Is my wrasse sick?

[flora7]

I'm such a ditz, I totally spaced on the name of that wrasse I bought last week. It's got a pretty standard wrasse body shape, but the patterning is kinda similar to my scooter blenny - same vibe, but instead of dark brown, it's this gorgeous earthy red. Definitely not a wallflower, but it doesn't seem to be a bully either - just chases the other wrasse out of its space every now and then. It's way more active at night, and it's not afraid to swim up to my hand.

So this morning, I woke up and it was all white. Still hanging out in its usual spot, but way less active. It popped out for a sec during feeding, but took off pretty quick. It was totally fine last night, swam right up to my hand when I was dropping in some shells for the crab.

My tank's water conditions are always spot on, but the one thing that's changed is my brother added some new fish yesterday without even telling me. They're harmless, but my clown's a bit miffed about the invasion. The new fish are a bird nose wrasse, a small talbot's damsel, and 4 blue chromis. We already had a pair of firtideflow, a skunk clown, the scooter blenny, this mystery wrasse, and another random wrasse (sorry, I forgot its name again... it's just a small pinkish guy, super curious, but not a bully).

It's a 75-gallon tank, and I'm stumped. Is it just sleeping or something? I've never seen it sleep, but it does seem way less active during the day. My blenny turns a bit pale before it sleeps, but not completely white.

[felinxo]

Just had a quick look around online and found a couple of things that might be relevant. Apparently, some cleaner wrasses secrete a mucus-like coating at night, but I'm not sure if that's what's going on here. I also found that some wrasses can turn white when they're stressed or excited - could that be a possibility?

To be honest, I don't know much about wrasses myself, but I'm sure someone with more knowledge will come along soon. It was interesting reading about them online, though.

Seffie x

P.S. Hope your brother got a good telling off - if it's your tank, you should get him to return those fish!

[coltin]

To be honest, I'm a bit confused about what's actually being asked here. Is the concern about the colour change in the fish, particularly at night? If so, I think it's worth noting that many fish change colour at night - some fade to pale, while others get darker. I've noticed that some wrasses will sleep in the sand, but others, like cleaner wrasses, produce a mucous sleeping bag every night. Sometimes you'll see this sack floating around the tank in the morning, and it'll break down in the water later on. As for the birdnose wrasse, I suppose it's possible that it's bullying the other fish, but I'm not sure if that's really relevant to the question at hand.

[flora7]

Definitely not a cleaner wrasse, and I'm pretty sure it's not just sleeping. I didn't see it swimming around at night, and when I woke up, it looked really thin - like it's wasted away in just a day and a night. It's still white and just looks like bones now. The other fish aren't bothering it, though.

I'm starting to think it might be some kind of internal parasite or something. What could make a perfectly happy fish deteriorate so fast? It's really worrying me.

P.S. @seffie: yeah, my brother got an earful, but the new fish are harmless and getting along with everyone. He begged me to let him keep them as a birthday present, and my sisters are obsessed with the talbot's damsel. I actually wanted the chromis, they're really adding some colour and activity to the tank. I just didn't want to get them all at once, but at least there haven't been any water spikes, so that's a plus.

[coltin]

It's definitely looking like an internal issue, and I'm worried it might be something serious. The rapid weight loss and colour change are pretty alarming. I'm thinking maybe it's picked up a parasite or something, like cyanide poisoning or a bad case of worms. Coccidiosis or hexamita are also possibilities. Has anyone else dealt with anything like this before?

Also, is the fish still eating normally?

[flora7]

I've got it in quarantine now, seems a bit more comfortable but that's not saying much. Wasn't too much of a struggle to net it, which is a bit concerning. It's been eating, but not as much as usual, just a couple of mouthfuls and then it's done. Thinking of trying to feed it three times a day since it won't eat much at once. Also, it's started breathing heavily now, which isn't a good sign.

[edit] Actually, forget that, it's stopped eating altogether now. Having trouble staying upright too... I'm seriously freaking out, whatever this is, it's progressing ridiculously fast. I don't think it's going to make it...

[coltin]

Unfortunately, it seems like the situation is pretty dire. Given the rapid decline and severe symptoms, it's likely the fish is dealing with a serious internal issue. These kinds of problems can be extremely challenging to address, and the prognosis isn't great. At this point, it's probably best to just keep the fish isolated and monitor its condition, seeing how things unfold.

[felinxo]

Just checking in - how's the wrasse doing now?