so confused.....

mullinsd2 · 07/24/2009, 10:47 PM

Okay, I picked up a new tank the other day and two inhabitant with it: a royal gramma and coral beauty. The gramma acted wierd as soon as I released him into a temporary tank at home. He just floated around the bottom, and then finally just laid on the bottom ostensibly dying. This was two days ago. I left him in my qt and placed the other fish in the DT. He has been under the rock on his side since then, and I just went to move the rock and he swims off like nothing is wrong.... Idk if he is dying, or stressed from the move. For a day, I thought he was dead because he did not move an inch. He even had food dropped in there with him and it just laid on him for hours, but if I put my hand in the water he takes off swimming kind of wierd. Anyone have this type of situation before?

100%hydrophylic · 07/24/2009, 11:07 PM

did you acclimate him properly? sounds like hes either dieing or in shock to me

mullinsd2 · 07/24/2009, 11:28 PM

Not really, just temp. acclimated him because I put him back in the same water he came out of while I was putting together the dt

100%hydrophylic · 07/24/2009, 11:30 PM

wait, what? im confused. i always drip acclimate everything just because. probably overkill for alot of things. but did you cycle the DT?

xtm · 07/24/2009, 11:35 PM

Probably just trying to get used to his new environment? Just let him acclimate for a few days and he should be fine.

mullinsd2 · 07/24/2009, 11:40 PM

Sorry, I knew that would be confusing. The tank was stil set up when I picked it up, and we bagged him in his own water of course. Then, when I got home, I placed him back in his own water that I transported with me in 5 gallon jugs. The guy gave me some of the water from the set up to take with me. I did this, so I did not have to mix more water to put him in; I did not want to leave him in the bag until I got the tank set up.

100%hydrophylic · 07/24/2009, 11:46 PM

ohhh ok so you didnt even really need to acclimate except temp. hmmm, thats really strange. i may have to agree with xtm though. make sure theres no signes of disease, and test your water just in case. i wouldnt think they would have that hard of a time adjusting if its the same exact water theyve been living in

mullinsd2 · 07/25/2009, 12:09 AM

Yeah, idk what is going on with him I have looked at hima couple times, and his color is still perfect. He just acts dead if that makes sense.... hopefully he will be okay!

100%hydrophylic · 07/25/2009, 12:15 AM

is he breathing hard? or twitching/ jerking his head?

BuddhaKiss · 07/25/2009, 01:36 AM

I read that royal grammas sometimes have "odd" swimming habits such as swimming upside down under a cave overhang or sideways close to the call walls and such. Again, this is just what i've read as my royal gramma has never really displayed this type of swimming behavior...maybe yours was.

mullinsd2 · 07/25/2009, 01:55 AM

That is exactly what he is doing.... he literally looks like hes laying on his back dead, and then swims like that, but not often. He also sticks to the side of this little cave I have for him in the qt. No hard breathing, nothing other than a wierd wierd looking, death swim lol idk it doesn't look normal

Macimage · 07/25/2009, 09:38 AM

How long has the tank that you put the fish in been setup?

I am confused, but it sounds as though it may be cycling as your first post says you picked up a new tank the other day.

If it is newly setup, then it is too soon for fish. Even if you purchased tank that was set up, moved it and reset it up, it will still go through a cycle.

Joyce

mullinsd2 · 07/25/2009, 09:49 AM

Okay, I set up my 'new' tank and the next day I put fish in it because it is well estabished; i kept the sand bed; all of the rock in it came from my tank; the rock that didnt come from my tank came from another well established one; all the fish that I put into the new tank are doing great! The gramma is in a 10 gallon all to himself because he has been acting wierd from the second I got home. I already talked to some peope on here about this, and they said this would be fine. I experienced a small ammonia spike, and that was it. The gramma is in his own tank acting dead.

noahm · 07/25/2009, 10:21 AM

It sounds like he is just putting himself in a comfortable state as weird as it may be. The new surroundings are probably confusing to him and so he is just hiding out for a while. A lot of fish have this kind of behavior and from the sounds of it he is not dying, so probably just give it a few days or stress free time. If he were exhibiting heavy breathing or other stress factors, I would be concerned, but seems ok from your description.

