mgoos

Ok, so I got my 75 gallon tank set up for salt water. It's been cycling for about 3 weeks now and my snails and zoanthids are doing great. So today I decided to go get a couple of green chromis because of thier reputation for being a hardy fish that does well for beginners. They've been in my tank for about 4 1/2 hours now and one is just sitting at the bottom of the tank wiggling his fins around and the other won't come out of the rocks, he's just sitting up there staring at me. I tried to feed them a TINY bit but niether of them were interested. I don't know exactly what to look for in terms of distress and I'm not sure they're happy because at the pet shop they were swimming around nice and happy and now they're just sitting there like they don't know what to do with themselves. Any advice or similar experiences? Are they okay? Is there anything I can do to make it easier for them in there? Am I overthinking all of this?

Martinismommy

If you just introduced them into the tank today I would expect them to act like what you are describing.....Did you do a slow acclimation? Is your tank fully cycled?

lilFishyfish

Hi, Did you have your water tested before you added the fish? Also did you check the salinity?

Do you have a saltwater hydrometer?

If everything is fine in those departments and they aren't breathing to heavy, than it is most likely just the stress of gettings put in new surroundings and I would just give them more time. Also if they were in a smaller tank before they might just be adjusted to more wide space...

mgoos

The people at the petshop said that if my zoanthid was doing well and my snails were okay then I didn't have to test the tank...that didn't sound right to me but I listened to him because he said "I've been doing this for too long to not know what I'm talking about." I acclimated them in a bucket with a drip tube for 2 hours. I don't know if that's long enough or not. I left them in the bag they were in to drip them then I floated the bag in the tank to make sure the temp wouldn't be a shock. I don't know if that was a good idea and I wasn't told to do that but I thought it might help them out a little more. I want to buy the test kit but the guy said I wouldn't need it untill I do my next water change. My friend who got me into the salt water hobby said to test it before and after the water change and then again before adding fish. I don't know why I listened to the man at the pet shop...I should've known better.

I don't know why it didn't post what I just put up here...if anyone got it could you please copy and paste it or quote it so I don't have to retype it all?

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore.
Sorry about that, due to some recent problems new member's are moderated until they reach a certain number of posts.

Good luck with your tank, you're in good hands.

nemo addict

hi welcome to fishlore ,,
you need to get a test kit for your tank asap and check the your tank has cycled ,, people do use chromis to cycle tanks , keep your lights out on the tank for a day or so to let them settle in and get used to the tank ,,,the person in the shop miss advised you and if he has been doing for a long time i suspect he has killed alot of fish and caused people a lot of problems with there tanks ,, are the chromis feeding ?? are they gasping for air ??

mgoos

OOOOOHHH. Well, that makes sense. At least I don't have to retype all of that lol

They won't eat but they're not gasping for air, they're breathing normally. Thanks for the tip about leaving the light out. I had it on. I just ran over and turned it out.

nemo addict

leaving the lights out when introducing new fish keeps there stress levels lower ,, what are you feeding them ?? if they dont eat in 2 days try adding marine garlic to there food as most cant resist it and gets them wating rather quick ,,
when you aclimatise your fish just put the bag in the tank (turn lights out) let water temprature adjust then slowly add water in to the bag from your tank over about 30 -40 mins then remove fish from bag in to tank and throw away the water in the bag as you dont know wots in there as LFS have a lot of fish and normally all tanks joined in to same filter ,, i personally use a hospital tank for 2-3 weeks to make sure my fosh have no signs of illness before i put in tank as i dont want to infect the rest of my fish as they cost a lot of money and one bad fish can wipe out your tank ,, so worth that small investment for hospital tank when you get stocking levels up

mgoos

I turned the lights out and one went into hiding but I can still see him and he's doing ok. The other is still just hanging out at the bottom of the tank close to the front where I can see his easily and he seems ok. Thanks for the tip about throwing the pet shop's water out. I didn't think about that. I think I may have gotten more than I bargained for with the live rock...I'm starting to see little things that I didn't buy comin out of the rocks. I know there's a couple of bristle worms but I have no idea what the other things are. One of them looks like it's either a baby anemone or a baby zenia. I think there's a clam on one of the rocks...it looks like a clam to me. There's something that looks like an earth worm slithering through one chunk of rock and there are little things that look like...hmm...I don't know how to describe them. They look hard and about the size of a speghetti noodle around and about half an inch to a inch long. I don't know, I just got the chromis today so for about 3 weeks now I've been staring at the rock and watching my snails. lol

lilFishyfish

I would test your tank water asap and get a saltwater hydrometer if you don't have one already. I wouldn't worry about the live rock, I had the same thing when I had my live rock. After awhile all types of critters started appearing lol. As far as know I didn't have a problem with anything bothering my fish from the live rock. Just make sure nothing like a worm or such is attacking the fish... Maybe in the future depending on what kind of fish you wanted to keep in the tank you could get a bi color blenny or any blenny or blennys for that matter, I used to have one it was a great rock "cleaner" and was one of the cutest things I've ever seen, It would pop its head out of rock caves and was pretty out going!!!!!!

mgoos

I do have a hydrometer but that's all I have for the time being. I'm going to go buy a test kit tomorrow. I'm not sure what to do if my levels are bad...I guess another water change? I just did one yesterday. I have a 75 gallon and I changed out 24 gallons. I don't know if I did that right either, I don't even know how to read my hydrometer. There's a section of it on there that has lines and I'm assuming between those lines is good.

lilFishyfish

They are pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. I pretty sure it should generally around 1.024 in that area. I used to test mine everytime i did a water change and had added my "salted water" already. I'd try to stick with 10% water change every week for awhile, since your tank is still new. Then go to 25% every two weeks, later on. You don't want to over do it with the water changes since your tank is still new. Once you get your results of your water test let us know how it is and we can go from there .

nemo addict

your rock i would worry about ,the things that look like small anemones could be aptisia and if it is you want to kill it before it becomes a problem ,, put pics up for id ,,, if you post your parameters up here we can help you out with what to do ,,,, i take it you have a floating hydrometer if so normally between the black lines is correct .

at the moment you should be doing small frequent water changes about 10% every 2-4 days depending on test results .

try and get some pics up this will help id good and bad and can advise how to cure a problem ,,,

mgoos

Ok, I'll go try to get some pics up now. The chromis are doing GREAT today! They're swimming around and eating and being very lively. So I'm excited about that. Okay, I'm off to get some pics, I'll be right back.

mgoos

I couldn't get a clear pic but I looked up apstasia and that's EXACTLY what it looks like so I guess I'll pull that rock out and squish it or something, I don't know...is there a way you're supposed to kill it or will squishing it work?

nemo addict

if you do it in the tank it will spread even quicker try aptisiaX that works if you quick enough lol ,,2nd choice a true peppermint shrimp,,, if not last resort is boiling hot water but you will kill anything else living in the rock ,, but it will become live again rather soon from your other rock ,,

see nothing to worry about until your tank is over run with it

Matt

I Bought some chromis on 8th November on Saturday. Mine are really active and are alread mingling with my clownfish and they are eating alot of frozen brine shrimp. Mine are very colourful and i watched them at the pet shop for about 3 months then i bought them because i knew they were healthy. I am really good mates with the man at the pet shop now. Whenever i am thinking about getting certain fish he will put the fish i want in a spare tank and he will watch them for me. Mine have a healthy build and are a beautiful light blue colour. Hope yours are ok. Post some pics. I will try post some pics of mine soon.