Sick Fairy Wrasse, could use some second opinions

[Matt LeBaron]

So I noticed yesterday that my Fairy Wrasse was hanging out at the bottom of the tank in a really lethargic fashion, which is very odd for him as he is normally the most active member of my tank and comes to nip at my fingers if I am working in the tank hoping for food. He would move if I poked at him but just enough to move to a new spot and settle down to rest on the bottom of the tank again.

 

Got the hospital tank setup this afternoon and moved him over to it. He's definitely sick, there is no way I could have caught him otherwise. I'm not sure what is wrong with him, no fin damage, no obvious lesions, no ich spots, no bloating. Just some slight discoloration of some of his skin. I have attached a photo because I don't recognize the discoloration as any disease I am familiar with. Unless someone can point me to something it could be I think I'll just treat with a general antibiotic, feed him really well, and hope for the best. Of course it's been so long since I had a sick fish all of my medication is expired but figured I would post here first before heading out to pick something  up.

 

Hoping for some help here because I'm not sure what I'm looking at.

 

[Jon Lazar]

Velvet and brook generally start in the gill tissues where you can't see anything. Often it spreads to the body and you see classic symptoms. But it can kill a fish without any white spots visible on the body. The fish suffocates due to gill damage and excess gill mucus.

 

What other behavioral symptoms has your fish shown besides severe lethargy? Swimming into powerhead flow, rapid breathing, gasping at the surface, and staying in the shadows are all classic symptoms of gill parasites (velvet/brook/ich). Did you notice the fish doing any of these?

 

I would start with a 5 minute fresh water dip. It's a pretty safe and general treatment. I would follow up with copper. I haven't tried chloroquine phosphate with wrasses, but other hobbyists report that wrasses don't tolerate it well.

[VADavid]

Make sure the temp and PH are the same as the salt water he has been in.

 

 

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[Matt LeBaron]

No signs of breathing issues, no swimming into power heads or acting like he's not able to get enough oxygen, just extreme lethargy and no appetite, which are two extremely off behaviors for wrasses. Fresh water dip is a good idea and no harm in a copper treatment so I'll try those I guess for lack of any better ideas. Going to try and get him to eat some Selco soaked food tonight also.