Chalk bass stressed?

[gooicide]

So I had a firefish that was hiding until a few days ago and is now doing great, but now my new chalk bass seems very stressed out. He has been hiding under a rock on the bottom or perching on top of a rock, but I haven't seen him swimming around much. He's probably just taking some time to acclimate to the new tank, but I am worried because I noticed last night a hermit crab was trying to pick at him. Do you think he will recover? I acclimated him for about an hour at a rate of 3 drops per second.

 

[jd371]

Just like your Firefish he'll be fine once he gets accustomed to his surroundings. Besides hiding is he showing any signs of parasites or sickness (head twitching, flashing, heavy breathing)?

 

[madweazl]

They're interesting fish. Not sure if this is indicative of the species but the one that calls my tank home spends about 60% of the time perched somewhere (be it the sand bed, a nook in the rock work, what have you) and the other 40% swimming in a small space around the area he calls home (though recently evicted with a new home built in place by the pearly jawfish). While actually swimming, it is typically under a ledge or in a cave; I assume it is waiting to ambush any unsuspecting passers by. That is, until feeding when it becomes possessed for 30-60 seconds before returning to its "normal" behavior.

 

[gooicide]

Just like your Firefish he'll be fine once he gets accustomed to his surroundings. Besides hiding is he showing any signs of parasites or sickness (head twitching, flashing, heavy breathing)?

No, he looks fine. I think he's just very scared. As far as getting him to eat, as he's not accepting frozen or flake food yet, I was going to try delivering live brine shrimp to him using a turkey baster to entice him to eat. Is that cool?

 

[gooicide]

They're interesting fish. Not sure if this is indicative of the species but the one that calls my tank home spends about 60% of the time perched somewhere (be it the sand bed, a nook in the rock work, what have you) and the other 40% hanging out in a small space around the area he calls home (though recently evicted with a new home built in place by the pearly jawfish). While actually swimming, it is typically under a ledge or in a cave; I assume it is waiting to ambush any unsuspecting passers by. That is, until feeding when it becomes possessed for 30-60 seconds before returning to its "normal" behavior.

This is my second time owning a chalk bass, I had one when I was younger, and he mostly swam around under rock overhangs. I never saw him perching on top of anything, but my new one is doing that almost exclusively.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Perching is perfectly normal for chalk basses.

 

[gooicide]

Just like your Firefish he'll be fine once he gets accustomed to his surroundings. Besides hiding is he showing any signs of parasites or sickness (head twitching, flashing, heavy breathing)?

I directly fed him some live brine shrimp with a turkey baster, and now he's slowly starting to stray away from his hiding spot. Still not swimming around the whole tank though. I'll give him a few more days.

 

[jd371]

No, he looks fine. I think he's just very scared. As far as getting him to eat, as he's not accepting frozen or flake food yet, I was going to try delivering live brine shrimp to him using a turkey baster to entice him to eat. Is that cool?

Glad he's not showing any signs of sickness, just needs more time to get accustomed to new surroundings.

I directly fed him some live brine shrimp with a turkey baster, and now he's slowly starting to stray away from his hiding spot. Still not swimming around the whole tank though. I'll give him a few more days.

If you can find live black worms, try feeding him that. Most of my fish go crazy for the worms, my Firefish slurps them up like spaghetti.

 

[madweazl]

Glad he's not showing any signs of sickness, just needs more time to get accustomed to new surroundings.

If you can find live black worms, try feeding him that. Most of my fish go crazy for the worms, my Firefish slurps them up like spaghetti.

It probably never will, they arent fish that stay out in the open. Mine stays in about a one cubic foot area. At feeding time it will come mid tank for food but then it is right back to its area. This article has some good information.

 

[gooicide]

It probably never will, they arent fish that stay out in the open. Mine stays in about a one cubic foot area. At feeding time it will come mid tank for food but then it is right back to its area. This article has some good information.

Actually now he has adjusted more and is now swimming all over the tank. He seems to like to be around the firefish. Thanks for the article, it was a good read!