Reef really harder than fish only?

[Abissus]

I am starting to question if a beginning softies are more fragile than fish.

I have a 55 gallon setup and added a few small softies, they are all doing fine (polyps extended, and not hanging limply).

Then I added ONE single fish yesterday, and guess what, it is no where to be found this morning. Maybe firefish are just wimps.

So far my impression has been corals (pointedly softies) are much tougher than I thought, while fishes are more fragile. Quite the opposite of what I expected.

 

[NaH2O]

I think some corals are for sure hardier than we give them credit for. In fact, there are some species of corals people consider weeds. Provide the right conditions and you can have a difficult time removing them.

How did you acclimate the fish, have you looked around the tank to see if it jumped out anywhere, if you have an overflow, have you looked inside the overflow box?

 

[Abissus]

I acclimate same way with the softies, float in tank for 15 or so mins, then add a couple oz of my tank water to the bag every 5 mins or so. when the bag gets too full I empty it some and repeat. Eventuall net the fish and discarding all water.

I am starting to think it probably jumped out, now reading online that they are jumpers. Especially the fish seemed to be doing ok last night. I looked and did not see any trace of a body tho, maybe my dog ate it if it jumped out

I'll just keep looking

 

[dalefio]

If your powerheads are unobstructed, check inside. I lost a couple of fish that way.

 

[TurboRook]

Keeping a tank in general has a learning curve to it. It's taken me a few years to start to really feel comfortable that I have developed good husbandry skills and enough plumbing/electrical skills to be able to handle most problems in my system and animals as they crop up. You're right though, to this day, I still stress any time I add a new fish. Even with the best acclimation procedure you never quite know if the stress will be too much. With softies, they may look pretty bad for a few days but will usually pull through.

 

[NaH2O]

TurboRook - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[TurboRook]

Thanks! Glad to be here.

 

[Wolfesbane]

I've also found firefish to be pretty skittish too. They're very quick to dive into a cave if they feel threatened at all. Maybe it's just hiding, it's only been a day.

~ Steve

 

[Abissus]

Maybe. I looked again all over and around the tank, still no luck. It was not hiding when I first put in in, so I'd be a little surprised it hiding so well the next day suddenly..

A little tempted to get another one (just don't see purple firefish very often), but don't want to waste more money and lose that too.