New Firefish not settling in

[Elmo Putney]

Greetings. I put a new purple Firefish in the tank on Monday, and he isn’t doing as well as I’d like. He was extremely difficult to catch in the shop, so I imagine he was very stressed by the time he got in my tank. He went straight to the bottom corner of the tank hiding and hasn’t come out to explore yet. I’ve been target feeding him when I feed the tank and he is eating plenty but he does seem a bit stressed out. Most of the time he is swimming normally, just in that small area but when I go near the tank he pushes himself up against a rock and lays there fairly still. Water parameters are fine, i acclimated him as I normally would, and I use the exact same seawater they use in the shop so he hasn’t had to adjust to a big change there. Is it normal to take this long for him to get used to his new home?

 

[Kmst80]

Greetings. I put a new purple Firefish in the tank on Monday, and he isn’t doing as well as I’d like. He was extremely difficult to catch in the shop, so I imagine he was very stressed by the time he got in my tank. He went straight to the bottom corner of the tank hiding and hasn’t come out to explore yet. I’ve been target feeding him when I feed the tank and he is eating plenty but he does seem a bit stressed out. Most of the time he is swimming normally, just in that small area but when I go near the tank he pushes himself up against a rock and lays there fairly still. Water parameters are fine, i acclimated him as I normally would, and I use the exact same seawater they use in the shop so he hasn’t had to adjust to a big change there. Is it normal to take this long for him to get used to his new home?

Give him time. When i bought my Zebra angels home it took the male 3 weeks before he came out of his cave in the rockwork. Just blow some food towards his hidy hole and don't check to often, let him come out natually.
Firefish are very timid.

 

[tzabor10]

Are there any other tank mates?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Greetings. I put a new purple Firefish in the tank on Monday, and he isn’t doing as well as I’d like. He was extremely difficult to catch in the shop, so I imagine he was very stressed by the time he got in my tank. He went straight to the bottom corner of the tank hiding and hasn’t come out to explore yet. I’ve been target feeding him when I feed the tank and he is eating plenty but he does seem a bit stressed out. Most of the time he is swimming normally, just in that small area but when I go near the tank he pushes himself up against a rock and lays there fairly still. Water parameters are fine, i acclimated him as I normally would, and I use the exact same seawater they use in the shop so he hasn’t had to adjust to a big change there. Is it normal to take this long for him to get used to his new home?

When I got one, he did the same, and I actually thought he died because he disappeared for like 3 months! But then showed up one day still looking very healthy. I have no clue what he ate or when. Strange and highly skittish little guy for sure. Make very sure no escape holes are in your lid, they are phenomenal jumpers

 

[Elmo Putney]

Are there any other tank mates?

Are there any other tank mates?

2 clowns and a suntail goby

 

[tzabor10]

2 clowns and a suntail goby

Sounds like a rough crowd. I never like paying for a fish I don’t get to see

 

[Cell]

Needs hiding spots in the rocks if there are none. What size tank is this?

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I use the exact same seawater they use in the shop so he hasn’t had to adjust to a big change there

Your salinity, temp, pH and other parameters are likely not the same (LFS is likely to be lower than your tank on these three metrics). I'm not saying this is an issue in this situation, but worth noting that this assumption isn't accurate.

 

[Floyd-]

My firefish is over a year old and only comes out of his cave when its feeding time. They are very timid fish and love just hiding. Such a shame because he is a beautiful fish.