[shireelf]

I just added a new rock to my tank. The blue damsel found a cave in it and now he has been in there a day and a half and won't come out. He'll peak out and I can see him inside the rock so I know he is still alive but other than that I have no idea. The tank was running a little warm so I turned down the temperature to 80F. Even when I fed the fish he came out but didn't eat, when he ate like mad yesterday. This is a new tank and we have only had him for about four days, I did a water test and all the values came out fine. Any suggestions?

 

[wake49]

He is still adjusting, especially if you moved some rock around on him. Give him another day or so and he should start to poke his head out and around the tank...

 

[shireelf]

Thanks for the reply, I hoped maybe he was still adjusting. I'll let you know how he's doing in a day or two.

 

[RSully]

Shireef, what else is in your tank. A Damsel that shows that behavior isn't right, they are usually the kings of the tank. Do you have any other fish in there? As a side note, it looks as if you need quite a bit more live rock in your tank. What are your water parameters? right now, most importantly, Amn, Nitates and nitrites? I've never heard of a Damsel needing over a 4hr acclimation period much less a 4 day period.

 

[shireelf]

I got home from work today and found the blue damsel swimming around out in the open, he even ate a little bit.

The only other fish we have in the tank with it is green chromi who has learn to stay away from the damsel. I know I need a LOT more rock in the tank we just started it, quite honestly we didn't know the financial commitment we made when going into salt water, but we are committed. Our plan is to add more rock and get the tank cycled before we add anymore fish. Here is some of the water parameters.
pH 8.2
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate 0.25
phosphorus-0.25
calcium 400
salinity 1.023-1.027 (this has been really hard getting it stable but I've been check it multiple times a day and it's been in this range.

 

[wake49]

Sounds like he's getting comfortable

Where do you get your source water? .25 phosphates can lead to algae problems down the road. I would work on minimizing that...
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[shireelf]

We got an algae bloom going on now but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I've read that algea blooms can be beneficial to new tanks because they get rid of the nitrate and nitrite just as long as you control the population so we are just riding it out since it seems to be under control. I am mixing my own salt water, the water here in Indiana seems to be perfect for salt tanks, a natural 7.9 pH and no chlorine in the water. Tomorrow is my water change day so hopefully that will take care of the phosphate, don't want it to get out of control.

Thanks for all the advice.