Strange/funny firefish behavior

K

kelp47

Member
I have a firefish in quarantine with a pajama cardinal, for three weeks now. Recently, I saw my firefish in a piece of PVC pipe, lying on its side. I immediately thought something was wrong, but when I made a noise he perked up and started swimming around. I then fed them frozen mysis and he ate well. Just to be sure, I checked a few parameters and all checked out fine.

I saw him do this again today. He was swimming around eating, and then suddenly swam into the PVC pipe and layed on his side. The only thing I noticed while I was watching them eat is that the firefish nearly got caught by the filter intake. It's covered, so it won't hurt him, but I wonder if maybe it scared him and what I'm witnessing is his frightened behavior. And of course, he's swimming around fine now.

Has anyone else seen this in healthy fish?
 
Well, now I think maybe I was just being optimistic... he's doing this more now, and seems a bit weak trying to swim in the current (which makes more sense that he almost got caught by the intake). It also looked like he had something kind of hanging off his mouth. I was trying to see if I could tell what it was, but it eventually went in his mouth. It kind of looked like a stringy piece of mysis... so maybe that's not a big deal.

I still think something is not right, so I just did about a 20% water change. I didn't have any fresh saltwater on hand, so I used water from my display, which I figure is better than nothing. I hope this will help, but I'm not feeling too good about it :(

I'm going to repost on the disease forum.
 
Its funny you mentioned this, I just came on here to describe similar behavior with my fire fish.

For the first few days I had him he was swimming all the time eating and acting normal. For the last week he lays underneath and outcrop of some rocks on the sand. Only comes out to eat. Looks normal, no signs of disease. After he gets some food he goes back to "hiding", laying on the sand next to a rock.

I wonder if this is normal until they feel more comfortable in the tank. I would love to hear opinions of others.
 
Keep me posted and I will do the same. Mine seemed more comfortable earlier in the quarantine. That's why I'm so concerned.
 
Any fish not swimming in the water column and laying on it's side probably has a underlying disease or internal parasite. Do you notice heavy breathing, flashing, hanging out in a corner of the tank or scratching against the PVC? Any of these signs would indicate disease
 
I don't notice any of these things; that's why it's so strange. He just seems to be getting weaker and weaker. I think it's gotten worse just in the past hour. I've been feeding him mysis twice a day, so he shouldn't be lacking food.
 
It looks like he still has something in his mouth, but I can barely see it every now and then. Is there some kind of parasite that attacks the mouth? Will it spread to my pajama cardinal?

I'm pretty sure my firefish is on his way out. I'm so sad and feel terrible that I have taken him and lost him.
 
I went ahead and did a freshwater dip for about 4 minutes. I figured at this point it couldn't hurt. So I've either helped him or killed him. Right now he's completely stressed out and lying on the bottom again. But he did put up quite a fight when I tried to catch him. He just doesn't last long.
 
johno4 said:
Its funny you mentioned this, I just came on here to describe similar behavior with my fire fish.

For the first few days I had him he was swimming all the time eating and acting normal. For the last week he lays underneath and outcrop of some rocks on the sand. Only comes out to eat. Looks normal, no signs of disease. After he gets some food he goes back to "hiding", laying on the sand next to a rock.

I wonder if this is normal until they feel more comfortable in the tank. I would love to hear opinions of others.
Click to expand...

What other fish are in the tank?
 
two occ. clowns and a coral beauty, I do not see any signs of aggression or disease. Very strange, although mine does not seem to be getting weak.

Kelp, I hope yours pulls through.
 
Well...got home from work and he went MIA. Seriously no signs of him anywhere. I only have 1 scarlet hermit and two nassarius snails in the tank, I cant imagine if he died that they consumed his dead body leaving no trace. This stinks.

Good luck with yours Kelp.
 
johno4 said:
Well...got home from work and he went MIA. Seriously no signs of him anywhere. I only have 1 scarlet hermit and two nassarius snails in the tank, I cant imagine if he died that they consumed his dead body leaving no trace. This stinks.

Good luck with yours Kelp.
Click to expand...

Check the floor if your top is not fully covered ...

I'm about to leave work for the day and will check on mine soon.
 
Tank is covered

Just fed the tank for the second time and he popped out from behind a rock where I couldn't see him. He took a bit or two and when I got close he darted back behind the rock. He is becoming very skittish...

hopefully when you get home he is ok.
 
Glad you found yours!

Mine is hanging on, but it still is not promising. When I first spotted him, he had wedged himself between two PVC pipes, and his tail was sticking out, kind of waving in the current. I dropped some pellets in for the other fish, and the firefish suddenly starting swimming, though greatly affected by the current.

Now I'm not really sure what it is I'm seeing. Once he came out, I put some frozen mysis in, and it's like he tried to go after some pieces, but could never get it. Most of the time, it's like he just missed grabbing it in the water column. I did see him get one piece that had floated into the PVC pipe, but he just held it in his mouth. It's like he wants to eat but his mouth isn't working??? Does this sound familiar to anyone???
 
This is terrible. I'm about to do a search on a humane way to euthanize my fish. He is frantically running his head along the bottom of the tank, running into things. It is depressing.

Here is my second issue. I have another fish in quarantine with him. I need to know what the likely problem is, and if it might affect my other fish. Please advise!
 
Kelp, if you are not seeing any signs of external parasites, I would treat for internal parasites using prazipro. Follow the directions on the bottle, its relatively easy.

Good luck
 
Any chance these are Helfrichis? Aren't they deepwater fish? I have been told they are much more difficult than Purples.
 
Mine is not a Helfrichis, it is a basic red firefish. I think the Coral Beauty might be slightly stressing mine. I am going to try to catch the angel and give him a timeout in the fuge and see how the firefish responds to him being out of the tank.

I'll keep you posted.
 
Clove oil is a decent way to euthanize fish, if this guy doesn't recover. It's slow, but the worst that can happen is the fish will notice the clove oil smell and freak out for a few minutes. If done properly, they usually don't notice that anything's wrong.
Sounds to me like the laying down is fairly normal (I had a firefish that would sleep upside down), but the running-into-things seems almost like a panic attack.
 
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