Stressed yellow watchman goby help

Lavey29

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I have had my YWG for over a month now and he was eating and sitting nicely on the sand in various rock caves and such. This past week he has been swimming constantly near the surface and breaching the water. Sometimes just floating on top. He has stopped eating. There are no visible signs of disease or parasites but I did freshwater dip him with some prazi added. He is not breathing hard at all. He just seems really stressed. I have not seen any fish aggression towards him at all. My tank is pretty balanced now and all the fish get along well. I did a water change and checked my parameters and everything seems good, no ammonia, 1.026.etc...none of the other fish shows signs of stress. There is plenty of sand and rocks for a YWG so not sure what is stressing him out? Lack of a pistol shrimp?
 

Andresnyc93

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How well oxygenated is your tank? Usually when fish swim towards the surface is to get some oxygen because the lower they’re in the tank the lower oxygen there’s available to them. What’s your ph on? Are your other fish eating? What other fish do you have in the tank?
 

i cant think

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I have had my YWG for over a month now and he was eating and sitting nicely on the sand in various rock caves and such. This past week he has been swimming constantly near the surface and breaching the water. Sometimes just floating on top. He has stopped eating. There are no visible signs of disease or parasites but I did freshwater dip him with some prazi added. He is not breathing hard at all. He just seems really stressed. I have not seen any fish aggression towards him at all. My tank is pretty balanced now and all the fish get along well. I did a water change and checked my parameters and everything seems good, no ammonia, 1.026.etc...none of the other fish shows signs of stress. There is plenty of sand and rocks for a YWG so not sure what is stressing him out? Lack of a pistol shrimp?
Aggression or low oxygen is the first things that come to mind when it’s a fish going up to the surface. What other fish are in there that use the caves?
 
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Lavey29

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How well oxygenated is your tank? Usually when fish swim towards the surface is to get some oxygen because the lower they’re in the tank the lower oxygen there’s available to them. What’s your ph on? Are your other fish eating? What other fish do you have in the tank?
5 wrasses, purple fire fish, indigo dottyback, tailspot blenny, fangtooth blenny, all other fish are normal behavior. Ph 8.1 to 8.3. 02 level has been fine in tank for 10 months with ample surface agitation and skimmer.
 

vetteguy53081

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Likely low oxygen and high salinity ( 1.025)
When you say readings good- what numbers and what test kits are you using ?
 

i cant think

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I agree with the above, and most likely it was the six line in there. But without knowing the other species of wrasse I wouldn’t be able to tell you positively if it was the six line. However those fish are spawns from hell, they stay peaceful as juveniles then snap as adults (I recently found this with my transitioning Jade - It’s not BAD bad but it’s not great either).
 
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Lavey29

Lavey29

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He does do down to the sand at night to sleep. He took the dottybacks sand pit under a coral and the dottyback went to the other side of the tank and dug a new sand pit.
 

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I’m no expert on the matter but I agree the 5 wrasses seems like a lot. I have a little 6 line in my 90, he was the last I added and the last time I tried to add afish he got bullied to death by the wrasse.
Given: 6 lines are wrasses straight out of hell

Keep a close eye on them, my bet would be the bullying also.
Especially since he doesn’t seem to be struggling to breath.

if oxygen was a problem I’d expect the other fish be having issues too
 
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Lavey29

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10 fish+ including 5 wrasse in a 65g? I'd lean towards aggression issue.
Lots of rock hiding space. Fish average 3 inches in length and are all free swimmers except the fire fish who stays close to his cave. I got the YWG near last because he is a bottom fish that likes to stay close to his cave spot to. I see no fin damage at all.
 

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Lavey29

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I’m no expert on the matter but I agree the 5 wrasses seems like a lot. I have a little 6 line in my 90, he was the last I added and the last time I tried to add afish he got bullied to death by the wrasse.
Given: 6 lines are wrasses straight out of hell

Keep a close eye on them, my bet would be the bullying also.
Especially since he doesn’t seem to be struggling to breath.

if oxygen was a problem I’d expect the other fish be having issues too
4 wrasses have been in the tank for 6 months with no issues. 6 line added about 2 months ago and does not bother anyone. He just hunts pods all day.
 
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Lavey29

Lavey29

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I actually think this is the best eclectic mix of fish I've had in my tank with color, size, swimming variations, personality, etc... they are all well fed and there is zero obvious aggression in the tank. They all go to sleep spots at night. It seems to be a harmonious balance.

I'm leaning towards maybe an internal parasite problem with my YWG.
 
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Lavey29

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I thought maybe the 2 leather corals were affecting him somehow with turpenes but I run a big bag of chemipure blue
 
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Lavey29

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The only significant change to the tank has been my refugium which is small maybe 12" x 10". I run the light offset from the coral lights for 12 hours. I was hoping to keep PH balance overnight and better nutrient export. Chaeto is growing like a weed there. Alk is 8.4, nitrates and phosphate slightly elevated at 20ppm and .17. Biweekly 15% water changes. I feed frozen mainly.
 

Jekyl

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Post some white light pics and a short video please.
 
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Lavey29

Lavey29

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Actually just checked salinity again and its 1.025. I did skim a little wet the last few days so may have dropped slightly.
 
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