Abnormal flame angel behaviour

[pebbles]

Some background:

200L mixed reef tank, established 18 months. All fish under go 12 week quarantine. Current inhabitants: 1 pr firefish, flame angel & mandarin fish.

Last quarantined inhabitant - the mandarin - placed in DT approx 6 weeks ago. No visible signs of disease, normal breathing, no scratching, choking or gasping. Angel in this tank 15 months.

Abnormal behaviour:
The angel is your typical bossy, active flame. Recently he's started swimming very quickly around the tank. Honestly, its like he's on amphetamines. This speed is very different to the more laidback swimming pattern he usually exhibits. I know my fish's habits intimately, and this is abnormal behaviour for him.

Whats changed?
Well water quality is very good, theres no detectable phosphate / nitrate, no nuisance algae growths etc.. Weekly NSW water changes 15%. Temperature is kept at 24-25C because of the deepwater firefish.

But I was seriously ill around the middle of the year and my husband attended to the tank for several months. I had run out of my DIY mix around March, so he was feeding primarily frozen mysis & brine. Anyhow I recently made a good quality DIY mix with many of the 20+ ingredients harvested locally. It includes his favourites like urchin flesh & roe, cunjevoi (tunicate) flesh, salmon, crab,marine yabbies, various macro etc...

This behaviour has started about 7-14 days after he started eating this food. To clarify, he's very active during the whole daylight period, not just when he's fed. I'm really hoping this is just a positive reaction to a more nutritious diet & not something more sinister.

Lee, what do you think?

 

[leebca]

I understand what you mean about knowing your fishes. I came to that very early on. With the numbers of fishes I've kept, I've come to know and 'see' subtle differences of fishes within the same species.

What you have proposed in so many words is that the only change of significance is the new food mix. Something could have gotten into that mix to have caused this shift in behavior. I would not ascribe 'good nutrition' to this shift in behavior, however.

Check this out by stopping the feeding this fish with your home made mix. Feed prepared frozen foods (no flakes, no pellets, no brine shrimp) for a couple of weeks and see if his behavior changes back to 'normal.' If it does, I'd say there was something in the food.

While doing this, try to get a detailed look at the fish. Watch/look for any surface imperfections. See if there is any loss of or gap(s) in its mucous coating. This would tend to suggest an irritant in the water.

Where does the NSW come from? Are you sure it is not polluted? Even boats that go far offshore have been known to pollute the water they collect by their own fuel leaks and pollution.

These are my only thoughts so far.

 

[pebbles]

OK. I will stop the mix & replace it with a commercial preparation & 'wait & see'. I've tried observing his body with an opthalmoscope when he's at the algae clip, mainly because I could change the mag to zoom in on an area. I can't see anything odd there, but am keeping a good eye on him.

Regarding the NSW, I don't think its a problem. In the past I've had a contaminated batch. While I didn't observe any difference with the fish, I could see a negative change with some of the corals almost immediately. I realise NSW may not be widely used in the States but locally the vast majority of hobbyists use it without problem. However, if theres no change after stopping the food, I could try a series of large water changes.

As an aside, he's the only fish demonstrating bizarre behaviour.

 

[leebca]

Sounds good.

I appreciate the observation that this is the only fish exhibiting a problem. I tell this to everyone -- that doesn't matter. Yes, it is a good sign that something is wrong with the water when everything looks like they are having problems, but the reverse isn't true. Every marine life form has its own threshold of what it will tolerate on any given chemical source. Even within the same species of fish, for instance, the threshold varies. Not only is it a matter of genetics, but it is also a matter of stressors on any particular fish at any given time.

For instance, a fish stressed by not having yet gone through acclimation and/or captivity adjustments has different and more intense stressors on it than a fish of the same species which has acclimated to captive life without a problem. The fish with a stressor already on it, is liable to be more susceptible to the next stressor that comes along.

In California where I live we have NSW available to us and almost all the time it is fine. . .almost.

 

[pebbles]

Thanks for the help...

I'll give a progress report as time goes on.

cheers
angie

 

[krisfal]

Just throwing a thought out here . . .

I recently saw a fish breeding video done by Joe Yaiullo. In that video the breeding fish "zipped" around the tank quite quickly leading up to actual spawning.

When I read about this fish's behavior it made me think about the video.

Lee do you think it is possible with it being springtime in the southern hemisphere and this fish nutrition changing for the better that it is possible this fish has become sexually mature and is exhibiting "twitterpated" behavior? (For those who do not know "twitterpated" is a term used in Bambi to describe frisky springtime behavior in animals)

 

[leebca]

I've not seen this behavior associated with maturity in captive life -- unless there is a particular stimulus (e.g., another fish or potential mate nearby).

Even though pebbles is in the Southern Hemisphere, I don't know where the fish was captured, or its age. Still, native or not I wouldn't be surprised if it could be connected to such a thing. Marine fish continually surprise me.

 

[pebbles]

I don't think theres a stimulus???

The flame was fairly local - from Vanuatu - and was purchased as an adult. I recently had some corals spawn, but suspect this was programmed long ago fom cues received in the wild. The tank doe get indirect daylight and the days are cerainly long ATM. Part of his behaviour is zipping up & down the glass, as if captivated by the other angel. I assumed this was more an artefact of boredom etc... in captivity, not an interest in a prospspective mate. But this zipping around is so all encompassing that he hardly ever nips at my corals now (he used to do this ~ twice a minute).

Interestingly, the firefish lay eggs every 4-6 weeks. Now this does drive him mad and he tail fans the entrance to their burrow...

As an aside, I have avoided getting him a female because, even if I gussed correctly, my understanding is that the fish could change sex during quarantine. I'm quite fond of him & wouldn't like to see him or the other fish injured if the prospective pairing went wrong.

 

[pebbles]

Time for a progress report.

The food was stopped the day after the initial post. A series of large water changes was done over a period of a week, effectively replacing the entire tanks water.

However, the behaviour continued and even intensified, reaching a peak around the New Year. Then almost as suddenly as it started, the behaviour eased & within 48 hours he was behaving normally again.

I'm still not sure what was going on, but I'm happy that he's behaving normally again.

Yep, he's back to leisurely swimming around the tank & nipping all the corals...

 

[pebbles]

Well time for another update.

The unusual behaviour has started all over again, beginning a week ago. The tank is still very stable, his diet is excellent and he still dominates his environment. Despite close inspection I can't find any physical signs of injury, parasites etc... he just looks really good IMO. The tank has also only been on ASW (made up witth RODI) since earllier this year, so I think I can exclude an irritant introduced with NSW.

He's currently doing practice runs up and down the sides of the tank often at a 45 degree angle once he reaches the last 8" or so. As per last year, the days are lengthening quickly as its early spring here - especially after the bleak cold winter we just had.... So I'm really beginning to wonder if he's reached sexual maturity and whether this may explain his odd behaviour???

 

[barrierreefcf]

Just throwing this out...any chance there's stray voltage leaking into the tank? Maybe its irritating him and causing this erratic behaviour? Worth checking anyway. Hope things work out!