Red tail Tamarin Wrasse

jdircksen · 05/13/2008, 08:12 PM

I bought a red tail tamarin wrasse last Friday and it isn't doing too well. I'm afraid it won't make it through the night. The only thing it would eat was frozen mysis shrimp and it just chewed it up and spit it back out. It seems to be having buoyancy problems that get worse each day. At first I just thought it was searching the rock for food with it's head down, but now its turning over sideways.
I read about it being a hard fish to keep, but I've never had a fish die this soon. I acclimate my fish for 1-2 hours then put them into the tank. I've never had a problem with ich and the quickest a fish has died is 3 or 4 months. The high fin wrasse I bought 2 weeks ago is doing great.

Anyway, back to the poor tamarin. Is there anything I can do? I netted it without any resistance and put it in it's own container. I've tried frozen cyclopeeze, rod's food, and dry flake food with garlic.

Any suggestions?

Did anyone else get one locally in the last couple weeks? If so, how is yours doing?

osu133lbs · 05/13/2008, 08:46 PM

I got two red tails from phishy about three months ago. They were both doing great until another wrasse became territorial. One of the red tails made his way into the overflow and became weak. The orange back then started beating on him. After the orange back killed one he began working on the other. I removed the orange back and the second red tail is doing great. It may be the other wrasse in the tank. They can be very aggresive in smaller tanks. 120 and under. I love the tamarin and want to get another to match up with the one i have but i will never mix with any other wrasse.

CaveManNOhio · 05/13/2008, 08:55 PM

Wrasses can be very touchy with mixing. But it can be done. Good luck with yours jdircksen.

05/13/2008, 08:12 PM	#1
jdircksen Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 43081 Posts: 659	Red tail Tamarin Wrasse I bought a red tail tamarin wrasse last Friday and it isn't doing too well. I'm afraid it won't make it through the night. The only thing it would eat was frozen mysis shrimp and it just chewed it up and spit it back out. It seems to be having buoyancy problems that get worse each day. At first I just thought it was searching the rock for food with it's head down, but now its turning over sideways. I read about it being a hard fish to keep, but I've never had a fish die this soon. I acclimate my fish for 1-2 hours then put them into the tank. I've never had a problem with ich and the quickest a fish has died is 3 or 4 months. The high fin wrasse I bought 2 weeks ago is doing great. Anyway, back to the poor tamarin. Is there anything I can do? I netted it without any resistance and put it in it's own container. I've tried frozen cyclopeeze, rod's food, and dry flake food with garlic. Any suggestions? Did anyone else get one locally in the last couple weeks? If so, how is yours doing?

05/13/2008, 08:46 PM	#2
osu133lbs Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: San Marcos, Texas Posts: 181	I got two red tails from phishy about three months ago. They were both doing great until another wrasse became territorial. One of the red tails made his way into the overflow and became weak. The orange back then started beating on him. After the orange back killed one he began working on the other. I removed the orange back and the second red tail is doing great. It may be the other wrasse in the tank. They can be very aggresive in smaller tanks. 120 and under. I love the tamarin and want to get another to match up with the one i have but i will never mix with any other wrasse. __________________ When you focus on money, you end up creating something you can't be proud of. But when you focus on what you can be proud of you create money. Current Tank Info: Planning new Nano

05/13/2008, 08:55 PM	#3
CaveManNOhio Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 2,211	Wrasses can be very touchy with mixing. But it can be done. Good luck with yours jdircksen. __________________ When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro....