Uh Oh, Rabbitfish Worries

[new2u]

If you guys are reefcentral frequenters, you may have already seen this but I'm not getting any responce so here i go....
Hey guys, I bought a, what i thought to be, healthy dolitis rabbitfish just the other day, saturday to be exact, and first and second day he ate like a hoss, and went to town on my algea, but starting monday, i couldn't find him that morning, so i thought nothing of it untill that evening and when he didnt show i took apart the rockwork and still didn't and when i was putting it back there he appeared swimming around. I thought what a relief and put back all the rock. Then yesterday he was cowering in the bottom corner, and didn't come out to eat, so i caught him, without much of a fight and put him in my barren fuge. Now today he is still cowering in the corner down there, but when provoked he swims around like normal and "snaps out of it" for about five minutes, but then goes back. I was planning to introduce him and a foxface into my new 120 when i moved everyone to the big tank. What do you think is happening? He is otherwise completly healthy. Thank you for the help!
No QT of course, i'm a mere highschool student and a lucky one at that...

 

[lion_crazz]

What are the tanks levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, pH, kH, and temp)?
How did you acclimate the fish?
What else is in the tank, as far as fish?
What size is this tank and the fuge?

 

[new2u]

Params are all good (amm 0 'trites 0 trates a lil high at 20 pH 8.2ish i hate color coated charts) the tank is a 58RR, the fuge is about 20g, inhabitants? Coral Beaut, Lawnmower, Pair of False Percs, Manderian, Flame Hawk, and Solar Wrasse. A little cramped, but I'm now worrying about it since everything is getting moved as soon as the damn ammonia in my big 120 dies and the cycle is finished. Did i miss anything? I feed Zoe & Garlic soaked misis and a matchbook sized (after double folded) sheet of algea to appease the herbavores.

 

[lion_crazz]

You missed the alk, temp, and salinity.
Also, how did you acclimate the fish?
Another thing that I noticed is that your food variety is not very good. I would include at least 2 to 3 more foods in that diet.
When you say "solar" wrasse, do you mean "lunar" wrasse? Green fish, pink lines on its face? How is the wrasse's aggression? They can be nasty and territorial little fish, especially for a 58 gallon tank.

 

[new2u]

no, i mean solar or solaris salitity 1.0124 and temp goes from about 81 to 80. I acclimated him with the standard add a shot glass of water every 2 minutes, dump half, repeat, repeat, repeat untill its only about 1/16 lfs water, then add in. I switch foods every time i run out, and i'm near that point. I'm going to try to make my own soon with melevs food mix, but havent run out yet I don't have an alk test... but since everyone else has been going good for a good year i doubt its bad...

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by New2u
no, i mean solar or solaris salitity 1.0124 and temp goes from about 81 to 80. I acclimated him with the standard add a shot glass of water every 2 minutes, dump half, repeat, repeat, repeat untill its only about 1/16 lfs water, then add in. I switch foods every time i run out, and i'm near that point. I'm going to try to make my own soon with melevs food mix, but havent run out yet I don't have an alk test... but since everyone else has been going good for a good year i doubt its bad...
I do think you meant a SG of 1.024, right?
The acclimation does not sound as good as it could be, in my opinion. A drip method really is best because it is so slow and spread out over a longer period of time. When a fish is immediatly not doing well upon arrival in the tank (3 week period), and you can absolutely rule out aggression and terrible tank water, a improper acclimation is usually the issue.
And as far as alkalinity, I would have a test kit, nonetheless. It is an important thing to test for. Always know what your tank levels are, in case something does happen to your tank.

 

[lion_crazz]

Your fish sounds like it could be very stressed. I personally would give it some time to settle down. I have found that siganus doliatus rabbits do much better when kept in groups or small schools. That could also be attributing to its stressed behavior. It sounds to me that you have proper tank mates for the fish, so I think given time, it should snap out of its stress. It also probably did not help it when you moved all the rock around looking for him. This probably further stressed him out in his new home. Then, he got scared again when you moved him to a totally different tank. I would just give this fish some time to relax and get used to its surroundings. If he was healthy at the LFS, he should recover from this okay.

 

[new2u]

Interesting, I've read that the drip method actually makes the pH swing worse, as it is not a linear cycle, and would stress out more sensitive fish more. I usually do drip, but also don't think that acclimation is the problem since he was so active the first two days. Strange, but i'm letting him chill in the fuge for now...

 

[lion_crazz]

That's a good idea, to just let him calm down a bit. I seriously think something had to have scared him on day 3, and then after being scared, he was greatly stressed twice. Just let him settle down a bit.

 

[new2u]

I agree, with the skittish tendancies of rabbitfish in mind, it seems the most logical option. I'll see how he is tommorrow.