MARINE: Fish Stress? Or am I just lucky.
David O'Brien
> I have been running my 29g marine tank for about 1 1/2 months now.
>I have read all the books and done all the tests and everything, and have
>a question that I haven't seen covered. Fish Stress.
>
> Moe says in his Marine Aquarium Handbook that I should watch out for
>stress among the fishies in a new tank. What do I look for? I have
>two Blue Damselfishies and two 3-spot DamselFishies. (Are the 3-spots
>also called domino damsels?) How do I know if they are stressed? If
>anything, they look fatter than when I got them, and they are voratiously
>rearranging the gravel in the tank to wuit their needs. They seem happy,
>but Moe said to expect fatalities? Am I just lucky, or is a Marine tank
>easier to keep than I was led to believe?
Your experience is very typical. Marine tanks can be very easy to
keep. I have never lost a damsel due to the cycling process, but they
have killed one another. A recent experience with a friends tank has
shown me that your local water source has a lot to do with your
success in keeping a marine tank. I'm not saying that you have an
especially good water source, just that you don't seem to have an
especially bad one.
Unnatural behavior is the easiest way to identify fish stress.
Skittish fish can be stressed or not, depends on the fish. If an
established fish seems over sensitive to what's going on outside the
tank, it is likely stressed. Rapid gill movement is also another sign
of stress. Because your fish are busy doing what they enjoy,
rearranging your tank, they seem happy to me. A stressed damsel can
be very jumpy, cowering, or oblivious to his surroundings. (ie,
swimming head long into a rock or tank wall - at full speed)
--
Dave O'Brien (da...@mipon3.intel.com)