Freak'n Wrasse

Jason McK · #1 08-10-2006, 12:06 AM

So I'm taking down my 45G tank last night. Moving all the coral I want to keep into the 370G. The 45G only has 1 fish in it, An orange sided fairy Wrasse and it is the last thing to be moved. The poor guy really didn't want to be netted it flew around the 45 at mock speed then goes limp and I net him. He doesn't move at all in the acclimation tank and is actually on his side. I thought maybe it just expended too much energy and is way to stressed so I hurried things along and got it into the 370G. It floated around not really able to swim but more just keeping him self upright. It quickly found a hiding spot and I shut the lights and called it a night.

Today I let him stay were he was until around 14:00 then scooped him out with a net. Dead. It was almost as if he broke it's neck racing around the 45G. Is that possible. Any thoughts as to what happened ?

J

christyf5 · #2 08-10-2006, 12:09 AM

Fish are weird. I've had a couple royal grammas croak after having fits like that.

Sometimes the stress is just too much on them, Maybe he had a heart attack from all the racing around. Perhaps a buildup of lactic acid after freaking out like that. If lactic acid builds up in the tissues ( its why your muscles can get sore if you don't stretch after exercise) it can cause rigormortis and the fish eventually dies. Both my royal grammas were stiff as boards within minutes of dying (very unusual).

Funky_Fish14 · #3 08-10-2006, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

it can cause rigormortis and the fish eventually dies.

Christy, I think rigormortis happens after death

I agree with Christy, its quite likely there was a lactic acid buildup or a heart attack, fish can get stressed quite easily and are not used to racing around like mad in a box like that.. also, the tank water may not have been 100% when you were doing so? Lots of suspended particles may inhibit breathing.

Chris

christyf5 · #4 08-10-2006, 02:08 AM

Yes rigormortis does usually happen after death. I suppose another term is warranted but I can't seem to find it. Call it what you will. My fish was stiff as a board and its gills were still pumping away.

Tom R · #5 08-10-2006, 04:07 AM

I was buying a fish from J&L a while back. I spent about 30 to 45 minutes deciding which fish was the best of the bunch. After deciding which fish I wanted John came over to net the fish I had decided on. The netting went reasonably well. While the fish was in the net it went crazy. John put the fish into a bag and it now looked like the letter "L". It was like it had a cramp and never recovered.

Tom R

Jason McK · #6 08-10-2006, 04:48 AM

that's exactly what mine looked like Tom. man oh man

Anyway here is a bad photo of the poor little guy. Alive of course

Delphinus · #7 08-10-2006, 05:00 AM

Fairy wrasses are amazingly sensitive fish, i.e., it probably is like a heart attack or something.

I imagine there's a lot of mortality during importing, all I've ever heard is that they "don't ship well."

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Beverly · #8 08-10-2006, 01:46 PM

Wow. Sorry to hear about these losses

Had our solarensis fairy wrasse in a 20g loaded with extra LR from our 120g for two weeks while we cleaned, sterilized and refilled the 120g. Poor fish got totally freaked when all the rock was removed from the 20g and I was trying to net it. Luckily, it calmed down just prior to netting, and is now back safely in the 120g.

neptune9824 · #9 08-10-2006, 03:42 PM

When fish go into rigormortis it really creeps me out. I have have two wrasses now bury themselves in the sand when they died and you could only see part of there tail sticking straight up in the air. trying to pull them out completely creeped me out.