Ugh - Firefish FREAKING!

[jasonmarc]

Hi all,
Ok - another firefish question (I rue the day I purchased that little ba$&#*d! - have had him about 4 months now - always eats)
Yesterday, did a little algae-scraping on the glass. Firefish disappeared as per usual under his barnacle cluster.
He came out and poked around about 4 hours later for about 10 minutes. The said "peace out" and disappeared again.
About 3 hours after that, I look over and suddenly see him flashing around the tank like he was being chased by a predator - completely out of control-panic appearance. Then stopped, floating upside down, twitching and half-swimming, half floating, and disappeared behind a rock. I thought "great - I gotta fish this thing out now") and went to get a flashlight to see where he went and died. I come back - he swims out from behind the rock, stops and looks at me, and makes his way back under the barnacle.
I had just tested everything an hour beforehand:
Ammon: 0
Trites: 0
Trates: 10 (maybe 15? but definitely not above that)
pH 8.3
dKh - 10 drops (Aq Pharm test - 8-12 drops is considered acceptable)
temp 79
salt level: 1.025 on the nose.
I kinda expect to head home today after work and find him floating (or at least hopefully not having died under something that I won't know about).
Any insights as to what could have happened? We've been out of hyposalinity for about 3 weeks now, no sign of any problem. Tank mates are only 2 ocellaris - no inverts, no live rock, no chance of something in there trying to eat him. I even wondered about stray current - but the clowns were not impacted at all.
Maybe I'll just empty the tank, fill it with dirt, and put in a (silk) plant instead! lol
Thanks in advance for any insights.
Jason

 

[lion_crazz]

Getting a grounding probe is not a bad idea, just in case it is stray current.
Other than that, maybe you just freaked him out by putting your hand in the tank.

 

[jasonmarc]

Would it be not-out-of-the-ordinary to have him freak out a good 11 hours later? He stressed out last time I did that - albeit to a lesser extent, but it seemed like such a long period of time between hen I had my hands in there and when he had his epileptic fit....

 

[jasonmarc]

Update: So, I get home from work yesterday, flip the tank lights on, and was pleasantly surprised to see the firefish come out of his burrow (we have this routine of "lights on, it's feeding time!"). About 10 seconds later, he again freaks out, darting around the tank and rolling on the substrate like he's wrestling some unknown demon. He flies to the surface, leaps out, and hits (hard!) on the top. That was it for him - a few moments of rolling in the current, and he was gone.
Once again, clowns showed no signs of anything, other than heading to the other side of the tank when the firefish was freaking. I retested the water, and everything came out like it was the day before. I even tried to feed the clowns about 20 minutes later to see if they would go to food (isn't that a good way to determine how they're doing?) and, as usual, they ate like pigs.
Did I just end up with a psychotic fish? Could there have been a residual issue with the hypo procedure? Or is this simply one of the great unknowns of a salt tank? If anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks
Jason

 

[earlybird]

Is he hurting himself when he is freaking out?

 

[jasonmarc]

Well - he's not hurting himself any longer... like I said, yesterday he went to that great reef in the sky. But I do wonder if his hitting the top had something to do with his dramatic death... But I'm stuck as to what was making him freak out in the first place...

 

[earlybird]

You gonna get another one?

 

[jasonmarc]

Maybe, maybe not. Depends on my mood when I buy another fish. Nothing is happening until I figure out what was going on.
Speaking of which, is there anyone reading this with an idea?

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by JasonMarc
Maybe, maybe not. Depends on my mood when I buy another fish. Nothing is happening until I figure out what was going on.
Speaking of which, is there anyone reading this with an idea?
wow that is wierd. when you put you rhand in the tank and he freaks out normaly does he alwys try to jump out and hit on the top?
i doubt tht is it but mabe from all tt hitting?
it wwas wierd i was able to keep a dragonette and a yt in a small tank (newbie mistake. then i foudn this site.)
but i couldn never keep any firefish...

 

[92protruck]

you may be on to something when you asked about residual from doing hypo. I have a 6 line wrasse that I swear has brain damage as a result of hypo (meaning the salinity level itself, associated pH drop, med's that I dosed, etc.) It's been 1 1/2 years since he went thru hypo but he darts around, smashes into things, scares the crap out a everybody else in the tank, swims in circles chasing his tail, goes up and down very fast in the corner of the tank, jumps out of the water (but not yet out of the tank), etc. I swear he is a different fish than before hypo but maybe its a 6 line wrasse thing?? If you think that behavior is wierd...multiply by 10 and that's what he does when I unplug the grounding probe. I think you mentioned voltage as well. Voltage clearly effects my fish all though others say its not possible.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by 92ProTruck
you may be on to something when you asked about residual from doing hypo. I have a 6 line wrasse that I swear has brain damage as a result of hypo (meaning the salinity level itself, associated pH drop, med's that I dosed, etc.) It's been 1 1/2 years since he went thru hypo but he darts around, smashes into things, scares the crap out a everybody else in the tank, swims in circles chasing his tail, goes up and down very fast in the corner of the tank, jumps out of the water (but not yet out of the tank), etc. I swear he is a different fish than before hypo but maybe its a 6 line wrasse thing?? If you think that behavior is wierd...multiply by 10 and that's what he does when I unplug the grounding probe. I think you mentioned voltage as well. Voltage clearly effects my fish all though others say its not possible.
I would definately consider the grounding probe. I did hypo with a firefish and it did not effect him at all. They are naturally twitchy fish, so a stray current would probably make them act out more so than a calmer fish.

 

[jasonmarc]

Thanks for the ideas guys. No he never tried to jump the tank before (that I saw anyway) and usually, when I did something to the tank, would just go back to his room for a few hours and then be fine... so we'll see.
I don't see anything on here for a grounding probe... is that something that a lfs would carry, or is that more a home-improvement store item?
Really - especially lion and sep for the grounding probe suggestion. There's always another gadget to buy huh? lol
All this for a couple of fish.... *sigh*

 

[sepulatian]

Ah, but you love those fish!!!! I have never had an electrical issue and do not know much about it. I have had firefish and never had them freak out the way your fish has. I would like to believe that there is a easier source of the trouble. I still don't see any of the tankmates that you have for him bugging him to the extreme that you're describing. I also do not see a firefish freaking out 11 hrs after your hand was in the tank. A stray electrical current makes sense. Especially when you said that after the light goes on he goes crazy. My firefish used to take about 5 minutes to come out after all of the lights went on, then he was ready to eat. Stray voltage makes sense.