Hey All. Is it normal behavior for a Yellow Coris Wrasse to hang out at the surface

[pammy]

Hey All. Is it normal behavior for a Yellow Coris Wrasse to hang out at the surface of the tank and splash like crazy? I've had this fish for about 6 weeks. Haven't added anything new. Fish looks great and is eating great. I have an open tank. About a week ago, I noticed all kinds of salt dried on the top 1.5" of the tank above the surface of the water. Finally realized, it was one of the fish splashing. I thought it was my Longnose Hawkfish at first, but then all of a sudden noticed it was the Coris Wrasse. No one is harrassing him at all. Parameters in the tank are fine. I didn't notice him doing this until the past week. He's mainly staying at the top of the tank which he never did before, and swimming in place, but back and forth, really fast, and every couple of minutes, creates a big splash. I'm sitting about 5 feet away on the couch, and he just splashed me all the way over here. I can't have dried salt all over my couch and carpet if he's going to splash constantly, so I guess I'll need to bring him back to the LFS if he continues this. Wouldn't be an issue if it was a covered tank, but it's an open Elos tank. I also can't keep the tank clean with him splashing like this either. I clean off the dried salt and then an hour later, the top of the tank is covered again as well as the glass on the light fixture. All fish and coral look great. I can't really think of anything that has changed that would be causing this kind of behavior. I did swap out my T5's a few days ago with new bulbs (and lowered the photo period), but I think this behavior started a few days before that.

Hmmmm... he hasn't moved from the surface of the water for hours, except when I fed the tank and he ate well, and the MH light just shut off for the night. The T5's only are lit right now, and he immediately came down from the surface, and is swimming around like normal now poking around on the rock.
Strange! If it was too bright for him with the new T5's and the MH lit, wouldn't he go to the bottom of the tank, not the top? I never really saw him behaving like this until the past week. MH bulb is about 6 months old. Should I try raising my light fixture? It's currently about 9" above the surface of the water.

FIsh:
Longnosed Hawkfish
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Royal Gramma
2 Percula Clowns
Firefish

Temp 79-80f
Salinity 1.025
PH: 8.4

It's been a few days since I measured the following parameters, but when I checked, they were:
Alk: 8
Calcium: 400
Mag: 1230
Phosphates: undetectable'
Nitrates: 5
Nitrites and Ammonia: 0

Thanks!
Pam

[Amphibious]

That is clearly strange behavior, Pam. Our critters go through a sort of he!! getting from their ocean home to our home. all sorts of things could have caused him to develop a neurosis. Strange behavior with no outward sign of physical abuse. Hope he straightens for you.

Dick

[CarmieJo]

Maybe for a little while you could make an overhang for a corner of the tank to give him a patch of shade and see what he does.

[pammy]

Thanks Dick and Carmie. I raised my light an inch to see if it makes a difference tonight. Just seems weird if it was the new bulbs, that he would go nuts at the surface of the water, instead of going down. He completely calmed down though last night as soon as the MH went off for the night. And there are plenty of overhangs and caves in the rockwork where he could seek shade. Bye
Pam

[pammy]

Well, it looks like the new bulbs may have been affecting this Coris Wrasse. I could tell he hadn't splashed at all today because everything was perfectly clean, no dried salt marks, and he hasn't splashed at all since I've been home for the past several hours. He is swimming around the tank like normal. All I did, was raise the light an inch. I am surprised new bulbs could make a fish behave like that, but that must be it. I did inspect the fish closely, and can't find any discolorations, or tears in the fins etc. He looks super healthy.

Pam

[CarmieJo]

Glad this solved the problem for you.

[pammy]

Well, the yellow coris wrasse is back to splashing like crazy. He stopped it for about a week after raising the light fixture an inch. He hasn't stopped splashing tonight. I thought maybe he was trying trying to get me to feed him. Fed the tank about 30 minutes later, and as soon as he ate, he went back to splashing like crazy. I tried shutting off the MH light to see if he would stop, but he didn't. I ended up shutting off all the lights until he went to bed, then turned the T5's only back on. Is this normal behavior with wrasses or the yellow coris wrasse? He is splashing up to 5 feet away. I hate to bring him back to the LFS, but I can't have salt water all over the carpet and furniture. I'm wondering if I should try another yellow coris wrasse, or if they will all do this. He looks perfect. No discoloration, or problems with his fins or anything. Parameters in the tank are good.
Pam

[CarmieJo]

Pam,
I've never had one but I can just hear my family if I ever get a fish that behaves like this!