Bangaii cardinal breathing heavy but eating good

[DSD]

I don't see any signs of ick or pop eye disease, my levels are
PH 8.3
nitrite 0
nitrate 20-have been this way for a long time and for some reason can't get it any lower
ammonia 0

I have a neon damsel, maroon clownfish, and coral beauty in the tank and they have been doing great for a couple months, the cardinal was just added a week ago and was doing great. I watched them all very closely for this week and know very well that the damsel, clown, and coral are all semi-aggressive but they never bothered the cardinal(EVER, not even a little this whole week.) I have not added chemicals and my emerald crab, turbos, hermits and brittle star are all doing very well also. Can't figure out what could possibly be wrong. Any help would be very appreciated. I just did a 20% water change tonight. Thank you for any help

[Parrothead]

tank size????

type of filtration????

Source water for top off and water changes???????

Lighting?????

Substrate??????

Alk??????

Cal?????

Please give us additional information about the tank, and symptoms of the fish, how long has the fish been acting this way?? we have a genius here in this forum, he is very, very good, the above are just some basic things he and the rest of us need to know in order to help

[DSD]

29 gallon biocube with the standard lighting it comes with as well as filtration, I did get purchase some activated carbon and bag just to help a little with it and put it down by the pump. When I first set up the tank a year ago I used live wet sand that was in a bag. I have plenty of live rock that was also put in at time I set up the tank a year ago. I use a R/O for my water changes and top off and the membranes are not bad yet.

Calcium 500ppm
Alkalinity is 161ppm

I do water changes every two weeks(20%) and the LFS told me this would be fine to keep the calcium level and alkalinity as well as PH in check.

Bangaii is still breathing heavy this morning but is not floating near ground, it is back up towards the middle of the live coral in the front of the tank where it likes to be but doesn't seem nearly as active as the first week it was put in. It never was breathing heavy until yesterday and the other fish still aren't bothering him. ?????

[leebca]

Thanks for the additional information. It was needed. These are some of my observations:

1. The tank is over-crowded. That sized aquarium is good for about 2 fish the size of a small Anemonefish. The Maroon is not one of them. The female Maroon will grow to about 6 inches and then it will be the only fish suitable for that tank. The tank is good for two/paired Anemonefishes that are of the small size -- like Amphiprion ocellaris.

2. The clean up crew is too large -- too many inverts for that aquarium.

3. The new fish should have been quarantined first. Not sure if you did this. You don't want to kill off all your fish because one new fish was sick. A Quarantine Process (step-by-step).

4. Unfortunately, our aquariums are not maintained like the sea (Natural Sea Water - NSW). We need to keep the calcium and alkalinity at higher levels to offset the uptake of these chemicals by the lifeforms in the tank. What is most important is that Calcium, Magnesium, and Alkalinity be kept in balance -- not just in range -- in balance. You can get more info about this here: What is Water Quality. Once they are balanced, keeping them there for a fish tank is easy. It is these three ingredients which control pH. If you do put them into balance and keep them in balance, you'll not have to worry about pH -- unless something goes wrong.

5. I have no problem with your choice of size and frequency of water changes. Just keep in mind it isn't doing what you've been told it's doing (see 4. above).

6. The fish is obviously stressed. Could be the overcrowding. You should be testing the water for ammonia and nitrites about 3 times a day and after two days, report the results. Especially test the water 1 hour after a feeding.

7. Reason for 6. is that I suspect water quality issues on top of maybe an acclimation problem. Did you follow this procedure for acclimation? It Was Acclimation, I know. . .

8. I would, in line with 6 & 7 check your source water quality. What kind of water are you using to make up your salts with? to make up for evaporation? Have you checked it for ammonia, nitrites, phosphates, silica, nitrates, etc?

The things to do now is do more water quality checks using test kits (NOT test strips). Get rid of some of those inhabitants -- find a new place for them. Do a huge water change -- 80% or more. Since this is a large change, follow these guidelines: How to Make a Successful Water Change

If the Bangaii perks up a bit after the huge water change, it might be a sign that conditions in the tank are just not tollerable for another fish of this kind.

You may be getting less than good guidance from your LFS or other people. Overstocking is one of the things LFSs like. It sells more marine life and as the fish die, the hobbyists keeps buying more. Your LFS very unlikely has kept all the fishes they sell in their own home aquarium, so they really don't have knowledge or experience about the long term care of marine life. You want to give this a read: Fish Stocking Limit - for FO and FOWLR

You should start reading. Read; read; and then read some more. ;)

Check out some of the posts here:
Table/Contents - Link List

Good luck!

[DSD]

Thank you for your response. I will update after doing and checking what you've suggested.