purple firefish fight

About a week ago things changed. The orange stripe goby went from hiding under his rock to perching on top and vigorously defending his territory especially from the 6-line wrasse.
The Ocellaris who for the last 9 months suddenly no longer liked his hosting spot moved from the right side of the tank over to the left side of the tank.

The purple fire fish who live around the left side of the tank have now started to fight and one of them has been hiding in a different hole for the last two days (underneath the orange striped goby actually). Whenever he comes out he is immediately set upon by the other firefish. His fins are all clamped and his colors are starting to fade. These two have never been more than a couple of inches apart for the last year and a bit.

Any ideas on reconciliation, is it even possible? I'm afraid I may lose it, tomorrow I’ll try a rock rearrangement.

 

Hard to say sometimes they turn on each other when the status quo changes. If the rearrange doesn't work try and catch one and return it to LFS.

 

I'd like to be able to catch it but the minute anything goes into the tank it bolts. the hole itself is under about 40lbs of rock and I can't risk stirring up the sand.

 

Well good luck on finding a solution that works. You have the right idea.

 

I found that my fish acted like that sometime ago when there was stray voltage in the water.
Check your water to see if any electricity is leaking in.
I'm not 100% sure about this, as I've only noticed it once before with a faulty return pump and when I changed out the pump, the fish all seemed back to normal.

 

Good idea, I'll look at that as well, in fact a grounding probe is next on my list of purchases. this morning he hasn't shown himself yet.