A couple of concerns...

[Bucks149]

I picked up a Yellow Coris Wrasse for my 60 cube about this time last week. All in all it is a great fish. It is pretty active moving around the tank and rock work all day. But...upper lip is bleach white and the flesh almost looks torn, or if it is receding. The fish is eating the food I provide. I can't tell if this is some type of disease, or if it is really a flesh wound.

And then there's this...I picked up a male Filament Flasher wrasse on Sunday. Once acclimated I released it to the tank and it hid itself in the rock work. I kind of expected this. When I picked it up from the fish store it was in a tiny tank hiding under rocks because it was in with some other larger fish that may have been bullying it.

This morning it was out, but on the bottom of the tank perched in a corner and breathing heavy. Expecting the inevitable, I grabbed my net to get it and put it in isolation. I wouldn't say it darted back under the rocks, but it moved fairly quickly. Is the fish still stressed from the former conditions and being introduced to my new tank, or should I expect to start looking for a body?

A bit of information on the tank both fish are in:

• 60g cube w/ canopy
• Temp stable between 77.5 - 78.1
• Parameters
  • Ammonia 0
  • Nitrites 0
  • Nitrates 0
  • SG - 1.024
• The tank is only a week old
  • Used 50lbs of live rock that I cycled for 8 weeks

These are the only two fish in the tank.

 

[NanaReefer]

How are you acclimating the fish to your tank?

 

[Bucks149]

I did one hour drip acclimation with the coris wrasse, based on LFS recommendation. The flasher wrasse was temperature acclimated based on LFS recommendation.

I bought from two different places.

 

[NC2WA]

IMO, putting wrasses in a tank one week old is too soon...I would like to have the maturity of the tank to be several months...even though the tank is cycled, it can have an ammonia spike several wks afterwards...the wrasses would not survive..I would wait until the age of the tan is more before you add more fish...

if you have the need to add fish, chromis, damsels, or clownfish (in the damsel family) are OK for new tanks...

 

[Bucks149]

Please don't take thus the wrong way, but are you suggesting I should have just set my tank up and let it sit for months until adding livestock? There would still be the potential for ammonia spikes with adding fish if waiting that long. The bacteria within the rock/ tank itself will only grow to a level sustained by the amount of nutrients within the the water column.

I guess what I am trying to say is that any time livestock is added to a tank, no matter how large, that additional bio load will cause additional bacteria growth within the tank through the creation of ammonia through the fish's waste.

A lot of the LR I cycled for 8 weeks came from a couple smaller tanks that supported a dwarf lion fish and a pair of clowns. I just didn't have the 60 up and running. Both tanks were taken down and I kept the rock in SW cycling while building my 60 cube.

I having trouble understanding why new glass is worse than old glass. I'm not trying to be smart. I want to understand.


Thanks!

 

[Marshall O]

The cycled rock certainly helped. However I still would of suggested ghost feeding the tank with the rock in it for at least 2, if not 4 weeks. This would have gotten your bacteria levels to where then need to be. Adding two fish two a tank that previously had none is not something I would ever recommend. Always start with one to get your bacteria levels up, and then space out new additions by 2-4 weeks. I would suggest seeing if your LFS carries Seachem Ammonia Alert badges. They can show you ammonia as low as 0.2PPM.

And I disagree with the statement that a Chromis, Damsel, or Clownfish is ok for a new tank. No tank should be cycled using fish, especially not a fish you have no intentions of keeping long term! It is too easy to cycle a tank using the "shrimp method" to subject a live animal to an un-cycled tank, IMO.

 

[Bucks149]

Thanks. I will continue to test daily. I have a tank on standby just in case we get a measurable level of anything.

 

[Ole Man]

Bucks149,I know its hard to get across but yes the tank should have set awhile till it seasoned that's the nature of the beast always remember only bad things happen fast in this hobby.

 

[Bucks149]

Thanks everyone for the tips on my tank. I do appreciate it.

I am still in search of some information about my fish though. What to do? The Coris Wrasse has the white upper beak and the flasher is still hiding in the rock work. I have no plans to add any livestock in the immediate future.

I am assuming that the Flasher is still stressed from its former tank along with the move into my tank, but I don't like to assume. It is an uncomfortable position position of having to wait it out.

The Coris Wrasse is cruising around my tank and feeding normally and is social. I just can't tell if the white on it's beak is a sore from shuffling my rocks, or if it is a condition I should be concerned about.

My params are still stable at 0 for Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate. 1.024 SG (refractometer).