Brand New Firefish acting strange

[Sharkbait19]

Today I bought my first two fish, an ocellaris clownfish and a firefish. I float acclimated them for about an hour, and released them into the aquarium. My concern is about the firefish. All through the car ride from the store and through the acclimation process, he was very sedentary, laying motionless at the bottom. Probably stressed out. He looks pretty normal, though a bit thin, so I’ll try feeding him. However, after about 15 minutes of happily exploring the tank, he got sucked into the intake, and I had to turn off the filtration until he got off. Since then, he’s been laying down on a rock. Should I be concerned?

 

[vetteguy53081]

acclimation May be a cause. Float yes but empty into clean container and add cup of water every 15 mins 6 times.
Within knowing bag salinity, shock could have occurred and never enter bag water into tank

 

[Sharkbait19]

I didn’t add any bag water, and matched the salinities during the acclimation process. I’m mainly concerned about the filter. If he’s healthy, should he be able to escape? Or is this a big problem?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Uh oh.... there may be a cause for concern. He entered a rock, and never returned. Is this normal firefish behavior, or should I begin a search and rescue?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Healthy fish really don't get stuck onto filter screens. The firefish is a bit thin, but not terribly so. I see a lot of issues with stores keeping their specific gravity low, and then at home, the SG is higher. Fish do not acclimate easily low to high (they can however go from high to low in a flash). Do you know the bag SG and how it compares to the SG in your tank?

Jay

p.s. - here is my simple acclimation technique:

A simple acclimation process
The following process is one that should be employed for all normal acclimation of animals from one system to another.

1) If possible, determine the water quality values for the aquarium that the fish will be coming from and adjust the receiving aquarium’s values to a similar range. As mentioned, if the values can be made nearly identical, no acclimation process is even required.

2) The fish must be transported from one aquarium to another in a manner that minimizes additional stress. The fish should be kept in the dark, and supplemental aeration or oxygen must be used for any transport lasting longer than about 30 minutes. Heat or ice packs may be required to maintain a proper water temperature during long transports. If you have control over it, handle the transport container carefully to avoid exposing the fish to any undue physical shock. Remember that losses during transport are always skewed to the very end of the transport time, so delays must be minimized.

3) Once at the destination aquarium, turn off the tank lights, dim the room lights and float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 10 to 15 minutes. This is sufficient to equalize the water temperatures.

4) If you don’t already know the values, check the pH and specific gravity of the aquarium and the shipping water. Long-duration shipments (greater than 24 hours) need to be handled differently and are described below. Avoid any increases in specific gravity greater than .004 units—adjust the receiving tank’s specific gravity to match that in the transport bag.

5) Open the bag, and roll the top in on itself to form a floatation collar. Remove as much of the shipping water as you can while still keeping the fish in an adequate volume of water. Add to the bag a volume of aquarium water that equals 25% of the volume of water in the bag. (For example, if the bag holds 8 ounces of water, you would add 2 ounces of tank water.) The fish is now 20% equilibrated. Wait five minutes.

6) Remove enough water from the bag to reduce it to its starting volume, and now add a volume of tank water that equals 50% of the volume in the bag. Wait another five minutes.

7) Remove water from the bag a third time, again reducing it to the starting volume, then add a volume of tank water that equals 100% of the water in the bag (the bag is now 75% equilibrated). Wait five minutes.

8) Release the specimen into the tank. Most aquarists avoid letting any of the acclimation water enter their tank. If the animal has been released into a tank housing other fish, monitor them very closely for signs of compatibility problems.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Healthy fish really don't get stuck onto filter screens. The firefish is a bit thin, but not terribly so. I see a lot of issues with stores keeping their specific gravity low, and then at home, the SG is higher. Fish do not acclimate easily low to high (they can however go from high to low in a flash). Do you know the bag SG and how it compares to the SG in your tank?

Jay

p.s. - here is my simple acclimation technique:

A simple acclimation process
The following process is one that should be employed for all normal acclimation of animals from one system to another.

1) If possible, determine the water quality values for the aquarium that the fish will be coming from and adjust the receiving aquarium’s values to a similar range. As mentioned, if the values can be made nearly identical, no acclimation process is even required.

2) The fish must be transported from one aquarium to another in a manner that minimizes additional stress. The fish should be kept in the dark, and supplemental aeration or oxygen must be used for any transport lasting longer than about 30 minutes. Heat or ice packs may be required to maintain a proper water temperature during long transports. If you have control over it, handle the transport container carefully to avoid exposing the fish to any undue physical shock. Remember that losses during transport are always skewed to the very end of the transport time, so delays must be minimized.

