Do you think my wrasse is dead

[james_r_edwards34]

My wrasse has not come out in 5 days. He has buried himself for a few days before but never this long. Could he be feeding at night? If so on what? I have over 200 pounds of rock in a 125. Do you think I should pull the rock and search through the sand? Not sure what to do at this point. Any help or advice expert or not. Please give some feedback, what would you do in this case?

[Parrothead]

I'd leave the tank be, don't know how long you've had it set up, but messing with a established sand bed is never a good idea, if your wrasse has been gone for 5 days, either he's feeding at night, or he has become food for the micro creatures, watch your water quaility, and just let it ride, I had a lunare do that once didn't see him for over a week and then one day there he was.

[leebca]

Would you share with us the scientific name of the wrasse and how long you've had it?

[james_r_edwards34]

It is a Coris Gaimard apprx, 6" I believe that is the scientific name for a Red Coris Wrasse. I have had all the fish in the tank for at least 10 months. There is a French Angel about 6" still has the juvenile markings, a Percula Clown, Fiji Devil Damsel, 3 Engineer Gobies, and a 3 stripe damsel. There are various "reef safe" zebras, and scarlett legs, and there are about 12 turbo snails and 30 nassarius snails. I have not seen any aggression directed at the wrasse I would guess there is at least 150 lbs of rock in a 125 gallon with a sand bottom. The water parameters are all good.

[leebca]

I posted to another thread you started a couple of days ago.

For this particular fish/species this is a problem. They don't do this. They acclimate well, eat fairly well and adapt/acclimate well to captive life. The 125 is an okay tank for this fish, if it is the standard 6 foot long type, but at its length, longer is better.

The one problem they do have is handling. The larger they are the more damage they take in handling. Those out of the Philippines are probably the worst handled and when there are high loss rates, most are large and coming out of the Philippines.

Have you sneaked up at night and looked to see if it comes out at night? Try looking for it at night at different times during the night. They have been known to be on a different 'clock.'

There is something not quite right. I can only say it would be better if this particular fish was in a 240 or 300 gallon aquarium. Can't help you much more than this unless you want to provide actual and detailed information about your water and system, instead of just saying, 'it''s okay.'

If you're in the mood to provide more info, this is what is needed. Some of this you've answered, so skip that. But otherwise, provide actual test results for everything as the water is right now, along with the details of the other info.


How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration? List all along with their maintenance.
Do you have live rock in the system? How many pounds or amount and where is it put?
Other than live rock hitchhikers, list all marine life & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure?
Foods you use and feeding schedules.
How long have you had this fish? If the fish was recently acquired (6 weeks or less), two more questions: Did you treat it or give it a dip before it went into the aquarium? How did you acclimate it – what procedure?
Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? Any elemental or other additives? Please list all.
Chemistries – Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers for everything. I would like test kit test results, not dip stick results and actual numbers even if you think all is fine/okay. Have these numbers been changing lately?
Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?
Water changes (how much and how often).
What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately?

[james_r_edwards34]

Lee,
Below I have answered the questions. I thank you kindly for helping all of us on this site. I have not yet posted a question without you replying, thanks for sharing the knowledge.

Thanks,
James

How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle? 4/2009
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Standard 125
Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium? No refugium/sump
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration? Fluval FX5 carbon contained in a "marine sock", Coralife Superskimmer 280, and a Koralia powerhead,
List all along with their maintenance. 1X a month for Fluval, as needed for skimmer, never for Koralia
Do you have live rock in the system? Yes How many pounds or amount and where is it put? At least 150 I am thinking closer to 200 staked low in front high in back.
Other than live rock hitchhikers, list all marine life & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.). 5 Zebra Hermit Crabs, 4 Scarlett Leg Hermits, 30 Nasarius, 10 Turbo,
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure? Not adding anymore livestock
Foods you use and feeding schedules. Twice a day a.m. / p.m.
How long have you had this fish? 9 months If the fish was recently acquired (6 weeks or less), two more questions: Did you treat it or give it a dip before it went into the aquarium? How did you acclimate it – what procedure?
Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? No Any elemental or other additives? Kent Essential Elements, Kent Liquid Calcium Please list all.
Chemistries – Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? No, I imagine I need to go ahead and quit being cheap and buy these tests. Please give actual current numbers for everything. I would like test kit test results, not dip stick results and actual numbers even if you think all is fine/okay. Have these numbers been changing lately? I only have the dip stick, 0 ammonia, nitrates, nitrites PH is 8.2. I will get a better kit tomorrow.
Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range) Salinity 31, sp. gr. 1.023 temp 78
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.? I do have some small occurences of red slime, some diatom growth
Water changes (how much and how often). 20% / monthly
What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.) RO purchased from Kroger bulk dispenser.
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks. Nothing
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately? Water change, Cleaned Fluval and media, added trace elements and liquid calcium.

