Firefish went on an adventure

[trophyhimbo]

Helfrichi Firefish went on an adventure to the IM 40L AIO back chambers today... Managed to get him out by shutting off the return pump and ATO, removing the end chamber caddies, and fishing him out with a net (note to self: buy a smaller net!). After returning to the display area, he hovered in a few spots around the tank clearly over-exerted and panting from his excursion before retreating into his hidey hole. I noticed his tail fin seemed a little split either from the frantic darting or maybe from the return pump.

Firefish has been acting weirdly since then. A couple hours later I caught him hanging out like this halfway in and out of his hole. Black cardinalfish brushed past him and he didn't even move. Not motivated to eat any frozen mysis shrimp or sinking pellets. Seems like he's breathing pretty heavily. I turned off the lights to hopefully encourage rest.

He has since moved to behind the rock structures against the bottom of the tank, as low as he can go and away from his cave. He is still in a proper horizontal, right-side up position but I cannot tell if he's actually keeping himself in place using his fins or if he's just swaying in the flow. Hoping he is just stunned and recovering from his trip, but I had never seen him opening and closing his mouth so much.

These are the only two fish in the tank and no corals yet. Fish were bought pre-quarantined and have not been exhibiting any signs of disease. Any advice?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Helfrichi Firefish went on an adventure to the IM 40L AIO back chambers today... Managed to get him out by shutting off the return pump and ATO, removing the end chamber caddies, and fishing him out with a net (note to self: buy a smaller net!). After returning to the display area, he hovered in a few spots around the tank clearly over-exerted and panting from his excursion before retreating into his hidey hole. I noticed his tail fin seemed a little split either from the frantic darting or maybe from the return pump.

Firefish has been acting weirdly since then. A couple hours later I caught him hanging out like this halfway in and out of his hole. Black cardinalfish brushed past him and he didn't even move. Not motivated to eat any frozen mysis shrimp or sinking pellets. Seems like he's breathing pretty heavily. I turned off the lights to hopefully encourage rest.

He has since moved to behind the rock structures against the bottom of the tank, as low as he can go and away from his cave. He is still in a proper horizontal, right-side up position but I cannot tell if he's actually keeping himself in place using his fins or if he's just swaying in the flow. Hoping he is just stunned and recovering from his trip, but I had never seen him opening and closing his mouth so much.

These are the only two fish in this tank and there are no corals yet. Any advice?

Allow him to settle. Likely spooked or intimidated by cardinal or other fish.
See if eats at feeding time and not becoming lethargic.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Helfrichi Firefish went on an adventure to the IM 40L AIO back chambers today... Managed to get him out by shutting off the return pump and ATO, removing the end chamber caddies, and fishing him out with a net (note to self: buy a smaller net!). After returning to the display area, he hovered in a few spots around the tank clearly over-exerted and panting from his excursion before retreating into his hidey hole. I noticed his tail fin seemed a little split either from the frantic darting or maybe from the return pump.

Firefish has been acting weirdly since then. A couple hours later I caught him hanging out like this halfway in and out of his hole. Black cardinalfish brushed past him and he didn't even move. Not motivated to eat any frozen mysis shrimp or sinking pellets. Seems like he's breathing pretty heavily. I turned off the lights to hopefully encourage rest.

He has since moved to behind the rock structures against the bottom of the tank, as low as he can go and away from his cave. He is still in a proper horizontal, right-side up position but I cannot tell if he's actually keeping himself in place using his fins or if he's just swaying in the flow. Hoping he is just stunned and recovering from his trip, but I had never seen him opening and closing his mouth so much.

These are the only two fish in the tank and no corals yet. Fish were bought pre-quarantined and have not been exhibiting any signs of disease. Any advice?

+1 on it being related to the jump an subsequent retrieval - it may have been damaged by the net. Just give it time, there isn’t much else you can do (block off the jump point so it can’t happen again).
Jay

 

[MnFish1]

Helfrichi Firefish went on an adventure to the IM 40L AIO back chambers today... Managed to get him out by shutting off the return pump and ATO, removing the end chamber caddies, and fishing him out with a net (note to self: buy a smaller net!). After returning to the display area, he hovered in a few spots around the tank clearly over-exerted and panting from his excursion before retreating into his hidey hole. I noticed his tail fin seemed a little split either from the frantic darting or maybe from the return pump.

Firefish has been acting weirdly since then. A couple hours later I caught him hanging out like this halfway in and out of his hole. Black cardinalfish brushed past him and he didn't even move. Not motivated to eat any frozen mysis shrimp or sinking pellets. Seems like he's breathing pretty heavily. I turned off the lights to hopefully encourage rest.

He has since moved to behind the rock structures against the bottom of the tank, as low as he can go and away from his cave. He is still in a proper horizontal, right-side up position but I cannot tell if he's actually keeping himself in place using his fins or if he's just swaying in the flow. Hoping he is just stunned and recovering from his trip, but I had never seen him opening and closing his mouth so much.

These are the only two fish in the tank and no corals yet. Fish were bought pre-quarantined and have not been exhibiting any signs of disease. Any advice?

I for some reason cannot see the other posts - However - this is a very traumatic issue for the fish - and I would not do anything based on the behavior you're seeing. I'm interested to see with the other fish medics have to say. Best wishes with the fish. One comment - there are not a huge amount of hiding places that I can see...

 

[trophyhimbo]

@Jay Hemdal and @vetteguy53081 I will resist the urge to poke and prod and leave him be. He has since turned around and I can see him breathing steadily for now. Thank you for the reassurance.

It's crazy, on the AIO there is the tiniest gap between the full top mesh cover and the overflow protection divot leading to the back chambers and the firefish managed to expertly navigate that small opening! I'll post for solutions in the AIO forum or DIY something to secure that space.

@MnFish1 See below for the pictures of my aquascape from the first wet tank day. The picture above is a very small snapshot of the overall tank. The first day he tried out like 5 different hidey-holes before he settled on a small cavern with a slim entrance in front as a home. I do hope he pulls through, he was my first fish in this tank...

 

[trophyhimbo]

Unfortunately the firefish has died... I suspect it's due to some internal injuries or overexertions from his misadventure. Will plug that overflow gap ASAP. Thanks all