I picked up a pair of ORA Orchid Dottybacks on Saturday. One of the pair is doing really well. The rock lift in my tank makes the entire area under the rock one big cave, which he cruises around. He is very active, except he disappears at night somewhere I can't see him.
The other one does not appear to be doing well. She has been in the same corner of the tank almost constantly since Saturday. She is usually sideways, with her belly against the glass and her dorsal fin 'hooked' onto the rock so that she can stay in place without expending any energy.
In the mornings before the lights come on she's actually just been laying on the sand, on her side, belly against the glass. I thought she was dead both mornings but she proved me wrong.
I have seen her occasionally swim normally and she doesn't appear to have any difficulty staying upright when she does. Nor is her swimming erratic when she chooses to swim around. This evening when I got home from work I fed them and I did finally see her eat a little thawed mysis, but she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as her tankmate.
FWIW, I did my weekly water change Saturday morning before heading over to Neptune to get the fish. I use the NSW I get from them. I haven't done the full gamut of tests though I know that I should. Salinity is 1.024. My pH changes over the course of the day but is currently 8.2. Temp is 77.2. However, given that the other fish is not having any difficulties I'm assuming the problem isn't water params.
I haven't really seen any overt aggression from the other fish so I don't really suspect she's being bullied. When he comes near she doesn't swim away.
So, any guesses as to what's bothering her? Is she just taking longer to adjust to her new environment than the other one? Or does this sound like something more serious? I've never had any Dottybacks before so I'm not familiar with their behavior but this seems abnormal to me. What can I do to improve the chances that she'll pull through?
Thanks,
The other one does not appear to be doing well. She has been in the same corner of the tank almost constantly since Saturday. She is usually sideways, with her belly against the glass and her dorsal fin 'hooked' onto the rock so that she can stay in place without expending any energy.
In the mornings before the lights come on she's actually just been laying on the sand, on her side, belly against the glass. I thought she was dead both mornings but she proved me wrong.
I have seen her occasionally swim normally and she doesn't appear to have any difficulty staying upright when she does. Nor is her swimming erratic when she chooses to swim around. This evening when I got home from work I fed them and I did finally see her eat a little thawed mysis, but she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as her tankmate.
FWIW, I did my weekly water change Saturday morning before heading over to Neptune to get the fish. I use the NSW I get from them. I haven't done the full gamut of tests though I know that I should. Salinity is 1.024. My pH changes over the course of the day but is currently 8.2. Temp is 77.2. However, given that the other fish is not having any difficulties I'm assuming the problem isn't water params.
I haven't really seen any overt aggression from the other fish so I don't really suspect she's being bullied. When he comes near she doesn't swim away.
So, any guesses as to what's bothering her? Is she just taking longer to adjust to her new environment than the other one? Or does this sound like something more serious? I've never had any Dottybacks before so I'm not familiar with their behavior but this seems abnormal to me. What can I do to improve the chances that she'll pull through?
Thanks,