leopard wrasse problems

[Ricky@3rdshift]

Ok so I picked up a leopard wrasse friday that looked good, was eating , swimming etc...

I acclimated him, feed him mysis shrimp, and he was hanging out doing well etc...

tonite I come home to him spazing out floating on the sand upside down, breathing hard etc... and his belly was swolen up as well as him dropping long white strings of nasty stuff out of his anus.

Anyone have a clue what this is?

he is dead now after about 3 hours of this , but I still wanna know just in case i need to medicate my other fish.

Two possible causes, an internal parasite or a bacterial infection. Given the swollen belly, I would suspect bacterial. Treatment would most likely have been ineffective given the quick death vs first noticing a problem. Maracyn II for SW (treated in a QT) for 7-10 days at double the dose added each day would have been the best approach.

If parasitic, Metronidazole would be a good first approch or Piperazine if that was not effective.

No symptoms leading up to this? Seems quite sudden....

Cheers
Steve