Looking for advice about new Banggai Cardinal fish

[Mrj7]

I received two Banggai Cardinal fish by mail today from a reputable fish quarantine service. These are the first two fish in my new 80g system. The tank cycled for about a month and a half and has no ammonia present. When I received the fish they were in the same bag, and one looked great, the other one was breathing very heavy and fast. I acclimated them, and put them both in at the same time. I left them alone and in the dark for about 10 hours.

Now one of them looks great, he is actively swimming around and checking out his new home. The other one is laying on the bottom and breathing slowly. The fish obviously went through a lot of stress to get here. My first thought is just to leave it alone and hope it will pull through tonight.

Does anyone have any tips on how to help this fish come around? Or is hands off, leave it alone the best solution here? I’m sure the company I got it from will replace it if it dies, but I hope it will survive.

 

[Mrj7]

I was getting worried last night. The fish just sat upright on the bottom for hours and his colors started fading. However, today all his color came back and he is hovering above the sand. Still not eating much if anything, but he does seem to have improved.

 

[crannon]

Any updates? Did he pull through?