long nose hawk breathing heavily

[Mikala]

I have a 40g fish only tank that's been set up for about a year and a half. I've had a timor wrasse for about a month and just got a long nose hawk yesterday. I did drip acclimation for about 30-40 minutes and he seemed to be fine all day yesterday. He was fine swimming around this morning, and this afternoon I took a look at him and he's breathing heavily, wedged in between some rock, but still towards the top of the tank. Salinity is at 1.021 and temp at 81 F. The wrasse, crabs, and snails are all fine. The store I got him at said he's been there for several months, so I'm assuming it's just shock. I'm not sure if I should do a water change or just let him fight it I don't want to stress him out further.

 

[lmforbis]

At this point I'd just watch him. I assume you didn't quarantine him. He may be sick heavy breathing is often a sign of parasites attacking the gills. Watch for problems with your other fish as well as this one. This is why we recommend quarantining all fish prior to putting them in the display.

 

[Mikala]

Is there a way to treat the parasite if my other fish starts to breathe heavily?

 

[lmforbis]

You can treat the parasites. The treatment depends on the parasite.

 

[beth]

I would think aggressive unless you actually see a disease problem. Take a good look at him and report other symptoms. A fish doing fine one min, then breathing heavy and wedged in rocks the next can certainly mean he is being harassed.