Firefish lethargic. No obvious symptoms

Kitana_S86 · Mar 27, 2024

I have a 115 gallon FOWLR tank. One of the occupiers is a purple firefish. Usually sticks to itself, sometimes will chase a couple of the other tankmates. It usually sleeps under a big shell on the sand. The other day we noticed our chalk goby had moved all the sand from around the shell and we were affraid the firefish waa trapped so we picked up the shell and replaced the sand and the firefish swam away. Ever since, it's been lying in a corner of the tank barely moving. Sometimes it turns, sometimes the anthena is up and othera down. There are no physical signs of anything wrong with it but it's not swimming or floating and it doesn't seem to be eating. It's been 3 days now. Nobody is bothering it. The other fish or shrimp don't really care. I'm at a loss. Please help.

MnFish1 · Mar 27, 2024

Did you add anything new to the tank? Assume the other fish are ok - and your parameters are ok? Any other illness symptoms? (Breathing, lesions?). I know you said in the title no obvious symptoms - but just checking to be sure.

Also remember - that in the wild these fish have a life expectancy of 18-36 months. (Though they can do better in a tank). hope this helps. Can you send a video of the fish?

Kitana_S86 · Mar 27, 2024

MnFish1 said:
Did you add anything new to the tank? Assume the other fish are ok - and your parameters are ok? Any other illness symptoms? (Breathing, lesions?). I know you said in the title no obvious symptoms - but just checking to be sure.

Also remember - that in the wild these fish have a life expectancy of 18-36 months. (Though they can do better in a tank). hope this helps. Can you send a video of the fish?

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. All other fish are fine. We have had high nitrates for while which we have been trying to fix by changing to frozen foods and doing water changes, but all other fish are happy. The firefish was fine too until the shell incident. I will try to get a video tomorrow morning when the lights are on. Thanks.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 27, 2024

Kitana_S86 said:
I have a 115 gallon FOWLR tank. One of the occupiers is a purple firefish. Usually sticks to itself, sometimes will chase a couple of the other tankmates. It usually sleeps under a big shell on the sand. The other day we noticed our chalk goby had moved all the sand from around the shell and we were affraid the firefish waa trapped so we picked up the shell and replaced the sand and the firefish swam away. Ever since, it's been lying in a corner of the tank barely moving. Sometimes it turns, sometimes the anthena is up and othera down. There are no physical signs of anything wrong with it but it's not swimming or floating and it doesn't seem to be eating. It's been 3 days now. Nobody is bothering it. The other fish or shrimp don't really care. I'm at a loss. Please help.

The question is through intimidation, did the very delicate firefish crash into an object?
Is the fish's breathing normal or elevated?

Please when you get a chance, Post a video under white light intensity to see if anything pops out you may have overlooked