid vitamins and dose for a while.... The spots will go away I have had them on all my wrasses at one time or another.... They are just abrations nothing to really be worried about... hope this helps...
Garry Wolfe aka wolfeden3

[~reefchik~]

Good post, Joel.

[Joel]

Good post, Joel.

Thank you

[HUNGER]

i think covered it all    good luck with him

[Kenn]

Joel !

I've missed your informative posts !

Kenn

[hamiltro]

Thanks for all the info, he does seem to be better then when i got him, i have starting cutting up the squid and krill into smaller pieces for him to eat. I will update in a few weeks hopefully with good news!!

[hamiltro]

So it has been about a week since i have seen the wrasse, he always seems to come out during feeding time. also one of the gobys has gone MIA not sure if it was the same day but around the same time. So the question is do i just say oh well they are missing or do i starting digging in the sand to find them??

I just remember that i need to see if they jumped out, i will check tonight, but if they jumped anywhere but behind the tank either the dogs or cat had a snack waiting for them.

[HUNGER]

man that sucks hopefully they are just hideing

[Wall_Tank]

I would not dig to find them.  If they did die, your cleanup crew probably took care of them.  You might check your nitrates.