1 Fish going crazy rest are fine need urgent help

[mumbles.]

Hey all,

First of all thank you all for the informative posts here ! I have learnt so much!

I have a problem with my Coral Beauty fish which after my most recent water change, ( 80Litre Tanks Changed 20Litres weekly) has begun swimming up and down the front of the glass all day very fast, and occasionally darting around the tank stirring up the sand bed ( this only happened today ) It usually eats well at feeding time but since the water change only has a little bit to eat.

Tank Size - 80Litres
Ph- 7.9-8.0
Salinity 1.024
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0.80 ( why so high ????? First time ever ! how to reduce ?? )
Nitrite - 0.5ppm
Water temp - 26-27.3 degree celsius ( Im from Australia so its bloody hot but the hottest is around 27.3 degrees Celsius )
Fish -
1 Small Clown male
1 X Mandarin Fish Male
1 X Mandarin Fish female
1 X Magenta Dottyback
2 Hermit Crabs
4 Turbo snails small

Coral

1 X Sun Coral
1 X Cataphylia
1 X hammer


All the other fish and inhabitants are fine, living and eating well, its only my coral beauty swimming up and down around the tank really fast likes shes stressed

She has no signs of ich, or fungal growth seems in good colour condition as well !

Any help would be greatly appreciated !!

And also if I have violated terms by posting in the wrong sub forum I apologise, I am just worried about my fish !

[pyithar]

Welcome to reef central!!

i'm not being a tang police but a 80L tank is approximately 20G. it's too small even for a coral beauty alone. a mandarin needs a mature, larger tank with refugium. imo your tank won't be able to support even one mandarin let alone two. how old is your tank? is it cycled already? i think you should read the stickies and ask questions at the intended fish purchase forum first.

[mumbles.]

Originally Posted by pyithar

Welcome to reef central!!

i'm not being a tang police but a 80L tank is approximately 20G. it's too small even for a coral beauty alone. a mandarin needs a mature, larger tank with refugium. imo your tank won't be able to support even one mandarin let alone two. how old is your tank? is it cycled already? i think you should read the stickies and ask questions at the intended fish purchase forum first.

Hey pyithar,

Yes I agree a little small but all the fish have been living in the tank peacefully for almost 9 months together ! with no signs of stress ! Everyone gets along well.

And tank is about 12 months old.

[bundybear1981]

Welcome!
How do you measure your salinity? Is there a chance that the new water you mixed today had a different salinity to your tank? Also how close temperature wise was your new water? Before I had a chiller on my tank (and on the fresh water tanks top-ups) the fish love the new water being added.

[mumbles.]

Hey bundybear1981,

I use a refractometer to measure salinity. Yes that is a possibility just thinking of it.

I mix 2 X 10Litre drums, when doing water changes. Sometimes 3 drums but for this change it was 2.

The salinity in one drum was @ 1.025 and the other drum was 1.022, Now typically in the last 12 months, my salinity in the water drums was a little off at times so I didnt see it as a big problem this time round ? , that said my tank water salinity has never gone above .025

Reckon that the salinity in the water change was enough to stress CB out ? But how so ? if the salinity before water change was at .025 ??
To be honest I have never measured the temp of the new water going in. but I would say pretty close as the temperature in the tank would only drop by about 1 degree if that. !

[bundybear1981]

If you have added some new water and it has come directly in contact with your coral beauty it may had irritated it. I'd say given a bit of time it should settle down again, its just a bit stressed from the fluctuation on salinity when you added that new water. As long as the water was mixed enough so there isn't any burn to its gills it should be fine

I always make sure I match my salinity exactly and then add the NSW to the sump slowly (over about 20 mins) so it blends to the existing water. Stability is the key so any rapid change can stress out your fish.

[gone fishin]

Is it possible that you did not mix the salt long enough. If the salt was not fully dissolved it can irritate the gills of a fish. Just a guess

[mumbles.]

Hey bundybear

I can't accurately say whether it came in direct contact with the new water, usually all the fish just run for cover under the rocks and relax. Reckon I should keep the light(white/moon) off for a day or so ?

Considering water change was on Sunday, and now its Thursday maybe a night period ? as CB doest seem to relax more when lights off ? But don't want to stress the other fish/coral in changes in lighting again ?

[anbosu]

Swimming around manically is typically a sign of stress in a fish.

[tidus10]

Originally Posted by anbosu

Swimming around manically is typically a sign of stress in a fish.

truth..

it may be that hes finally gotten to that point where hes too big for the tank and is stressing out about it.. i had a yellow tang in my 40B that started to swim a little crazy and i instantly got him a new home (got to keep him for a year)..

You have to know your limits for sure, we would all love to own the most beautiful fish but you have to think of fish just like a dog, would you keep a Great Dane in a 3 story walk up in the Bronx? Hopefully not.

[jaybfresh]

I would take this as a sign that the coral beauty has outgrown your tank. He wants to swim around but has no room.

[Compliance]

You have nitrite in your water. You may have had a mini cycle.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by jaybfresh

I would take this as a sign that the coral beauty has outgrown your tank. He wants to swim around but has no room.

this. Pacing is almost always a sign of territorial imperative.