Wrasse help
 

It appears my scotts wrasse has no scales on the front half of his body on one side. He doesn't come out unless to feed and it looks like he hides in the rocks, not the sand. I tried to get a pic but from the time I noticed to the time I got my camera, he's gone back into hiding.

It's like it's scales have just come off, there's a small bit that's still hanging on. He was out yesterday and I didn't see this then. What's going on?

Anyone??

Sounds like he's being picked on by someone. Can you catch and quarantine?

I watch him when he does come out and no one is bothering with him. I don't know if I could catch him, he's out to eat then gone again, not sure where he's hiding. No qt set up but I do have a tank I could use, or get him in my sump.

is it possible he got wedged in the rock work while sleeping?

My only two guesses would be crabs at night or he got wedged between some rocks. He may not be going in the sand now because its painful. I would definitely try to get him out, chances of him surviving in the open tank are low.

I would guess that either he is being attacked and you're just not witnessing the attacks, or he had some irritation on his scales and was scratching himself vigorously or he just got stuck somewhere and had to aggressively escape.

If he doesn't come out often I would guess that he's being attacked by someone. Wrasses can be skittish but once they acclimate to the tank they tend to be pretty active and social. How long have you had the Scotts?

That would be a possibility. He does come out within a few minutes of food hitting the tank. One thing is my Tominini tang does chase my diamond goby. It looks like the wrasse and goby are in the same area, guess its possible the tang spooked the wrasse at the same time.

My concerns would be catching him and causing more damage to his side. I'll see what he looks like tonight. I'd have to find something that I could trap him in to remove.

Would he be better off in the sump rather than a hastily thrown together qt and would a medicated dip help?

Maybe you could just remove the entire rock that he hides in, probably a long shot but something to consider. A lot less stressful for you and the fish. I have done this on more that one occasion. I return the rock after fish settles and swims out...

I need a picture if its possible.