gmdcdvm
Supporting Member
Hello,
Just another update with a lot more details.
I just wanted to share a video some of you may find interesting. The day before we were supposed to leave for a Disney trip in early April, I found my blue throat fairy wrasse hiding during the day. Of course it happens as we are about to leave town. His colors were very pale, his breathing was very rapid, and he was unable to swim normally. I was worried if this could be some sort of injury, was he beaten up by another fish, or was this the reported unknown neurologic disease that some wrasses get. There had been no new fish introduced in over a year, but there had been some new frags. At first, I thought I would euthanize him but then decided I would take a chance and see what he does. I took a risk knowing if he died, I could get an ammonia spike that could cause other issues, but figured the tank was big enough to take that risk.
I informed my pet sitter about it and left the next day. You can imagine my surprise when 3 to 4 days later he sent me a quick video of the wrasse. He was still alive, eating, color had improved, but he was still having significant difficulty swimming. Most of the time the tail was down and not really moving. He was having a hard time staying horizontal. I came home a week later to find him still alive and other than the swimming issue he was doing pretty well. No one else was picking on him and he was able to compete for food. I wish I had taken an initial video of how bad he looked early on, but since I did not expect him to make it, I wasn't motivated. I did some research and reached out to a few people on humblefish and R2R. The general consensus was that if it was UNWD (unknown neurologic wrasse disease) he would be dead in days to a couple of weeks. If it was a spinal cord injury who knows what may happen. Well, I don't want to jinx it, but it has been 11 weeks now. He continues to show improvement. About 3 weeks ago I noticed a slight bend in his spine when looking at him from the top down. Now it looks almost straight. I took a few videos over the last 3 months and one just yesterday to show the progression. As of now he is almost back to normal. He is no longer swimming like a sea horse (straight up and down, or dragging his tail), he can handle the current better and now remains horizontal most of the time.
Here is the video link, the first clip is about 2 weeks in, and the last clip is yesterday. No audio, so sorry if it is a little boring.
Gerry
Just another update with a lot more details.
I just wanted to share a video some of you may find interesting. The day before we were supposed to leave for a Disney trip in early April, I found my blue throat fairy wrasse hiding during the day. Of course it happens as we are about to leave town. His colors were very pale, his breathing was very rapid, and he was unable to swim normally. I was worried if this could be some sort of injury, was he beaten up by another fish, or was this the reported unknown neurologic disease that some wrasses get. There had been no new fish introduced in over a year, but there had been some new frags. At first, I thought I would euthanize him but then decided I would take a chance and see what he does. I took a risk knowing if he died, I could get an ammonia spike that could cause other issues, but figured the tank was big enough to take that risk.
I informed my pet sitter about it and left the next day. You can imagine my surprise when 3 to 4 days later he sent me a quick video of the wrasse. He was still alive, eating, color had improved, but he was still having significant difficulty swimming. Most of the time the tail was down and not really moving. He was having a hard time staying horizontal. I came home a week later to find him still alive and other than the swimming issue he was doing pretty well. No one else was picking on him and he was able to compete for food. I wish I had taken an initial video of how bad he looked early on, but since I did not expect him to make it, I wasn't motivated. I did some research and reached out to a few people on humblefish and R2R. The general consensus was that if it was UNWD (unknown neurologic wrasse disease) he would be dead in days to a couple of weeks. If it was a spinal cord injury who knows what may happen. Well, I don't want to jinx it, but it has been 11 weeks now. He continues to show improvement. About 3 weeks ago I noticed a slight bend in his spine when looking at him from the top down. Now it looks almost straight. I took a few videos over the last 3 months and one just yesterday to show the progression. As of now he is almost back to normal. He is no longer swimming like a sea horse (straight up and down, or dragging his tail), he can handle the current better and now remains horizontal most of the time.
Here is the video link, the first clip is about 2 weeks in, and the last clip is yesterday. No audio, so sorry if it is a little boring.
Gerry
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