3) Once at the destination aquarium, turn off the tank lights, dim the room lights and float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 10 to 15 minutes. This is sufficient to equalize the water temperatures.

4) If you don’t already know the values, check the pH and specific gravity of the aquarium and the shipping water. Long-duration shipments (greater than 24 hours) need to be handled differently and are described below. Avoid any increases in specific gravity greater than .004 units—adjust the receiving tank’s specific gravity to match that in the transport bag.

5) Open the bag, and roll the top in on itself to form a floatation collar. Remove as much of the shipping water as you can while still keeping the fish in an adequate volume of water. Add to the bag a volume of aquarium water that equals 25% of the volume of water in the bag. (For example, if the bag holds 8 ounces of water, you would add 2 ounces of tank water.) The fish is now 20% equilibrated. Wait five minutes.

6) Remove enough water from the bag to reduce it to its starting volume, and now add a volume of tank water that equals 50% of the volume in the bag. Wait another five minutes.

7) Remove water from the bag a third time, again reducing it to the starting volume, then add a volume of tank water that equals 100% of the water in the bag (the bag is now 75% equilibrated). Wait five minutes.

8) Release the specimen into the tank. Most aquarists avoid letting any of the acclimation water enter their tank. If the animal has been released into a tank housing other fish, monitor them very closely for signs of compatibility problems.

Thanks! The SG of the bags were 1.021 and my tank’s SG was 1.023, which I am raising to 1.025. However, I acclimated them slowly. Ever since the filter incident, the fire goby has been very inactive, mostly remaining in the caves. I’m nervous and don’t want to lose him. He also has a tear in his fin that he hadn’t had before the incident.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They are known hiders , in fact I have a trio and I generally only see them when its' feeding time

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’m probably just a little paranoid over this. It’s my first saltwater fish and cost me $25.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Here is his swimming pattern above

and here is his fin after the filter incident.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

His fins are a bit clamped and he’s bobbing a bit more than normal. Trouble is, that isn’t a specific symptom, more of just a general sign of a problem. He’s not eating, right? How about the clown?

Jay

 

[Sharkbait19]

The firefish hasn’t eaten yet but I’ll try to get him to eat tomorrow. The clownfish was ready to be in that tank since the first second he saw it. He ate everything like a pig, and played with my finger. He even kept uprighting the firefish in the acclimation tank to try to get him to play. The only issue with the clown right now is constantly fighting the heavy current, but that behavior should settle down once he hosts in something. My current guess for the firefish is stress, seeings that he was acting pretty normal until he got stuck in the intake. Since then he’s been bobbing and fins are all clamped up. I’ll see what happens, though. Thanks for the help. I hope he perks up.
Unfortunately observing him is a challenge, as he spends most time underneath a rock, which I suppose is normal for a fire goby.

 

[Sharkbait19]

He’s doing great today! He’s swimming around, eating, and his fins are no longer clamped! I’ll keep everyone posted on his progress, but so far, so good!!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Somehow, his fin also healed up overnight!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Somehow, his fin also healed up overnight!

Wow! Superfish~! I wish more fish reacted like that.....

 

[najer]

Somehow, his fin also healed up overnight!

Result, keep us updated, I lost mine about a year ago, very pretty fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Result, keep us updated, I lost mine about a year ago, very pretty fish.

You can find aquarium updates in my build thread, but I’ll be sure to update this thread as well.

Fluval Evo 13.5 Build Thread

Pictures? Maybe we can spot something to figure out what might have happened. Just to be sure I would also test the water. At this point the hermit crabs have cleaned up anything “picture worthy”. I’ll definitely test the water for any spikes. I’d be shocked to see any. The snail could be...

www.reef2reef.com

Also, how’d you lose your firefish? Is it from age or did it die if disease or jump out?

 

[najer]

You can find aquarium updates in my build thread, but I’ll be sure to update this thread as well.

Fluval Evo 13.5 Build Thread

Pictures? Maybe we can spot something to figure out what might have happened. Just to be sure I would also test the water. At this point the hermit crabs have cleaned up anything “picture worthy”. I’ll definitely test the water for any spikes. I’d be shocked to see any. The snail could be...

www.reef2reef.com

I just started following, I run one of these, get that hole covered!

 

[Sharkbait19]

I just started following, I run one of these, get that hole covered!

Will do!