Fairy Wrasses Dying in QT

[SaracensRugby]

Ok,

Need some guidance here. QT Has been used previously and set up for about 6 months. new water in there. Put in 3 fairy wrasses and 3 lyre tail anthias. All looked fine and active going in. within 24 hours two anthias died, got refund from LFS. Bulging eye kind of, but no other spots or visible skin issues.

Now 2 weeks in, and I have lost 3 wrasses. One was swimming upside down after the first few days, so guessing some bladder issue from what I read. He died from lack of food is my guess, or whatever internal injury that caused him to swim upside down non-stop. Since then two more wrasses, who otherwise looked healthy, basically within 48 hours perished. They are all eating frozen no problem, and no visible skin issues that I can see upon death.

My treatment so far has been metro and prazi. I assumed that those were softer on the wrasses to start versus copper, and get them eating and in good health. But they are dying slowly. Still have 1 anthia and one wrasse left. I did a 50% water change a week ago, not sure if I move the remaining fish to my other QT tank.

I don't think it is ammonia, since it is a 45 gallon tank, small fish, and it has been up and running with sponge filters for 6 months now. I don't have an ammonia kit at the moment, but would be flabbergasted if that is it.

Thoughts?

 

[MnFish1]

Ok,

Need some guidance here. QT Has been used previously and set up for about 6 months. new water in there. Put in 3 fairy wrasses and 3 lyre tail anthias. All looked fine and active going in. within 24 hours two anthias died, got refund from LFS. Bulging eye kind of, but no other spots or visible skin issues.

Now 2 weeks in, and I have lost 3 wrasses. One was swimming upside down after the first few days, so guessing some bladder issue from what I read. He died from lack of food is my guess, or whatever internal injury that caused him to swim upside down non-stop. Since then two more wrasses, who otherwise looked healthy, basically within 48 hours perished. They are all eating frozen no problem, and no visible skin issues that I can see upon death.

My treatment so far has been metro and prazi. I assumed that those were softer on the wrasses to start versus copper, and get them eating and in good health. But they are dying slowly. Still have 1 anthia and one wrasse left. I did a 50% water change a week ago, not sure if I move the remaining fish to my other QT tank.

I don't think it is ammonia, since it is a 45 gallon tank, small fish, and it has been up and running with sponge filters for 6 months now. I don't have an ammonia kit at the moment, but would be flabbergasted if that is it.

Thoughts?

1. Metro and Prazi may not go well together and Metro is not a recommended medication for QT
2. Without a test it's hard to say ammonia is not an issue. But - agreed
3. It is most likely - that the fish have some kind of ich/velvet - that would have been treated with copper (though wrasses can be more resistant)
4. Are you sure you kept the doses correct?

EDIT - a bulging eye can suggest a bacterial infection - but that would be unlikely IMHO to spread

 

[SaracensRugby]

I believe i kept the doses correct, I used the same water levels (marked on tank) and doses as I have done previously, and completed successfully with several rounds of anthias and tangs in this same QT.

I will do a 50% water change tonight and start copper. Thanks for the insight. Hopefully my guess on starting the other way around (metro and prazi) didn't cost me $200 in fish. SMH. This hobby some days....will test your patience and wallet to the extreme.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok,

Need some guidance here. QT Has been used previously and set up for about 6 months. new water in there. Put in 3 fairy wrasses and 3 lyre tail anthias. All looked fine and active going in. within 24 hours two anthias died, got refund from LFS. Bulging eye kind of, but no other spots or visible skin issues.

Now 2 weeks in, and I have lost 3 wrasses. One was swimming upside down after the first few days, so guessing some bladder issue from what I read. He died from lack of food is my guess, or whatever internal injury that caused him to swim upside down non-stop. Since then two more wrasses, who otherwise looked healthy, basically within 48 hours perished. They are all eating frozen no problem, and no visible skin issues that I can see upon death.

My treatment so far has been metro and prazi. I assumed that those were softer on the wrasses to start versus copper, and get them eating and in good health. But they are dying slowly. Still have 1 anthia and one wrasse left. I did a 50% water change a week ago, not sure if I move the remaining fish to my other QT tank.

I don't think it is ammonia, since it is a 45 gallon tank, small fish, and it has been up and running with sponge filters for 6 months now. I don't have an ammonia kit at the moment, but would be flabbergasted if that is it.

Thoughts?

Bulging eye can be as simple as an injury or fungal/bacterial. Its hard to assess an eye without pics under white lighting.
metro is often used by many reefers and it must be used precisely or youre going to have problems. If you had a sudden rise in tank temperature or ammonia, it may also be gas embolism.
Its never a good idea to mix medications but Prazi has glycol agent in it and I believe would be affected by addition of metro. Prazi also reduced both oxygen and appetite and may have played a role.
Offer additional oxygen with airstone and monitor ammonia levels with a reliable test kit. With internal injury if so, you would see pinched head or belly. loss of appetite, elevated breathing and more,
When you found the dead fish, were their mouths open like below?

 

[SaracensRugby]

I did not notice the mouths open like in your pic. Last time I used prazi (by itself), I noticed the fish struggling for air, so I added another sponge filter in there to drive oxygen....it fixed the issue at the time so I kept it that way.
Hate when I potentially make mistakes that cost the little fellas lives.