Good luck.

mullinsd2 · 07/25/2009, 10:29 AM

Yeah. Idk I don't really care to understand exactly why, I just wanted to make sure he is not suffering to death! i dont mind him hiding out at all, in fact its pretty cool, as long as he is healthy.

HighlandReef · 07/25/2009, 01:04 PM

it almost sounds like your tank is brand new and not cycled,
did you buy from lfs?

BuddhaKiss · 07/25/2009, 02:33 PM

The tank is not brand new, it appears he bought the set up from a local hobbyist. Established tank, liverock, etc. Nothing more than a tank move from the sounds of it. Needless to say, you will always experience some type of ammonia spike. Anytime you disrupt a tank to move it, you will disrupt the biological filtration in some way.....but again, it should be minor. IMHO, I say just leave him alone for a while and let him acclimate to his surroundings. Perhaps perform a few water changes to alleviate the stress of the ammonia spike.

mullinsd2 · 07/26/2009, 09:29 AM

I have done so buddhakiss, and I had a rock fixture for him to hide in while in quarantine. Finally last night he came to his senses and began to actually swim instead of float.. I gave him some food, acclimated his water some more, and then put him in the display. He is acting "normal" now, whatever that means for a gramma, and he is displaying much better signs: swimming instead of laying on side, interacting with other fish, and he actually ate well this morning! thanks everyone for the help.

07/24/2009, 10:47 PM	#1
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	so confused..... Okay, I picked up a new tank the other day and two inhabitant with it: a royal gramma and coral beauty. The gramma acted wierd as soon as I released him into a temporary tank at home. He just floated around the bottom, and then finally just laid on the bottom ostensibly dying. This was two days ago. I left him in my qt and placed the other fish in the DT. He has been under the rock on his side since then, and I just went to move the rock and he swims off like nothing is wrong.... Idk if he is dying, or stressed from the move. For a day, I thought he was dead because he did not move an inch. He even had food dropped in there with him and it just laid on him for hours, but if I put my hand in the water he takes off swimming kind of wierd. Anyone have this type of situation before?

07/24/2009, 11:07 PM	#2
100%hydrophylic Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: GA Posts: 1,636	did you acclimate him properly? sounds like hes either dieing or in shock to me __________________ :) Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 28g nano SPS

07/24/2009, 11:30 PM	#4
100%hydrophylic Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: GA Posts: 1,636	wait, what? im confused. i always drip acclimate everything just because. probably overkill for alot of things. but did you cycle the DT? __________________ :) Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 28g nano SPS

07/24/2009, 11:35 PM	#5
xtm Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Panorama City, CA Posts: 4,703	Probably just trying to get used to his new environment? Just let him acclimate for a few days and he should be fine. __________________ Function before fashion Current Tank Info: 120g SPS Tank (48x24x24)

07/24/2009, 11:46 PM	#7
100%hydrophylic Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: GA Posts: 1,636	ohhh ok so you didnt even really need to acclimate except temp. hmmm, thats really strange. i may have to agree with xtm though. make sure theres no signes of disease, and test your water just in case. i wouldnt think they would have that hard of a time adjusting if its the same exact water theyve been living in __________________ :) Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 28g nano SPS

07/24/2009, 11:28 PM	#3
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	Not really, just temp. acclimated him because I put him back in the same water he came out of while I was putting together the dt

07/24/2009, 11:40 PM	#6
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	Sorry, I knew that would be confusing. The tank was stil set up when I picked it up, and we bagged him in his own water of course. Then, when I got home, I placed him back in his own water that I transported with me in 5 gallon jugs. The guy gave me some of the water from the set up to take with me. I did this, so I did not have to mix more water to put him in; I did not want to leave him in the bag until I got the tank set up.

