Treating a Coris Wrasse

[PSU4ME]

Hi Lee,
I picked up a freshly shipped yellow coris wrasse on Thursday (he hit the LFS on Wednesday). I put him in a QT tank with the first half dose of cupramine......on Saturday I went to the full dose and i'v slowly seen him slow down.....then today he really slowed down and now i'm concerned. he is still breathing and moving when spooked but definitely not right.

I read that coris wrasses are not good candidates for copper treatments......but i wanted to check with you. I have him out of the QT now into another tank with regular SW in an effort to save him but we will see.

Would you recommed anything particular to try and save him? I think the copper put a hurtin on him.

For the future, how would you treat a yellow coris wrasse for ich?

Thanks

 

[steved13]

Is the wrasse showing signs of ich?

 

[PSU4ME]

He wasn't but I had everything set up.....tank is fallow and i didn't want to chance it so i treated him....."do no harm".....I know, I shouldn't have treated him.

 

[steved13]

I'm not the best with diseases, I've been lucky enough to not have any experience

I think I remember reading only certain fish should be treated with copper prophylactically, such as certain Tang species. Like you said...

Have you removed the copper, and checked the water?

 

[PSU4ME]

Yeah he isn't on the list of proactive treatments. He is out now and into another tank without any copper (which may or not be a problem considering the sudden change).

Wondering if there is a good way to pull a fish out of a "copper spiral".

 

[steved13]

Hopefully Lee will be by soon to give you an idea.

Knowing nothing, I would use plenty of carbon, and keep the water quality tip top.

Is he eating?

 

[PSU4ME]

He ate a little yesterday and i'm at work now so I haven't fed him yet. Update report from the wife doesn't lead me to believe he will eat when i get home. Yesterday he only picked off the bottom - i could definitely see an appetite pullback from saturday to sunday....figuring worse today.

 

[steved13]

I'm hoping he makes it.

 

[PSU4ME]

yeah.....I think his fate may be decided.

 

[dmatt88]

Good luck bry.

..........rarely am I speechless

 

[PSU4ME]

He kicked the bucket..... Poor bugger.

 

[steved13]

sorry Bryan

 

[leebca]

Sorry. Had computer problems. Sorry to hear of the loss.

Cupramine is safe even for the scaleless fishes, so there is no problem with using it, providing it is used properly. More times than not, if its a copper treatment problem, the problem is with the hobbyists and in the case of Cupramine, never with the medication.

I would not have treated the fish unless it showed signs of a disease that was treatable using copper. Copper is a poison, no matter what, and should only be used when necessary or when the odds of infection outweigh the effects it has. As a poison, it shortens the lifespan of the fish. In this case, it would not shorten it that much. The fish was not going to get along with captivity, in my opinion.

 

[PSU4ME]

Thanks Lee. I talked to the store and they said they had a problem with the fish shipment.....it got delayed in transit and they said they had a lot of deaths....offered me another but i passed and got one from bluezooaquatics.com.

I hope i didn't screw up the treatment.....i followed your directions and all the other fish made it so as you said, this guy just wasn't able to make the change.

 

[leebca]

I think that makes sense. The fish justs wasn't handled properly. Nothing you could do for it. Sorry again for the loss. Shame on the those people!

 

[Funlad3]

Thanks Lee. I talked to the store and they said they had a problem with the fish shipment.....it got delayed in transit and they said they had a lot of deaths....

You have to wonder sometimes why they don't tell you these things ahead of time, especially when they're willing to replace the fish afterwards.

 

[PSU4ME]

I agree. It was my fault though..... Bought it from the 14 year old kid that works there, I should have asked someone else. I knew they just arrived (website stated that) but I didn't know they were delayed in transit.

I'll post pics of the new guy when they get in.