Flame Angel hiding in the rocks

[mocika]

My Flame Angel is more than 9 mounts in my 75g tank. Last 7 days he is hiding all the time. Last 3 days he is in one whole and not swiming at all.Cant see him eating something.
Please help because its my best fish and i will do everything for him to be ok.

Tnx a lot

 

[MKReefTank]

Definitely not a good sign. The best thing to do is leave him alone and hope he starts eating. Anything you try and do will just stress him out more. How are the other fish doing? Are your parameters in check??

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Two possible causes are the flame is being bullied by another fish (most likely) or something is wrong with your water quality. If it is being bullied, you need to remove the bully for a while and change your rockwork.

 

[mocika]

Two possible causes are the flame is being bullied by another fish (most likely) or something is wrong with your water quality. If it is being bullied, you need to remove the bully for a while and change your rockwork.

Tnx DR, Water quality is great. All parameters are in line. Didn't notice that other fish attack him. I have desjardini tang, hepatus tang, yellow wrasse, 2 nemo and 2 bangay cardinal fish and one demsel ho is not aggressive at all.

Definitely not a good sign. The best thing to do is leave him alone and hope he starts eating. Anything you try and do will just stress him out more. How are the other fish doing? Are your parameters in check??

Other fish are just normal.
I start to dose before 10 days sponge power but it shouldn't be the reason for this... im confused a bit

 

[Rancherlee]

I'm gunna say it's I getting bullied also, those 2 tangs are probably feeling pretty cramped in that 75g and are going to be cranky/bossy even if you don't see it. Try observing from a long distance away from the tank where the fish can't see their "food feeder person"

 

[3dees]

my flame did the same thing a few days ago. wouldn't come out of the cave all day. next morning he was dead. now my midnight angel is doing the same thing. these fish were in the qt together and added to the dt together. I have all peaceful fish. no tangs, triggers, etc. my water is perfect. hope your fairs better.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Any further update?

Also, did you add any other fish or livestock to the tank in the past month or two?

 

[gsiegel]

I would say being bullied or crammed as well. I cannot imagine the tangs being happy in a 75 gallon tank. That is way too small for those fish. Do them a favor and rehouse them and not trying to be blunt but do your research before adding additional fish.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

If you added other livestock recently, they may have brought in something that the flame caught. Otherwise, one of the tangs or the damsel probably is bullying the flame.

Did you run a test to make sure you don't have any ammonia present? It probably would show with the tangs also, but it is worth a check.

As the others have said, the 75 is much too small for either of those tangs, let alone both unless they are only 2-3 inches. They are both large, active swimmers that need a lot of room and your tank is 48" long, right? When they get much past 4", they tend to feel cramped and generally will become quite aggressive to tankmates. You need to find another home for them regardless of whether they are bullying your flame.

 

[phillytec]

most bullying happens at night they are sneaker [profanity]
put the bullied fish in a clear quartine box so he can get a break and recover.

 

[mocika]

Tnx for the support.
What can i say. Still no changes. He is all the time on the left side of the reef in the rocks.
I didnt do nothing to the tank. I just add one micromussa. Other fish are so happy. Tank is 48'x20'x20' i know is not big but hope i can have 2 tangs here. Maybe im wrong and in the end must remove onne of them. Im not shure that i can catch the flame angel because he is so fast. Also i dont want to stres him.

 

[mocika]

I decide to remove both tang and to see what will happen. First i will remove desjardini tang. Then if i have luck hippo tang. I hope this will relax my angel and he will be normal just like before.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I think this is your best bet. One help in catching fish is to drain half or more of your water into plastic containers, catch the fish in the reduced water volume, and then put the water back in the tank.

 

[mocika]

Finaly Desjardini tang is out of my tank. I will waith for 3,4 days and if flame angel dont start to swim around i will do the same with Hippo tang.

 

[peseifert]

mine did the same thing for a week. wouldn't come out, eat, started to get thin. had no changes at all to tank, water, no new fish, no obvious bullying from his buddies.
one day he starts eating and is now "happy". no idea what happened - did try many different food types so maybe that helped.
good luck

 

[mocika]

Flame angel is in the rocks 2 weeks. He is eating because i put food where he is. I start that 1 week ago because i was scared that he will dye if not eat. I will try to remove some rocks where he is hiding and see what will happen.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Unless you think something is wrong with the fish that you could observe and correct, I would be inclined to let the fish alone for 2-3 more weeks and not disturb it's hiding place so long as it continues to eat.

You also might try reducing the intensity or length of the tank's lighting if you can in case the flame is seeing reflections or just needs a period of less light.

 

[mocika]

Tnx DR. I hope that in the end everything will be fine.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Me too.

 

[mocika]

I saw my Hipo tang how atack my Flame Angel. I want to catch the Hipo and remove to carantine tank for a while. How big shoud be the carantine tank? How much galons? Sorry for my bad english.