Depressed 6 Line Wrasse

[RockingCricket]

In a newly setup 90 litre / 24 Gal nano I've introduced a firefish and 6 line wrasse. Drip acclimatised they appeared to take well. The firefish seems happy is Larry, hangs out front and centre and has his own cave. The wrasse however is not so happy. He was active on the day he was introduced. The next day when he swam, it was very close to the bottom of the tank. The rest of the time he would just sit. The tank params are as to be expected for a new tank setup with already established live rock and a dose of bactinettes. I did notice the temp was high 82 so brought it down to 80 with ice bags.
He does seem a little better today. He's moving around at least which is an improvement.
Any ideas what could be the problem? As I said, the firefish is fine.

BTW If my signature contains anything fishy, it isnt regarding this tank. I havent been to MFT since I last kept a tank.

 

[Lotus]

How long is it now since you got him? What's your water movement like? It almost sounds like there's an oxygen problem in there. Is he eating?

 

[RockingCricket]

5 or 6 days. The firefish and him are the first inhabitants of the cycled setup and I do have a lot of flow.
He does eat and is behaving the same today.

 

[Lotus]

Did you check ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

 

[RockingCricket]

Thanks Lotus.
The ammonia has been a little high although I thought this was to be expected with a new setup. Half of my rock is from an already established system and the other half was dry.
I'll test the params again tonight and will post the results.

 

[Lmecher]

If you understood the nitrogen process you would have waited for your tank to completely cycle and not added fish until your amonia, nitrites are at 0. Then you should see nitrate. Did you tell the LFS your tank was just set up. Your fish is not depressed, it is in being poisoned, they can not tolerate amonia. If you still have amonia do not feed, it will just add to your bioload. Get that amonia to 0 then feed very sparingly. Your tank has to build up bacteria to be able to process the waste. Do a search for cycling a saltwater aquarium.

 

[RockingCricket]

Sorry for the delayed response which makes this more of an update really. The wrasse is happy and active now although it is a mystery as to why he wasn't on his arrival. The temp was a little high, though not wildly so at 84. The tank params were and are good (and cycled - thanks for the cycle with fish protest Lmecher but it isnt needed here) It's taken him a while but he's settled in nicely now. Any thoughts would still be appreciated as to what the cause might have been?

 

[Lotus]

I'd say 84 is really too high for most saltwater fish to be happy. While it may be OK for established fish, it's going to be a lot more stressful for a new fish.

The ammonia will certainly make them unhappy, even a little bit.