My 2nd QT - Wrasse

[goldenmean]

Well on Friday the first inhabitant of the QT completed his 6 week stay and was moved to the DT. I also ordered a fish online for the first time.
Today the Velvet Multicolor Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus Luteovittatus)
aka Yellowstreaked Fairy Wrasse or Yellowband Wrasse.

I bought him from The Divers Den at LiveAquaria.com
Diver's Den has extensive quarantine protocals for their fish
LiveAquaria.com Diver's Den® Quarantine Procedure for Fish which includes some disease prevention procedures

Disease Prevention
Fish, such as clownfish, prone to common parasitic ailments like Brooklynella hostilis, are given repeated freshwater baths that contain anti-parasite medication. Clownfish are quarantined for a minimum of four weeks at our facility before we offer them for sale. Other fish such as Angelfish, tangs, certain genus of wrasse, and several other specific species are given therapeutic saltwater baths. These baths contain praziquantel or other medications that eliminate flukes, protozoan, and parasites commonly found on wild fish.

To combat common bacterial infections such as Vibrio, therapeutic baths containing antibiotics such as kanamycin, nitrofurazone, Neomycin and other commercial antibiotics are given. Open wounds on fish are treated and healed with a special topical treatment. In addition to the baths, all quarantined fish are treated with copper sulfate and a 37% formaldehyde solution (Formalin) to combat Amyloodinium ocellatum and Cryptocaryon irritans.

Once they start feeding, all new fish that enter our facility are de-wormed, via frozen food soaked in praziquantel, metronidazole, and piperazine. After the de-worming process, we offer a variety of vitamin-enriched foods to all of the fish. These foods include frozen mysis shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, live ghost shrimp, frozen krill, silversides, roe, dried seaweed, cockle, and even pellet foods.

Quarantine and Observation Period
The quarantine period for each fish ranges from a minimum of two weeks to several months for more delicate species. Throughout the quarantine period, all of the fish are monitored closely, with particular attention to breathing rate, swimming behavior, and overall appearance and demeanor. Once the fish have passed a thorough inspection, they are ready to be acclimated and moved into our main fish system.

Do to that I am planning on putting the Wrasse in QT for two weeks in order to let him recover from shipping and to be sure that he is eating well and eating a variety of foods.

Here is a Photo of him acclimating in the Bag.
He is a natural beauty.

[blue_eyes53813]

Very Beautiful fish jeff...

[leebca]

Impressive marketing, but you might want to reconsider your quarantine time for this fish.

Read at least this: Online sick Fishes

Search, search, and search some more. Retailers (online or elsewhere) make a lot of money from livestock, and put little to no money into saving fishes. When a fish costs a dollar, why spend three to quarantine it, cure it, or hold it? It makes no business sense and, having owned my own business, I can attest to the numbers. Easy to replace every other fish for the customer when I paid $ for it and sold it for $$$ to $$$$$.

Just to provide a point of reference:
Most retailers are asking $40 to $60 for a 3" Powder Blue Tang.
Wholesalers import them for $3., delivered price
Retailers buy them for about $7.

There is overhead and handling of course, but fishes are a commodity to the trade.

I've said this before and I don't think it ethical for me to name names, but I visit wholesalers in the Los Angeles area frequently. I see them packing fishes into boxes with the name and logo of some of the 'online fish retailers' for drop shipment to the retailer's mail order customers. I've ordered fish online to find it originated from Los Angeles (vis a vis handling records. This isn't bad. It's just that the fish are a commodity.

I'll only mention this once. . .I suggest you perform the full quarantine.

[goldenmean]

Thanks Lee,
I hear what you are saying.

I will say that LiveAquaria does not do this quarantine procedure on all of their fish - Just the ones from the Diver's Den for which you pay a premium.
I understand that I cannot be sure exactly what procedures were done on my fish nor that they were done properly.

I will seriously consider your suggestion.

[goldenmean]

The wrasse stayed hidden but early this evening I offered some mysis and he let go of some of his fear.
Afterwards I caught him exploring the entire QT.
I tried to get some good photos but I didnt have a lot of success.
His colors are more vibrant than in these pics

[goldenmean]

The wrasse has been doing very outgoing. He is all over the tank.
He has been eating well and eating a variety including flake food (Prime reef)
He has not yet eaten pellets but I am working on that.

I did notice something that I wonder if i should be concerned about.
There seems to be blood just under the wrasses scales right where the pectoral fins join the body. Going back to the photos of when I first got him the were noticeable then too although I did not notice them. If you look at the pics of him acclimating in the the bag in the first post you can see it too.
Here are a few pics from this morning and I have circled what I am talking about. I have seen no signs that this is bothering him at all.

Ph is 8.1
NH3 and NO2 are 0
I do 40% water change every other day even though Parameters do not call for it.

[leebca]

Is it on both sides of the fish? Is the mark the same size and shape on each side?

[goldenmean]

Yes Lee, It is on both sides and they do seem to be the same size and shape.
The first two pics in my previous post (#6) show the Right and the Left pectoral fins and this mark respectfully.

[leebca]

Then I would be more inclined to think that the 'thing' is part of the fish's marking.

[Woodstock]

Beautiful fish
How is he doing?

[goldenmean]

Thanks Doni!
Hi is doing great.
Eating well including the pellets now.

I've decided to let him stay in QT the full 6 weeks which mean he will move into the big tank about the time your Picasso youngsters are ready to ship.

[goldenmean]

Luteo, the Velvet Multicolor Wrasse, has now been in QT for 1 month.
He has been doing great.
He has a big appetite and eats a great variety of foods.

Photos of him in the QT do not do him justice due to the poor yellow lights.

Now I am waiting my turn to get a pair of Doni's Grade A Picassos. Or maybe snowcassos?
They will be the next QT inhabitants.

[leebca]

You are to be congratulated for your patience and diligence in what I would call a very strong desire for keeping healthy marine fishes.

[goldenmean]

I appreciate your kind words Lee.
I do believe if you are going to do something you should do it right - especially when it involves the life of another creature.

So I have noticed the last couple of weeks that when my apartment window are closed and the AC is running that I have a hard time keeping the PH of the QT above 8.0 especially at night. I have a PH meter so I can easily monitor PH. With the AC running I had to raise my PH a couple times during the evening. I would add a small amount of PH adjuster to keep the PH around 8.5 in the early evening then I would have to add some more before I went to bed otherwise the Ph would fall to around 7.8. I was careful to not let there be big fluctuations in the PH.

Now that it is not so hot and the AC is off and the window are open the QT maintains a PH of around 8.15-8.25 without me having to do any adjusting.
i just thought this was an interesting observation.

Now that it is not so hot

[tex5620]

I got a question for everybody. You sayed that u used some buffers to change the ph so that it didn't change whenever u had ac on. Is is better to not give buffers and let ph change alittle or risk giving buffers and overkill because of small tank like a QT. What i'm asking is I used to have trouble keeping a QT becuase i worried about ph so much that I ended up causing more trouble by adding buffers than when I just left well enough alone. Mind me I didn't go overboard either adding buffers, just enough to get ph up where I needed it.