[jhai]

All of a sudden my tank seems to be going a little crazy! I tested all the water parameters this morning; the only thing that was off was the pH so I added some pH buffer and a little B-Ionic Alkalinity to assist.... I was watching the tank and al or a sudden the firefish started shooting around like a maniac, it looked like he was having a epileptic seizures! Al of a sudden he shot down to the sand and laid there on his side for a while then slowly moved under the rocks... I thought I was watching him die!

I looked carefully and saw that he was still breathing, gills moving etc... but I am worried.... Does anybody know what happened? Did he swim through a concentrated patch of the B-Ionic Alkalinity? Did the pH Buffer affect him? Is he dying? Should I take him out of the tank?


I had one last thought, in my tank I have a Bubble Coral, Bubble Tip Anenome and Frog Spawn – could there be chemical warfare happening within my tank that can affect the fish? If so could this be a reason for the Firefish's potential demise.

Any thoughts?

[mistermikev]

have had bubble coral and frogspawn and flower anemonie w firefish for 1.5 + years and no probs. couldn't tell ya.

[PurePerfection]

should be no problem at all...for the corels.. sounds like like someone may be picking on him.. what else is in your tank?

[jhai]

The only other fish in the tank are a clown and a dusky jaw!

After thinking about it could the anemone have stung him as I walked by and he just bugged out for a few minutes?

[PurePerfection]

ok just what i thought the clawn may be picking on him whatch them close...

[mistermikev]

could also be tiny parasites. I have read about little copapod-lookin' guys that bite and draw blood. Stick yer hand in there and see if you get bit. (I am not joking).

[mistermikev]

ps if you wanna read about that look on reef keepin - do a search for articles on copa pods.

[CSeaSee]

How are the other fish in the tank behaving at this point?

[jhai]

Originally Posted by CSeaSee

How are the other fish in the tank behaving at this point?

Everyone is doing fine this morning! Firefish was up and ready for some food! I think his got stung by the anemone and it parallised him for ten minutes and I just happened to witness the aftermath.

I have been asking a couple of my LFS about the ability to keep these guys in the small tank and I get two different answers. One states that as long as the anemone, bubble coral and frog spawn are not touching the other corals they will be fine. However, the other store tells me that there is an invisable chemical warefare going on between the corals and that I should remove the anemone! If I really want to keep the tank as is they suggest adding some charcol to the filtration to assist in removing as much of the toxins as possible.

Whoes correct?

[mistermikev]

your first mistake: talking to anyone at lfs
they could be 1/32 right though. There may be some warfare going on... but I have seen people with a toadstool right next to the best looking acro I have ever seen. Water changes and carbon filtration should do it.

[PurePerfection]

dont worry about the corels. just feed them good..