Firefish trouble!

[Hcuervo]

Ok, so I have a dilemma. Three weeks ago I introduced a Potters Angel to my tank. Immediately the angel spooked my firefish..who quickly dove into its hole in the rock. Since then it has not come out even to look around. I have been spot feeding and I can see her eat, but the other day I got a glimpse of her head way in the rock with a flash light and one of her eyes is opaque white..an infection. From what I can see with a flash light the rest of her is healthy and she is eating but will not come out! So here is the dilemma.

 

I'm leaving for vacation for 2 weeks starting next week. I am worried that the firefish will die in the hole and crash my tank while I'm gone..it is only 30gallons. So I'm weighing getting her out and into a hospital tank during the trip. How do I catch the bugger? I'm contemplating hooking my vacuum cleaner to a big air tight bottle with tubing at the bottom 1/2 to 1" diameter in the tank and letting her rip to suck the firefish out of the rock. Moving the rock will just spook her into another rock and so on until all my fish are stressed. This may kill her and also may fail. Is there any other way? Should I just leave her and hope for the best?

 

Thanks again all!! :( :(

Edited August 19, 2008 by Hcuervo

[jason the filter freak]

If you have a tank that is properly set up and balanced, filtration, rock, sand, lighting at decent intervals, and a GOOD clean up crew a fire fish dying should not lead to a tank crash.

 

I have/am baby sitting a 10 gallon with a full grown pair of onyx clowns, the other occupants are some softies, 1 emrald crab, 8 hermits, 10 snails, the lighting is on a 8 hour cycle. The filtration comes from about 8 lbs of rock, a 2" sand bed, and an aqua clear 110 with cheato in it nothing else.

 

Recently a 4.5" lawnmower blenny was added to the tank and died (i suspect starvation, the tank was too clean of algea and it wouldn't eat nori) when it died I didn't notice for a few hours, by that time the clean up crew had consumed almost %50 of the body.

 

I was headed out to a trauma shift that night and didn't have time to change the water, time went on and 3 weeks later I changed the water, non of the corals suffered and the two clowns are sprite and bright eyed.

 

This is my story take from it what you will.

[Ne0eN]

A fish the size of a firefish should not crash your 30g tank. I would leave it alone and hope for the best. The only safe way to get your firefish out is to remove the rocks and then use the net. (good luck with that...) Also, shining a flashlight could make the eye appear white because of the reflection - not a good way to judge an infection.

 

--Rob

[Integral9]

I have a purple firefish in my tank and whenever a newbie shows up, he hides for a long time. When I added my coral beauty angel, he hid for almost 4 months. I thougt he was going to die. I was able to coax him out of hiding by squirting food into his area with a feeding syringe (no needle). He was extremely thin and sluggish when he came out. Only took a few days for him to come out. He slowly got more sociabel and has been back to his normal behanvior for some time now. The Angle has been in there almost a year now. Now the firefish and angel hang out together all the time.

 

I would just leave her and instruct your fish sitter (assuming you have one) to squirt some food back where she is. She should come out on her own.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Integral9

['Ric]

I added a Potters Angel to my tank as well. My Purple Firefish was spooked, and is still a little skiddish, but they co-habitat fine now. Try to squirt some food off to the side of the tank as a diversion for the other fish, then a little right in front of (or even into) where the Firefish is hiding, then step back away from the tank. He may go for easy pickings if he's still alive.

 

'Ric

[capsfan]

If you cannot stand the thought of leaving the fish in the tank while you are gone, you're probably going to have to take all the live rock out, catch the fish, and put the rock in (never again achieving that perfect stacking job). Believe me its a pain.