butterfly hovering in corner

[c.declivisowner]

Hi,

i just got a Marcella Butterfly fish from Live Aquaria today and when i put him in the tank he just kinda hid maybe for the first 30minutes but now for the past like 5-6 hours he has been hiding in the top left hand corner of the tank and like flattening himself against the top of the water. Do you think its afraid of one of my fish cause i think i might have a a clue who it is or do you think its sick and needs help? right now its breathing kinda fast but not like gasping for air fast if that makes sense.

thanks for the help
Matt

 

[redemer123]

did you take the time to acclimate your fish appropriately? sounds like just stress from the transitions from tank to bag to tank

 

[c.declivisowner]

did you take the time to acclimate your fish appropriately? sounds like just stress from the transitions from tank to bag to tank

i drip acclimated for almost 2 hours

 

[Aquaph8]

Sounds like fear/ aggression to me. As long as he's not getting beat I would wait and see how he's doing in the morning.

 

[c.declivisowner]

Sounds like fear/ aggression to me. As long as he's not getting beat I would wait and see how he's doing in the morning.

ok thats what i was kinda thinking i think its my orange line chromis thats like 3" and really mean to the other fish i turned off the lights a couple hours ago do you think i should turn them back on tomorrow morning or should i wait a little longer?

 

[Eggs]

It's been awhile since I've ordered from them, but the last few times I did get fish from Live Aquaria it seemed they "drugged" the fish (I assume to reduce shipping stress) - kind of like they were spaced out and didn't know what was going on. Seemed like it wore off by next day.

 

[Aquaph8]

I'm sure they feel drugged in a lot of ways too. They're breathing their own air(among other things), being shook around the whole way and then going from pitch black to light. It's hard on them to go from this state and having to deal with territorial tank mates. QT helps a lot in this regard along with all the feeding benefits.

 

[xcorallusx]

you really need to give the fish more time to acclimate to your water and not introduce it to your display during this time, setup a quarantine tank or at least a clear acclimation box.

 

[SDguy]

you really need to give the fish more time to acclimate to your water and not introduce it to your display during this time, setup a quarantine tank or at least a clear acclimation box.

This^^^ But if yu are going to drop it directly into your display, at least turn off your lights, leaving just ambient room lights on.

 

[mallorieGgator]

I think it would be more stressful for the OP to take the fish out now and put it in QT especially if a QT isn't already set up and cycled. I would get the bully out of the tank honestly. That might help but whatever you do that has to do with sticking a net in the water will stress it out.

 

[SDguy]

I respectfully disagree. I've done it, it's pretty easy:

get small tank (like 15g)
hangon filter (aquaclear)
heater
small powerhead

Fill tank with display tank water. Use the sponge and ceramic pieces in the filter (no carbon). Then fill the filter with as much liverock rubble as will fit.

Done

I think it would be more stressful for the OP to take the fish out now and put it in QT especially if a QT isn't already set up and cycled. I would get the bully out of the tank honestly. That might help but whatever you do that has to do with sticking a net in the water will stress it out.

 

[Eggs]

Fill tank with display tank water. Use the sponge and ceramic pieces in the filter (no carbon). Then fill the filter with as much liverock rubble as will fit.

Done

I've even pulled rock out of the tank/sump to use in qt. (no copper used)