STRESSED OUT FISH... what can I do?

so my mandarin has been in my tank about two weeks... the only fish

he was doing great .

we are on the 3rd day of a new fish flame hawk.. i love this guy too

he hasn't touched the mandarin but the mandarin seems extrememly stressed not movin much, not grazing just laying there and breathin

i know there's plenty of pods. in the two weeks i've had him i've put 3 bottles of tigger pods and before I got him I put one in as well plus i can see the pods

my water is perfect

so I'm guessing all the movement and exploring by the flame hawkfish is really stressin him out..

is there anything I can do to help him..? is there something i can add to the water or something to relax him i know that's prolly a dumb question but I just want to make sure that leaving them alone is or isn't the only thing to do

TIA

-romie

 

There is really no intervention you can do besides leaving the lighting off.

 

would that bother my corals if i go a full cycle off ?

 

No not at all, the corals will be fine.

 

man i wish i could run home and turn the timer off

oh well i hope he makes it thru one more day and then i'll leave the lights off

 

what size tank and how old? It's not necessarily a great match of fish, especially in smaller tanks. Hawks can be aggressive, even if you don't see anything and Mandarins are very timid. i agree, try lights out, and maybe even rearrange some rocks during that time.

 

i spent no joke 4 hours the first day watchin that flame hawkfish (the round short nosed one) just to make sure i didn't need to pull him out this was saturday then sunday i spent
another 3 or more (this tank is in my man cave) again and he doesn't even come near him just swing from spot to spot but my mandarin just stayed in a corner.. i did move rocks around a bit the mandarin moved to the other side of the tank while i was moving rocks around and still as of this morning he's still in the same spot (the second spot) and he kinda moves ever 5 to 10 mintues re adjust type thing or turns around so i know he's a live and not "sick" his front dorcel with the spike has been flared up for most of the time and he looks healthy nice color...

oh well i was thinking about pouring a shot of jack daniels in there

 

LOL, I like the Jack Daniels idea. I'm think it's just adjusting to a new tank mate and acting different because of it. That's my 2 cents.

 

If it has its dorsal extended that is not a good sign.Aggresion is not always easily observed and does not always include chasing or biting.Simple postures and or vocalizations could be the reason the Mandarin is stressed.Hawkfish can be extremely aggresive as has been stated. They can be hard on newcomers to the system as well.

 

I agree with m2434 and Vinny. Both my Falco and Flame Hawkfish would only go after other fish when I left the room. Very sneaky and very aggressive. The Flame is only about an inch long, but now lives with three aggressive triggers in the 8" range, which I think are much better tankmates than small reef fish.