Wrasse Dilema. Please help? =(

lyndseydanell

New Member
Alright, well... This is what has happened. My boyfriend's mom freaked out and decided that she didn't want a 55 gallon salt water tank anymore and she was going to kill the fish inside of it. I felt really bad so I told them that they could bring it over to my apartment. When she decided she didn't want the fish anymore she drained all the water in the 55 gallon tank and stuck the fish in a 15 gallon tank. They then transferred it to my apartment. It was roughly 3-4 hours later.
The fish is a Lyretail Wrasse. They've had him for about 2 years. I'll be completely honest. I really don't know much about salt water tanks. I'm the one who mixed the water. When I mixed the water.. I mixed it in a 3 gallon bucket. I used regular water and I made sure that it was 78 degrees and I made sure I added enough salt to make it read 1.021. I also added the recommended amount of Prime and some kind of Reef safe stuff that my boyfriend told me to add over the phone. I repeated that step until I had the tank almost full. I made a little bit of salt water and tried to climate him in the smaller tank before adding him to the larger tank. I added the rest of the water from the 15 gallon tank into the 55 gallon tank and slowly put the fish in. I was also filtering the tank with a filter that was made for a 30-60 gallon tank. When he was in there he went straight to sleep.
Well, as it was filtering the filter stopped working. So I used the 15 gallon filter for the time being and it filtered it pretty well. When I woke up the next morning the tank was completely clear and my fish was fine, he was swimming around and I fed him. I think I fed him a little too much. I used the baby shrimp and I put around 9-13 pieces in there. He ate all of them though. I then went to wal-mart and bought another filter for the fish tank. It was another 30-60 gallon filter. I washed the pads out with clean water and then it started filtering. He was swimming around frantically like normal wrasses do. Around 8 o'clock that night I decided to show my roommate how he ate, because I was excited about it. So I fed him another 5-8 pieces of baby shrimp. He didn't eat all of them so I tried to scoop some out. He went to bed and so did I.
The next morning he was laying on his side at the bottom of the tank. I noticed that the temperature dropped a few degrees so I turned on his heater to make it go back to 78. I figured he was in shock because of the temperature. But, I checked the salts, ph, and water temperature. Everything was completely normal. This happened about 5-6 days ago and he's still laying on the bottom of the tank. He'll move around sometimes and he's breathing fine. I just don't know what to do because I know he can't stay that way forever. What should I do? I think that if it was something Chemically he would already be dead, and if it were shock he would of already shook out of it. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do? Please help me.. =P
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
There are a number of things that could be affecting the fish. One could be acclimation shock. The fish has been through a lot of stress between being moved from a 55 to a 15 gallon tank. Then transported 3 or 4 hours before being thrown into a tank that was just set up.
Another possibility is that the tank is going through a cycle. Have you tested for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as well as temp, pH, and salinity? If not you are going to want to check all of those.
Did you use live rock in the tank when you set it up? If so is it live rock that came out of the tank when it was torn down at the other house, or is it new live rock? Was the live rock out of water for 3 or 4 hours during transport? Any of these things could throw a tank into a cycle. If the tank is cycling, there is a good chance that you will lose the fish.
I would consider these things first. Welcome to the boards and I wish you the best of luck.
If you get numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate post them. It will help everyone in diagnosing what is wrong.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
Well, I know that all the numbers are going to be extremely off because the tank has to be cycling. But my question is what should I do? Should I go to ***** and get pre aged water and just set him in a small sack until the water is done cycling? He's lived this long almost a week in this water. So, I know he's fighting. He's been through a lot and I just want to know what I can do as of right now. I'm thinking about just going to a fish store and asking them for their aged water and sticking him in a sack and giving me some time to fix the only tank that I have for him to live. Any suggestions?
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
Okay, I went to the fish store and picked up some cycle and some water purifier. I added as it was directed and hopefully it clears it up. I do have live rock and it was from the old tank, but I don't think the rocks were left out long enough to kill the bacteria on them. Hopefully this work. I'll keep updating. Thanks for responding. =)
 

