Six Line Wrasse beating himself up!!!

[bcasper1979]

Ok... so the other day I bought a six line from my LFS. It looked great in the store, and the owner feed it in front of me so I know it was a healthy fish, no imperfections. I have had him now for about 4 days, and he has ripped a chunk out of his dorsal fin, and has loosened 2-3 scales on both sides. His pectoral fins are also starting to look pretty worn. The only thing that I can think of is that he is beating himself up. He is supper aggressive towards his reflection is why I say that. Maybe the flow in the tank is to strong? IDK any ideas? The photo is a little hard to see, buy you can see the whiter spot on his dorsal.

 

[bcasper1979]

Sorry I forgot to do this. PH = 8.2 Nitrates + .05 Nitrites = 0 Ammonia = 0

 

[Sir Alex]

I can't see the picture too well, but it kinda looks like ich. And if he does have a parasite he might be rubbing on rocks, thus why he seems damaged.

Can you get a better picture?

 

[little_fish]

is he the only fish in the tank and what size tank is he in?

 

[bcasper1979]

He is the only fish in the tank, it is a 10G nano. Hopefully this is a better picture for you guys. Its at about the limitations of my camera. He does share the tank with a peppermint shrimp, a margarita snail, blue and red legged crabs.

 

[little_fish]

Well, that tank is a little small for such an active fish. He could be scraping himself as he swims through the rocks or like you mentioned, battering himself against the glass trying to get at his reflection. I would keep a close eye on it and make sure that he is eating.

 

[bcasper1979]

Here we go, this is the best I can do for ya!!

 

[little_fish]

I do have to admire your camera skills for managing to catch a picture of these guys, I know how hard it is.

 

[bcasper1979]

He seem to be eating real well. I fed him this morning, and he ate real well.

 

[bcasper1979]

I know they are pretty hardy, and can bounce back, but I am worried about him.

 

[little_fish]

I would be worried about the continual stress of being in a small tank. A better choice for that tank would have been a clown goby, cardinal or a clown. All of those fish use less space and would have adapted better to a smaller tank.

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone...tank's too small. The white things look like scrapes from the rocks. One of my fish gets scrapes now and then. Nothing as bad as yours, but his looks like that. Goes away after a day. If yours is stress, it might not stop.

 

[Northstar24]

Also, you posted that you have measurable nitrites - that is definitely an issue. Do water changes to get those under control

 

[Samhain]

Sorry I forgot to do this. PH = 8.2 Nitrates + .05 Nitrites = 0 Ammonia = 0

North, I think he meant Nitrates were 0.05, nitrites were 0 and ammo was 0. If that's the case, his levels all look decent....

 

[little_fish]

I agree with North on this issue, if you have measurable nitrate, you need to take steps to correct that. Im not sure how it became ok to have nitrates on this site. Even if your fish dont get sick at that level, all your CUC and other microscopic inhabitants suffer.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I always have traces of nitrates and my fish, snails and crabs are fine. I would say its that the tank is too small for that particular fish.

 

[Kizmar]

My Six Line keeps fighting with his reflection when there aren't people near the tank. After seeing how aggressive he can get, it wouldn't surprise me if he damaged himself while doing it.

I'm going to try a DIY trap to catch my Six Line to get him out of the tank. Way too aggressive.