Help!! Spotted Hawkfish

I picked up a spotted hawkfish from the LFS last night and put him in my 15 gal QT which had cycled and has normal parameters. He seemed happy as could be and was perching up on top of the PVC and sponge filter I've got in there, and even this morning he seemed to be doing well. Now he is tucked up under a piece of rock and his breathing seems to be very rapid and he's kind of leaning on one side.

Ammonia & nitrite are 0, pH around 8.1, and temp at 78F with a SG of 1.022. I did about a 15% water change to see if that helped but so far to no avail. He ate some mysis shrimp I put in there last night and seemed to take to the new aquarium very well. Moved the rock a little bit and he kind of came out from under it and sat normally for a little bit, but then went back under the rock. I tried putting just a bit more food in there to see if he'd eat, but he didn't even make an effort. I turned off the stock florescent light to see if that would help.

Anyone have any ideas or advice on something else I should be looking at? Should also probably add that I haven't ruled out the possibility I'm overreacting...

Thanks!

 

This morning he's looking worse, still laying on a side and is definitely breathing rapidly. Did another check on the water (Ammonia & Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 5, and pH at 8.1) before doing a 30% water change. I'm starting to come to terms that I'm going to lose my first marine animal. Anyone have suggestions or ideas on something I may have done wrong or is this just the nature of the hobby sometimes?

 

Yeah I did float acclimate him when I introduced him to the tank and that first night he was doing great! Day 2 was when the problems started. My display runs 1.025-1.026 as well, I got a little heavy when topping off RO water and dropped the QT tank below that range prior to adding him, but from what I've read online the SG range for them is 1.020 - 1.025. With the WC this morning, after my initial reading of 1.022, I brought it up to 1.023 which should be fine for him I would think.

Infection was something I was looking at too, but no signs of anything that I can see.

 

I've got a big sponge filter in there that's rated for I think twice the tank size. Here's a pic of Day 1 with him sitting on it.

 

Thanks @danmgray & @ShaneP. I really like the fish, it's been on my wish list since I started putting my tank together. I started Prazipro last night since I couldn't see anything on him like ich or velvet and as of this morning he's still hanging in there. I'll even cautiously say he may be doing just a little bit better; breathing doesn't seem to be as rapid and he's moved around a little in the tank. Last night I tried pushing a few mysis in front of his mouth with a small dropper, he moved a little bit though I don't if that was because of the food or the dropper; think I'll try that again this morning.

Oh and when I float acclimated I did gradually mix in water from the tank into the bag over the course of about 30 minutes. The LFS I got him from typically run their tanks in the 1.024-1.026 range I think, though I didn't think to test the bag water for SG. Might be something I add to my list for the future.

 

Yeah that thought had crossed my mind too @Fence13. Not sure if it was the Prazipro or a couple days in a dark tank but he seems to be doing pretty good now. Still hanging out on the bottom and not perching on anything in the tank, but he is moving around a bit and raises his dorsal fin when I go to look at him so I'm taking that as a good sign.

 

Yeah I feel like I'm feeding him enough @Borky00, maybe even over-feeding honestly. I throw some mysis shrimp in there about everyday or every other day at the longest. So far he's still hanging in there!

 

Yeah I only feed my DT once a day with 1/2 cube of frozen mysis, pellets, or flakes; maybe I need to rethink that though? I've got 2 clowns and a wrasse in there currently. The DT wakes up after I go to work so not sure if putting food into a dark tank would be worth it. I feed my candy cane coral mysis every 2-3 days in the morning while the tank is dark and there is always some shrimp that aren't caught by the tentacles. I don't have an auto-feeder either but maybe I should look into one and set it up to feed a bit while I'm at work? What's everyone's feeding schedules in general?

 

@ShaneP you mentioned having a falco and just kind of wondering about how you introduced it to your main tank? Did you QT or anything like that? Mine is still in QT and seems to be doing ok, breathing at a steady pace and doesn't seem to be gasping or anything like that. Occasionally he will swim towards the surface, and that kind of freaks me out, but I don't know if that is an attempt to get oxygen or he's eating things in the tank (just noticed some very small white things in the tank that maybe amphipods, copepods, or rotifers). He moves around fairly frequently and the LFS said typically hawkfish are disease resistant and they thought I could add him to my DT today (QT of 8 days, Prazipro 7 days ago).

I don't want to jepordize anything in the DT but also don't want to put unnecessary/prolonged stress on a fish if I don't need to, anyone with strong feelings one way or the other? Thanks for all of the advice/suggestions so far!

 

Good to know @ShaneP, the aggression towards new tanks mates is something I'd read about. I think mine has a similar personality, I can get right up next to him so only the glass is separating us and he just stares at me like "can I help you?". Hopefully he does well with the other fish once I add him to my main. Thanks!