New 10g and damsel

[shawny963]

I have a new 10 gallon tank with a 4 stripe damsel. This fish was introduced just over 24 hours ago, and was eating ferociously, up til this morning. Now i notice the damsel has a yellowish green color near his head, i am not sure if this is natural or stress because i have seen other pics of this fish with those colors and others without. I was wondering if these colors are sympomatic of high ammonia levels, i used a test and read just under 1.5, i made a partial water change and read .25 mg/l ammonia. The damsel's color appears the same. He also is no longer eating at all. Can anyone help me?

 

[adam2373]

Damsels go through color changes when stressed. Most damsels turn a darker color. He should be fine in a few days.

 

[steve-s]

Ammonia is quite toxic to fish and quite honestly should be spared the toxic soup of cycling a tank. I would suggest you read up on >>How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish.<<

Unless returning the fish (which is strongly recommended) you should begin a series of water changes with well aged SW to bring down the level of ammonia. Damsels being considered hardier than most marine fishs' are the "favorite" many LFS seem to recommend. They are no less sensitive to the NH3 than other species, it will damage the gill membranes just the same.

Cheers
Steve