Melanarus died in QT. Any ideas?

[jejton]

I finally found a really nice H. melanarus at one of the LFS and picked it up a little over a week ago, along with a cyaneo ( spelling?) flasher wrasse. These were to be the final fish in my tank. They have both been in quarantine since then and eating mysis shrimp. I've been doing water changes every couple of days to keep ammonia down and slowly bring it to my DT's SG. Last night I noticed the melanarus looked a little off - breathing just a little faster than usual - but otherwise seemed like it was bedding down for the night. A half hour ago I found it dead. The other wrasse is behaving normally and not displaying signs of stress or sickness. The temp is about 75 F, SG is 1.022 ( store was 1.021 ) and ammonia tested 0-.25 on a Salifert kit ( it was white ). Any ideas what caused this? I'd like to rule out any issues with my quarantine tank so even though I'd be upset if I bought a sick fish, at least I'll know I'm doing things right on my part. The only physical signs I saw are the whitish areas where some of the slime and/or scales seem to have come off. I'm not sure if that was post-mortem as I did not notice it yesterday. I really liked this fish and hope to have better luck with a future specimen. The fish is now in a zippie in the freezer in case anyone here does post-mortems.

 

[NYreefNoob]

u do know those require a sand bed to sleep in, could be a combo of things, stressed with no place to hide

 

[aaron23]

his fins look a bit off?

 

[jejton]

I know they need a sandbed but I dont keep one in the quarantine. Instead I placed some PVC pipe pieces. The DT has a DSB.

 

[ellebelle]

The lack of sandbed could have really stressed him out. PVC isn't the same.

 

[jejton]

Everything I've been told and read said to not keep sand in a quarantine though so how do you deal with wrasses in such a situation?

 

[NYreefNoob]

if you werent using copper sand wouldnt matter if ya was trying to hypo them

 

[ellebelle]

.... you don't QT them? Fairy and flasher wrasses don't need sand. But you would be wise to put at least a plastic container of sand in a quarantine tank if you are QTing any of the sand sleeping ones.

 

[jejton]

I do QT but I dont keep sand in the QT as I was told it just makes it harder to keep the water pristine, plus if I ever need to medicate, then I have to get rid of the sand afterwards IIRC. The fish left is a flasher so I wont bother with the sand but once its out, I'll upgrade to the larger QT tank and make sure to put a container of sand when I find a new melanarus.

 

[KathyC]

Were you adding any medication to the QT and was the tail of the Melanrus chewed up when he went into QT?

btw..IF you had put sand in a QT and eventually found the fish had a parasitic or bacterial disease, you would want to break down the tank afterwards anyway and completely dry it out. The sand would end up in the trash.
For a fish that requires a sandbed (like the melanrus) imo you should have provided at least a partial one to help them remain less stressed.

I would increase the rate of water changes to get the ammonia down to zero. If you can't do that, then add the proper dosage of 'Prime', but remember, it will skew the results of any subsequent ammonia test you run.
If the whitish area of the wrasse has been seen prior to his death, I might have leaned toward bacterial, but you said you are unsure. I'd keep the 2nd fish in QT for at least another couple of weeks.

Sorry for your loss, a beautiful fish

 

[jejton]

Kathy - I cant recall if the tail was chewed up or not. I want to say no but I cant recall for sure. I haven't been medicating my QT'd fish but I am leaning heavily towards starting ( see my other thread ). Once the remaining fish finishes its QT, I'll set up the larger tank, with a small container of sand and start looking for a new melanarus. As for the ammonia, the test was clear, but the salifert doesnt have a 0, only 0-.025 hence my first post. I try to do WC every day but realistically I sometimes miss a day. I hope to have better luck next time. They are a beautiful fish and I dont see them often.