new clown won't eat

[jeffmarskell]

I recently purchased a clown. He is currently the only fish in this tank. I have tried feeding him flake and frozed brine shrimp. I even tried algae tablets. All day he sits in a corner and doesn't move.

As a last ditched effort, I read that it is alright to add glucose to the tank in emergencies. The skimmer seems to get rid of it quickly, so I have added one teaspoon for the last three days.

The clown has been in the tank for 5 days now.

Any suggestions how to jolt some life into the little guy? Do you think adding another clown will make him happier?

 

[raydobbs]

Well, it begs the usual questions:

1> How long did you acclimate him?
2> How did you acclimate him?
3> What are your water conditions?


Clowns are hardy, but not bullet-proof. Stress will make them fast, and if they were just put in the tank rapidly, or the water conditions are just radically off-whack from what their natural environment is, it will perish.

One thing you can try is Live Brine Shrimp. It offers little to no nutritional value other than empty calories, but they can encourage a fasting fish to eat in some cases. As a last resort - if he's still not eating, perhaps arrange to return with him to the pet store, as it's better to return him, losing a little money - then letting him perish, and losing the entire investment. It's also the humane thing to do for fish you cannot save (if you can manage it).

 

[wayne]

And the other usual questions about water parameters? How long ha the tank been set up, how big is it, how much live rock or other cover? Hiding in a corner does not sound promising. Where did you get him? Was he eating there? Do you have a photo of the tank? It sounds like stress to me. Have you tried a large water change to improve conditions?

 

[RacerFish]

ummmm...it maybe the water parameters, it might be sick. Is your tank cycled? but another individual expierience with me, is they take long time to acclimate, new surroundings and all. I guess they are just very shy fish. When i got my trio of clown loaches, they would hide all the time, the first two weeks, and I wouldnt see them eat. but after time, i guess they got more familiar with their surrounding and the water, they eventually ate, my clowns are real pigs, they'll eat everything. also, i would get him a partner or two, so he won't feel lonely. if your tank not cycled, i would return him to the LFS, because there more susceptible to disease during that stage, esp ich.

 

[beermanic]

I heard that sometimes having another fish will encourage one that is not eating to eat. I guess a little competition for food is sometimes good. However if the water chemistry is screwed up I would not add another fish until it is back to where it should be. No reason to lose 2 fish instead of one.

 

[toodles]

The first thing I would do is stop adding glucose....in fact, I wouldn't offer him anything else right now. All that uneaten food is decaying in there and I'm sure it's not helping anything. BTW, fish can go without food for awhile without any ill effects, so don't worry.
As others have suggested, if you do nothing else, do a water change! It will help to reduce the amount of toxins in the water and will help the clownfish. It would be great if you could also post your water parameters, like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, temp, pH and also your tank size and age. If you don't have test kits, then take a water sample to your LFS and have them test it.
Let us know the results so we can better help you and your fish.....

 

[jeffmarskell]

Thanks all for your prompt replies...

As requested, here is a little more info. on the tank.

The tank is 4-5 weeks old. It is a desktop 20 gallon reef tank, though there aren't many invertibrates in the tank yet. I have 22 lbs of live rock in the tank.

All of the levels appear fine: Amm = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = ~7, Ph seems a bit low (7.8), but I slow dripped some kalkwasser / freshwater into the tank to replace evaporated water. Alkalinity is about 14 kH.

I added a royal gramma last night (who ate on his first feeding). I also added 3 crabs to help with the food and algae build up. It was also recommended that I turn off the powerheads during feeding for a while. I also will be trying live brine shrimp (though I have no idea where to buy it).

 

[toodles]

Aside from your low pH (how is it now, any better?) everything else seems pretty good.....hmmm.....how is the clownfish acting now that another fish is in there?

 

[jeffmarskell]

Last night I saw him bite a piece of frozen brine shrimp, but it floated out of his mouth... three times in a row, but nothing yet. I guess eating is coming. However, he still sits in the corner. Even the royal gramma is coming out of his nooks and crannies, but the clown just hovers.

The kalkwasser raised the ph to 8.0, so I added just a little bit of the soaked freshwater. I assume all water levels will be bang on by the time I get home from work today.

By the way tootles, do you think that red legged hermit crabs will pick at my invertibrates? (I have one giant clam, one feather duster, and one pom pom xenia coral) I only ask because those who use this site appear to be quite knowledgable.

 

[toodles]

I can only speak for myself when I say that I may "appear" to be knowledgeable, but there are plenty of things I DON'T know about!!! Like your clownfish....this really has me stumped. If he was sick, you should have seen some more obvious signs.....if it was because of acclimation problems, he should have been over it by now. If he was afraid/shy, then the addition of the gramma should have bolstered his courage. Raising the pH would only help him, and your other parameters are good.....the only thing I can think of is to try feeding a different food. Maybe he just doesn't like brine shrimp. Have you tried flakes or frozen squid? One other thing that just kind of hit me, is there anything in that corner like a powerhead, filter tube, anything? The reason I ask is that my clown will hang out sometimes in the corner, but that's because her powerhead is there.....(she is now hosting with it)...


