Strange behaviour?

[cmiani2002]

I just purchased a True Percula ClownFish, has been in the tank for a few hours.
When i got it at the LFS, i didnt noticed anything abnormal, but since i put it in my tank, the fish is bobbing [spelling?] his head up and down, and seems to swim in an erratic way and now, with the lights off is swimming close to the surface.
At times it actually seems like it is listing on one side or the other.
Is something wrong? Just acclimatation??
I bought at the same time a six line Wrase and a Strawberry Pseudocromis and those two are acting normal, or so it appears.

Water parameter:
Amonia 0
Nitrate 0
nitrite 5ppm
Calcium 400

 

[pinkneyss]

Are you sure it's a Perc & not a saddle back? I recentely bought a pair that was labeled as Percs, but I came here for an ID & found out that they're black Saddle Backs. From what I've been reading it is normal behavior for them to bob up & down (mine do it all the time). Here's a pic of mine.

 

[cmiani2002]

well....they sold it to me as a perc, and it is not all black as the ones in your pic.
It is mostly bright orange with the white line and some black where the the stripes.
Will have to post a pic as soon as i can.

 

[bwest]

It may be the Nitrites at 5 ppm. This means your tank hasn't fully cycled yet. If I were you I'd do a partial water change and see if that helps. Keep a close eye on the Ammonia and Nitrite levels, especially if you notice any strange behavior out of the other fish.

 

[little x]

Try and test ur water again than do a 20%-30% water change see what happen it did me good

 

[cmiani2002]

I re-tested the water and did a 10% water change, no improvement.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 5
Ph 8.0
Nitrate 0
temp 78.3
Density 1.025
It appears it tis only efecting the clownfish, and not the other 2 fish.

Hope the fish will survive for another 4 or 5 hours....so i can do another water change, or even better return it to the fish store so they may save it

 

[cmiani2002]

Correction...i mixed the nitrite and nitrate results

Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5

 

[bwest]

I have no idea then if the nitrites are 0. Sorry that I couldn't be much help here.

 

[InvaderJim]

Mine was doing the same thing. But I added another clown and it seems to have quit.