[sunken3]

i have one of these guys.. he goes and hides for days/ weeks... and then i come by one day and he's out and about.. no biggy.. I've thought him dead before... but he always comes back..

a funny story - My 120G was a fish only tank that I wanted to turn into a reef tank, i took out all of my rock and fish... all that was left was water and about 4 inches of sand.. I could not find this coris... I started digging through the sand.. I literally raked it all into a pile on one side and then back again to the other, several times.. I could NOT find this guy.. I gave up.. did a 90% water change (because I fouled it with all of the digging)... stocked the 120G with all my corals and what not.. next morning, walked by and there he was swimming along as happy as a clam.. he is immortal.

[leebca]

There is nothing there that I would suspect to acutely affect this or another fish. However I do spot some things, which over a long period of time may contribute to shortened lifespans of your marine life.

1. I don't recommend hermit crabs. I would stick with snails. Hermit are omnivores but will eat anything they can get their claws on. Unfortunately, this includes your fish and other life forms (including snails). They become more troublesome as they get bigger and older.

2. You have not told me the actual kinds of foods you are feeding. I would encourage you to find a way to increase the number of feedings per day to three. Multiple meals is much better.

3. Test strip water chemistry is a big problem. With test strips you don't know much of anything. You really need to stop taking that short cut and get into test kit results. Test strips don't have the sensitivity (yet) for providing the information needed.

4. You need to monitor alkalinity, magnesium, and calcium (using a test kit). I suggest you go through this post for info on these three: What is Water Quality.

5. RO water is usually not good enough. You can setup and run a marine aquarium using one or two resin beds (DI water) for water purification. You can do the same with a DI added to the RO, but you don't want just RO water. You don't need the purest of water for a FOWLR system, but about the minimum I would recommend would be to have the incoming water filtered, then pass through either a mixed resin or two separate resins (each specialized with the ions they replace), then polished with carbon, and finally stored for use. Next up from this is same filtration and carbon but one resin and a RO unit. Just RO water is below mid-quality for our marine systems. You should look more closely as the quality of your source water -- also worthwhile is to run test kit tests on it.

An irritated fish will exhibit unusual behavior. This fish is normally out during the day with a very good appetite, eating and looking for food daily. However when a fish is stressed, it responds in a way it knows best. As for hiding: these kinds of fishes bury; others will hide in the lower corner or inside their sleeping area; others hang out in the upper corner of the tank; others will just find a way to keep out of sight.

Can't be of more help until you address these items and tell us more about the real water quality. One thing I can suggest -- you get the best source water you can (find RO/DI water to buy or on the high end - distilled water) and do a 75% water change with that new water. I'm by no way suggesting this lightly. I know it will be expensive. Since it will be a large water change, please follow these guidelines: How to Make a Successful Water Change.

[james_r_edwards34]

coris gaimard has re-appeared. He is acting as if nothing happened. He does seem o be a bit more shy. It almost looks as if he grew a significant amount. By saying that I mean you wouldn't know it if you saw the wrasse a day a two before he went into hiding. I honestly believe he grew in that time period. Is it possible that they go into a growth spurt. There does not seem to be much information about these fish.

[leebca]

When they are provided the proper kinds of nutrition in the proper quantities, they grow steadily.