Noob issues with Pearlscale Butterfly

[Cafray]

Sorry to bother, I am concern about my Pearlscale Butterfly. I added the fish to my 36 gallon aquarium 1 day ago. I was advised by my local aquarium store that my water quality was great. I do have a yellowtail damsel that seems to be doing fine. Well my butterfly is hiding between 2 spaces in between my live rock and has a very rapid gill movement. I also did notice some red spot on the side? Don't know if it matters. My current temp is 78F. I did move the filter a little higher than water level to see if aeration would help, it has help with a slower gill movement but I am still preocupied. Thanks for all the help guys been reading non-stop on this forum.

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

Sorry you are having problems with your new fish. Most hobbyists are not informed very well by their LFS. The LFS wants to sell things -- especially fish after you have purchased the equipment.

I would not rely on the LFS to tell you about your water quality. You need to be able to determine that yourself at any given point in time. That means you need to acquire and use test kits for:
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
pH (or a pH meter)
alkalinity
magnesium
and, calcium

When did the LFS last test your water? After or before the fish was put in? I want to know actual test numbers by test kit (not dip stick).

In addition to the above, there is a lot more to water quality than just those numbers and those tests. You see, we (hobbyists) don't have tests for all the other things that can and do go wrong with water quality. You should read this to understand more about what I'm talking about: What is Water Quality.

Rapid breathing is a fish in stress. It is an indication that something is wrong, but without more information, I can't say what is wrong. I need actual water quality numbers; I would like to see the red marks you mention.

If the red is like areas of blood red color, then the fish is indicating a water quality problem. Besides the above things (test kit results, reading the link to water quality, poisons, etc.) I don't know much about your aquarium, equipment, set up, etc., so I can't say if the tank is old, young, when it cycled, is it ready for fish, etc., etc. There are many things that can be 'off.'

These fishes are very sensitive to water quality issues.

For now I want you to do one thing: I want you to do a very large water change. I want you to remove more than 80% of the water and replace it with new saltwater. Because you'll be making this large change, you need to follow the guidelines here: How to Make a Successful Water Change

Do this water change as soon as you can. If the fish improves in any way, then I want to do this same water change the next day, too.

Keep us informed.