About the hermit crabs and clam question. I've read alot over at RC in the clam forum, and most of the clam experts say no to any kind of crabs.....to risky to the clam.....
I love clams BTW.....beautiful animals!!!

 

[eseow]

What type of clown do you have, how strong is your circulation and what sive is he? Too strong of flow affects them as they are poor swimmers. As far as acclimation, he would be dead by now if it was really done bad. Also, how was he at the LFS when you bought him? Does he swim the same as when purchased and what was his tanks mates then. Try to find out what LFS fed him. Mine seem to love Formula 1 (frozen food, thawed and tweezer feed to tank). Both my Clarkii and Maroon Gold Stripe love it. Live Brine my Clarkii will eat, but the Maroon will not pigged out at all on brine shrimpo for some reason. Also temp of tank affects hungryness. Warmer is usually more hungry to to metabolism being higher. I would say ck with LFS where purchased to help to resolve eating problems since they had him last.

 

[jeffmarskell]

It is a perculus clown. He is in his 8th day at home, and his royal gramma partner has disappeared. I think he may have died in one of the crevises in the rock. As for the food, the store only had him for 3 days. He wouldn't have been too attached to the food at that point. Do you think I should add another clown? What about a different species of clown?

 

[toodles]

I would not add anything else to the tank until you find out what the problem is with the clown and what happened to the gramma.
Considering the size of the tank, it would be wise to find that gramma, even if it means tearing apart the rockwork. If it's dead, remove the body. If it's not dead and just hiding, apologize profusely.

Have you done a water change yet?


Take a good look at the clown and check out it's fins, breathing rate, any marks on the body or excessive slime.........

Again, don't add any more fish until you find out what's going on.

 

[jeffmarskell]

I did some water changes early on, but I thought it would be better to wait until the biological cycle was working well. I will be doing a water change this weekend, but only about 5%. I also think it is time to change the carbon as the water appears to be turning yellow a little bit.

I will look for the fish tonight. I didn't think that it would be a good idea to rip appart the rock work with the clown in the tank. I thought that would add a lot of stress on him. However, there is this one piece on top that is easily removable, and that should expose all of the nooks and crannies. I'll keep you posted on the gramma hunt. Do you think it is possible that the clam ate the gramma?

 

[toodles]

No, the clam can't eat any fish......they're filter feeders, plus they use nitrates and phosphates in the water column, and of course they use the carbs/sugars they recieve from their zooallanthe (sp?).

Do at least a 10% change water change, that's only 2 gallons.....it will help to dilute whatever is in the tank better. It will not affect your cycling at all. Definitely change the carbon, you want to keep your water as clear as possible for that clam.

BTW, what kind of lighting do you have on the tank?

 

[jeffmarskell]

I didn't think that clams could eat the fish. I'll assume he is dead. I looked for him for a good 20 minutes this morning.

I use two fixtures. One is a single florescent, and is on for 12 hours per day. It has a 15 watt dual toned bulb, full spectrum and blue. I also have a high output florescent which also has a dual spectrum bulb, however it is 55 watts. It is on for 10 hours per day.

I'll probably do a cleaning tonight or tomorrow morning with a 10% water change. Then I will move the rock to find the gramma.

 

[wayne at home]

Is the percula still alive? You really don't want to buy anything that's only been in the shop for 3 days. Give the fish a bit more time to rest, before pushing it around again. If you think the fish is going to die if you don't rescue it from the lfs, it's not a fish worth buying.
Low pH, yellowing water, tank only recently setup and fish not eating/dying. Sounds like your tanks cycle is not functioning yet, and I really wouldn't trust your test readings if they're telling you ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate low. Get the lfs to test your water, and preferably a good lfs. Bear in mind pretty much all hobbyist est kits are a bit crap and nitrite/nitrate ones are particularly unreliable. Are you skimming - if so, what's coming out, if not , get going with water changes

 

[jeffmarskell]

As an ending to my tramatic marine experience, my clown is eating after 11 days. I added a yellow tang and a purple coloured basslet, and the clown seemed to like being around the basslet. He even hung around the soft corals in my tank for the first day or so. After about 12 hours, he was eating like a pig. The only remaining problem is that he isn't moving around a lot. I guess that is stress, mind you, he has never moved out of that corner often. At least he is being nourished.

Thanks MyFishTank followers.

 

[ms dee]

I'm so glade your clown is eating. I had been reading your post and was kind of scared for you. I am glade things worked out.