My Yellow Wrasse has been hiding since I got him.

[cvcdrk]

So I've read up on them a lot to prepare and I know they bury in the sand when they are stressed or sleeping. When I first put him on Wednesday in after acclimation he spent about 2 mins swimming around and then he found a good spot and buried himself.

I didn't see him after that. I was getting worried and last night decided to give it one more day. Well today he came out. I wasn't at home but my girlfriend saw him and took a picture.By the time I got home a few hours later he wasn't but then. He didn't come out when I fed either.

At this point I'm most worried that he hasn't ate at least since Tuesday...probably Monday.

At what point do I do something? I don't think I should try to find him under the sand. I feel like it would just freak him out more and could hurt him. Any suggestions?

 

[chuck78]

You should'nt worry, My Red Coris Wrasse did that same thing. I eventually came to the realization that A: The fish is from a different time zone & needed time to slowly adjust to my day/night schedule. B: The fish is still new & hides to keep their stress level down. C: If the fish is "wild caught" then I'm sure that something as big as a human must terrify them, which causes more stress. Give it time to realize that you're not going to eat it. Allow some time for it associate you with food & you'll see it more often. It took about 2 weeks for mine to come out on the regular. Oh! & that wrasse is going to need a bigger tank eventually. Don't believe the myth that a small tank will keep the fish small. The only one that pays the painful price is the fish. It needs a 55 gallon or bigger.

 

[SarahSmile]

I added a flasher wrasse two fridays ago, he hid til the next wed, now he's out and about all the time. Just leave him be and he'll come out eventually to eat.
And +1 Chuck about that wrasse, they need a bigger tank for sure

 

[cvcdrk]

He's fully grown as far as I can tell. Came from a 40g breeder.

I'm just saving him from being euthanized. :-/

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone....one of my firefish went MIA for 3 whole weeks. Didn't see him at all during feeding times after the move to the 125g (when previously he was a big eater). I gave him up for dead. One day, he reappeared, skinny, but alive.