Problems getting flow right in nano, especially for firefish.

[AquaLogic]

I've got a 9 gallon Eshopps Deskmate Florida. It's a couple of months old.

Inhabitants:
1 Firefish
1 Orange stripe prawn goby
3 cerith snail
1 astrea snail
1 baby dove snail
3 Sexy Shrimp
1 Hammer coral
1 Rock Flower anemone
1 very small zoanthid colony

Flow:
AI Axis 20 return pump
Jecod ELW-3M wave maker (This is the smallest lowest flow wavemaker I could find)

These fish were quarantined in copper, and treated with prazi and general cure. They were also fed metro to treat for internal parasites. They should be clean, and they appear perfectly healthy. It's a very peaceful tank. The prawn goby has never been aggressive towards the firefish. He was just a baby when I got him and they went through quarantine fine.

My problem is, the firefish especially, seems to tolerate 0 flow. I can have the return pump running at 1% and barely moving water and she hides. It's like shes allergic to literally any flow at all. She's skittish as heck which I have read is not uncommon for "dart fish".

My question is, is she ok? I don't care if she wants to hide but I don't want to stress her with too much flow. However, I obviously can't run the tank with zero flow. I'm not at all new to the hobby, but this is my first firefish. She eats fine, twice a day. The sexy shrimp are totally fine just doing their thing, not get blown around the tank, so it's frustrating that the fish behave as if even a tiny bit of flow is super intimidating. Is my firefish a little "special" ?

Any input appreciated, thanks.

 

[mues]

I have very high flow in my 150g with two fire fish that will sit in the direct flow all day. More likely she is just skittish and adjusting still. Mine go on periods of weeks of hiding and then start coming back out again for hours on end.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

I also have a firefish that I got back this past fall. I have a 20g for reference. Mine does just fine with the maxmium flow. Sometimes he does dart around and will hide for periods of the day, but he seems healthy and eats well.

If yours is eating fine and looks healthy, it's likely she's just a shy little one. :)

 

[Doctorgori]

added sample: my fire fish hover directly in front of a Nero 5