07/25/2009, 12:09 AM	#8
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	Yeah, idk what is going on with him I have looked at hima couple times, and his color is still perfect. He just acts dead if that makes sense.... hopefully he will be okay!

07/25/2009, 12:15 AM	#9
100%hydrophylic Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: GA Posts: 1,636	is he breathing hard? or twitching/ jerking his head? __________________ :) Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 28g nano SPS

07/25/2009, 01:36 AM	#10
BuddhaKiss Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northern Va Posts: 1,068	I read that royal grammas sometimes have "odd" swimming habits such as swimming upside down under a cave overhang or sideways close to the call walls and such. Again, this is just what i've read as my royal gramma has never really displayed this type of swimming behavior...maybe yours was.

07/25/2009, 01:55 AM	#11
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	That is exactly what he is doing.... he literally looks like hes laying on his back dead, and then swims like that, but not often. He also sticks to the side of this little cave I have for him in the qt. No hard breathing, nothing other than a wierd wierd looking, death swim lol idk it doesn't look normal

07/25/2009, 09:38 AM	#12
Macimage Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Quartz Hill Posts: 4,078	How long has the tank that you put the fish in been setup? I am confused, but it sounds as though it may be cycling as your first post says you picked up a new tank the other day. If it is newly setup, then it is too soon for fish. Even if you purchased tank that was set up, moved it and reset it up, it will still go through a cycle. Joyce

07/25/2009, 09:49 AM	#13
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	Okay, I set up my 'new' tank and the next day I put fish in it because it is well estabished; i kept the sand bed; all of the rock in it came from my tank; the rock that didnt come from my tank came from another well established one; all the fish that I put into the new tank are doing great! The gramma is in a 10 gallon all to himself because he has been acting wierd from the second I got home. I already talked to some peope on here about this, and they said this would be fine. I experienced a small ammonia spike, and that was it. The gramma is in his own tank acting dead.

07/25/2009, 10:21 AM	#14
noahm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2,736	It sounds like he is just putting himself in a comfortable state as weird as it may be. The new surroundings are probably confusing to him and so he is just hiding out for a while. A lot of fish have this kind of behavior and from the sounds of it he is not dying, so probably just give it a few days or stress free time. If he were exhibiting heavy breathing or other stress factors, I would be concerned, but seems ok from your description. Good luck.

07/25/2009, 10:29 AM	#15
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	Yeah. Idk I don't really care to understand exactly why, I just wanted to make sure he is not suffering to death! i dont mind him hiding out at all, in fact its pretty cool, as long as he is healthy.

07/25/2009, 01:04 PM	#16
HighlandReef Chalice Monger Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 1,163	it almost sounds like your tank is brand new and not cycled, did you buy from lfs?

07/25/2009, 02:33 PM	#17
BuddhaKiss Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northern Va Posts: 1,068	The tank is not brand new, it appears he bought the set up from a local hobbyist. Established tank, liverock, etc. Nothing more than a tank move from the sounds of it. Needless to say, you will always experience some type of ammonia spike. Anytime you disrupt a tank to move it, you will disrupt the biological filtration in some way.....but again, it should be minor. IMHO, I say just leave him alone for a while and let him acclimate to his surroundings. Perhaps perform a few water changes to alleviate the stress of the ammonia spike.

07/26/2009, 09:29 AM	#18
mullinsd2 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 753	I have done so buddhakiss, and I had a rock fixture for him to hide in while in quarantine. Finally last night he came to his senses and began to actually swim instead of float.. I gave him some food, acclimated his water some more, and then put him in the display. He is acting "normal" now, whatever that means for a gramma, and he is displaying much better signs: swimming instead of laying on side, interacting with other fish, and he actually ate well this morning! thanks everyone for the help.