Damsels on their sides, but not dead...NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE!

[mixtimp]

Here's the specs: 75 gallon, recently cycled with 100lbs of Live Sand. Let the tank run with the LS for about 3 months. Checked all the perameters, and everything is what it should be. I recently added a 13.5lb piece of beautiful coraline filled Live Rock to the tank. I added two Damsels 3 days ago, using the drip acclimation method, for 2 hours.
They do eat when I put food in, but the rest of the time, they look completely dead. They hang out at the very top of the water, right by the built in overflow, and stay up there. One of the damsels lays flat, like he would if he was dead, but then if i put my finger next to him, he swims away and looks fine, then goes right back.
They do not swim around the tank at all. What could it be?

 

[chipmaker]

What is the waters parameters? I know damsels are fairly hardy fish but if that piece ofLR induced a heavy cycle its possible they are suffering from high ammonia and nitrite levels.........At the least supply some water parameters..
AM
NITRITE
NITRATE
PH
SG
Temp
How long ago was rock put in as compared to when fish were introduced etc etc I would not think a chunk of live rock if its fully cured and does not have much if any die off on it could spike a tank of that size to dangerous levels, but its a thought, unless damsels were sick to begin with. Their behavior is not typical of damsels.
etc etc.

 

[mixtimp]

I am going to take readings right now and get back to you. The damsels were added 3 days ago, and the rock was added 2 days after that.
They are actually swimming around a very little bit right now. But they still hang close to the overflow and always revert right back to it.
I FORGOT TO ADD...my VHO lights have not come in yet. I ordered a really nice set of 4, 110w each, and they have not arrived. I have a florecent light from a freshwater tank over the tank right now. Since I've turned it on, they are slightly more active, but it's not much.
Any ideas now?

 

[maroonytun]

The rock might not have been fully cured.

 

[mixtimp]

How do you tell if a rock is fully cured? The owner of the LFS said it was fully cured, it has tons of coraline growth, and lots of other growth on it.
So would you advise to add the remaining 100 pounds in before adding any additional fish?

 

[chipmaker]

You already have 100# of liverock? Is it on hand or still at the shop. I would have added the live rock at the start and left it run through the cycle. Any live rock even if its claimed to be fully cured, is still going to cause osme kind of a cycle be it small or large if its removed from one tank and placed in another...Its still going to cycle again. Just because a rock is covered in coraline doe snot mean its cured........There is tons of stuff in and on rocks that die off when its shipped or removed from water, and when its palced back in the tank such as you have done with this initial 13# pound piece its starting to cycle again until its dead junk is turned into ammonia/nitrite/and eventually nitrate........If your gonna add 100# I would really see if the lfs could hold those damsels until the tank is fully cycled again. once yu add the 100#.....Live sand biologically and may help cycling but its not supportive of what has to be done biologically like live rock is.....I say if yu did a water change now, odds are those two damsels would be doing just fine a matter of a few hours..........and a check is gonna reveal perhaps levels of ammonia/nitrite unless of course the cycle has already spiked and is on its way to completion.

 

[mixtimp]

I have another 100#'s of rock at the store, that I'm waiting to pick up until next week. Right now, there is just the 13.5lb. piece in there, and the sand.
The fish are actually being much more active, now that I added the floro light. I can't wait until thursday when my VHO's come in!!! The yellow damsel is swimming all around, and the zebra striped is doing a little more activity, but is still hanging around the overflow.

 

[chipmaker]

Well it was not the lights that helped with the problem, as fishcould care less one way or the other what kind if any lights you have. Odds are the ammonia levels and nitrite levels from adding that piece of rock are coming down. I would stilltake the fish to lfs and have them hold them until you place and cycle all the rock in the tank, and water parameters are A=0, Nitrite=0 and NItrate = as low as possible, but do a water change prior to adding the fish.

 

[squidd]

Originally Posted by chipmaker
What is the waters parameters? I know damsels are fairly hardy fish but if that piece ofLR induced a heavy cycle its possible they are suffering from high ammonia and nitrite levels.........At the least supply some water parameters..
AM
NITRITE
NITRATE
PH
SG
Temp.
Mix...still waiting to see readings...I think you'll find answer here... :thinking:

 

[chipmaker]

I have a feeling no tests were taken.......or the tests results were way out of line........I do hope Mix does have a test kit and has done some testing though. I just can not see any other possible cause other than water parameters (on assumption fish were ok when purchased and acclimated)