aquaknight

Active Member
Sorry for helping to late, but it sounds like you made the right move. There are a number of products that should help in a "crisis" situation, Stability, by Seachem, is one. Another if you can find it is TurboStart, that should help keep the levels under control till the filters established. Bio-Zyme is another.
Be sure to keep doing plenty of water changes so that the levels don't get dangerous.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
see, I asked someone if I should do a water change and they told me no. I'm pretty scared of doing the water change because I use tap water, but I bought this stuff that's suppose to make tap water safe. Also with water changes, I'm very new at this stuff.. I had this hobby practically thrown at me. I'm trying to research as much as I can. With water changes I'm scared on how much to do and I know to get the same temperature and salt water at the right amount. It just freaks me out knowing that his life is in my hands just by the chemicals I add.
Right now after I started the treatments of the water, the water has gotten foggy. He's still breathing and laying at the bottom of the tank. The chemicals I bought it tells me to do everyday for 2 weeks and if I do water changes wont it just take out the chemicals I'm adding? I know you guys are probably oh wow, this girl... lol. But I do admit I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm just trying to figure out everything I can do to help him out. So, any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the reply I'm going to research those chemicals that you said.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
Well, thank you very much. I'm practically freaking out. lol, everyone at work is like Lyndsey!!! It's just a fish!!! But, he's so cute and I want him to follow me around my room like he used to. I'm about to run to town and try to go to an actual salt water store and ask them all these questions and have them stare at me blankly. I'm even thinking about asking someone to come to my house and take a look and see what they can do. But, any inputs you guys have to offer I'm willingly to accept.Thanks so much. =)
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Put the chemicals in at the beginning of the day or something and then do a water change at the end of the day, (10-20% is usually recommended) then after that you can add the chemicals again. Do a water change every week.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
Okay, I'll add the chemicals now, is it okay even though I added the chemicals around 8 p.m. last night and it's around 12:30 p.m. now? I'm scared of adding too much. If I can do it now, I will.. and then I'll do a water change tonight.
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Dont trust everything an LFS says!!!!! They are trying to sell you stuff! You should wait and find ones that are good, that you know are good.
Also i forgot to say use RO water, your lfs might have them, or up here i know a place called commerce and i get like a total amount of 500 gallons for 100 dollars. (i just go in and take however many gallons and take them and then tell them how many im taking and they scratch off how much i took.
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by LyndseyDaNell
http:///forum/post/2714097
Okay, I'll add the chemicals now, is it okay even though I added the chemicals around 8 p.m. last night and it's around 12:30 p.m. now? I'm scared of adding too much. If I can do it now, I will.. and then I'll do a water change tonight.
I would use the chemicals every day (every 24 hours) to every other day. If you add too much chemicals that can be bad...
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
The chemicals I bought are Cycle and some kind of water purifier. I honestly never heard of the RO water. What exactly is that?
Maybe I should go to my LFS and ask them about the RO water and do a water change with that? and then add the chemicals again around 8 o'clock tonight. The water in my tank is foggy so I know there has to be some kind of bloom going on. I just want to act fast so that there isn't MORE stress on him. =(
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by LyndseyDaNell
http:///forum/post/2714114
The chemicals I bought are Cycle and some kind of water purifier. I honestly never heard of the RO water. What exactly is that?
Maybe I should go to my LFS and ask them about the RO water and do a water change with that? and then add the chemicals again around 8 o'clock tonight. The water in my tank is foggy so I know there has to be some kind of bloom going on. I just want to act fast so that there isn't MORE stress on him. =(
do a water change tonight, but go pick up some ro water (reverse osmosis) and add the salt and whatever you normally do. then wait a couple hours then do your water change.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
Okay, how much do you suggest I buy of the RO water? I have a 55 gallon tank. I really appreciate you for giving time to help me out. Thanks! =)
 

kingsmith

Member
RO reverse osmosis its a method of water purification. The water changes are important because as your tanks ccyle large amounts of Amnonia Nitrites/tates are building in the tank posioning the fish you love so much. The water chages dilute these toxins and help the fish. Once the tank is cycled you can do smaller weekly changes
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
I don't think my LCF sells R.O. water. Is there any other water I should try? I have this chemical that says it makes tap water harmless.. is that a lie? I'm about to do a 15-20% water change. Should I go buy purified water and use that as the water change mixed with the salts, etc that I normally do?
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by LyndseyDaNell
http:///forum/post/2714135
I don't think my LCF sells R.O. water. Is there any other water I should try? I have this chemical that says it makes tap water harmless.. is that a lie? I'm about to do a 15-20% water change. Should I go buy purified water and use that as the water change mixed with the salts, etc that I normally do?
umm call around different places or like go on google or something and type in ro water and the place you live. Or something like that. If your just using tap then it can have copper or other things, and the product you are using makes it safe for drinking im guessing. Freshwater fish are hardier than saltwater fish are when it comes to tap water and stuff like that.
Right now i would suggest doing a water change of 5 gallons of water every 3 days or 10 gallons of water every week.
 

kingsmith

Member
What is menat by makes tap water safe (or at least I think) is that is declorinates and nutralizes other chemicals we add to make the water drinkable. IMO you will be allright with the tap water, I think that most avid RO users keep sensitive thing like important corals, so if you want them you should. Though depending on the water in your area it might be contaminated or have minerals that are harmful. I thought I saw you saw the LFS had premixed saltwater you could use that too.
Well I hope I dont get scolded for telling you no RO is okay.
 

lyndseydanell

New Member
I don't think the stuff I bought is for drinking water. I got it from ***** and it's called water conditioner for fresh and saltwater aquariums. It says on it, "makes tap water safe." I know that lunar wrasse are hardy fish and I think this stuff would be okay for an emergency. I'm trying to act fast.
 
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