Help with sick McCosker's Wrasse

[budsreef]

Friday, I put 3 McCosker's Wrasses and 1 unknown flasher/fairy wrasse in a 20G QT that I started with 5 gallons from my 120G and 15 gallons fresh saltwater. The QT has a few decent size pieces of live rock, an HOB filter with carbon and floss, and a Koralia Nono for extra flow. Water Parameters are: Temp 76, SG 1.023, PH 8.03, Amm 0. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. All four fish have eaten well untill today. One of the McCosker's Wrasses did not come out of the rock this morning nor to eat this afternoon. It is now laying on the bottom still alive but breathing quickly. From as much of the body as I can see there are no marks or anything that looks wrong on the outside. The other three are still swimming around normally but so was this one yesterday.

Any suggestions?

 

[FutureInterest]

Gratz on finally getting some of these great lil flashers in!

I've had flashers get sick before where they dissappear for a few days and just lie low. I've been lucky so far and they've always pulled out of it but it has happened 4 or 5 times over the past few years and it always worries the crap out of me.

Your params seems normal. One thing I like to do when a fish is breathing very hard due to illness or whatever is to try to oxygenate the water a lil more. Try degassing the room and adding a lil more flow to that tank. It might help the lil guy breath a lil easier... it may do nothing either but it certainly won't hurt.

 

[budsreef]

Thanks, Jin. Unfortunately it did not make it through the night. I couldn't see anything externally wrong, but the side that was facing up I could see purplish red coloration through the skin layer. The skin had lost most of its color and gills were pasty gray. No idea how long it had been dead so the coloring could have been a function of time.

 

[stacy22]

Sorry about losing your fish.

 

[FutureInterest]

:sad:

 

[budsreef]

Thanks, it's a real bummer. I did a 3 gallon water change today and the other three look good and all ate well just now.