Percula Clowns

[squall7733]

I put them into a 29G. about 6-8 Weeks old. I had a few damsels in there as starter fish. My levels are stable so it was ready.

Although I started low on live rock, and a few pounds of reef bones.

I added 4 Percula Clowns to start.

The temperate was about 79 when I put them in. It got up to about 80-81 then fell back to 79. I had a little problem with it at the start because of some power problems. The Salinity has been and is staying current at 1.024. Very low traces of Ammonia and Nitrite.

The water seemed fine, I put them in slowly over an hour. They looked all ok except for one that seemed to be swimming along the glass up at the top. The next day I discovered one was sick. He had an ick to him. I did all I could but he didnt make it through the next day. THe one that I was worried about at the begining is probly doing the best now.

I dont know what killed the other, maybe he was sick to begin with or it was stress from being chased during hte night that I was un aware of.
I had alot of rock work in the tank at the begining. I took it all out just incase it was scaring them, all except the live rock. Sometimes they would stick to the front of the tank, acting like they were afraid of predators hidden in the rocks.

I still have 3 left, they show no signs of ick. But their behaviour is bothering me. They arnt swiming all around, they are just sitting at the bottom hovering and moving around slightly. They dont seem to be gasping but I'm worried about them.

They have been in there about 4 days now...

Does anyone have experience with clowns and know what might be wrong? I tried feeding them day 2 but they didnt go after it. I didnt try again day 3, hoping to try feeding again tonight but I have my doughts.

 

[steelhealr]

If you have trace ammonia and nitrite, your tank is not cycled and even traces of these two can be deadly to marine fish. At the least it can cause stress and lead to illness. Those parameters should read zero. What are your nitrates? Can you return them to the lfs? SH

 

[squall7733]

I have multiple tanks so if it gets really bad I'll move them to my main tank.

But heh... I think I may have discovered the problem. I had a 50.gal aquaclear powerhead pumping water in that tank. I think it was a little overkill, there are dead spots in the water but they didnt discover them. I turn my powerhead off and they are looking much better now. Immediatly I tried feeding some to them and they went after it but spit it out. I need to get some more prime reef tomorow for them. Just ran out of that on my main fish today. I think theyll be fine now. I very much appreciate everyones advice. I will continue to watch the ammonia and nitrite levels and if they reappear im going to put them in my main tank. (I did a 50% water change and I havnt detected ammonia or nitrite since).

I still have a question though. I want these two to pair. There now is only two left int he tank but they are constantly sticking next to eachother. They appear to be juviniles still and need to sex. Anything I should watch out for? Will two be enough for them to pair off?

 

[fowler]

two things worry me, one, did u not quarantine them before you added them to the tank to check for disease.. thus not putting your other fish in danger.. and also offering you the chance to detect problems with the clowns and for them to settle down a bit after a rough time.

Secondly, u say u removed alot of rock because u thought it would scare them, well id relate this directly to why they are hovering around at the bottom looking scared, because they probably are, incredibly soo..

fish rely on rocks and other things for shelter, especially when being added to a tank with other fish that are ready to fight for their place in the tank. If u ask me id of left the rock in for their benefit, expect them to hide as they need time to get use to things, they dont know theirs not something that wants to eat them in your tank do they..

once theyre ready, they come out and quite possibly feed, id give it a few days tho.

hope that kinda helps a bit.. but then again clowns are generally afraid of rock because of predators so im sure theyl be fine with time..

 

[Navarre]

The reason the fish sleep in strange areas of the tank is completely natural. last night mine slept under the wier.. the nige before they slept under my largest powerhead. last week they slept in the top left corner of the tank. Clowns will not go near rock formations at night and not that often during the day. They are poor swimmers and will not escape ambush predators like mantis shrimps or moryas etc.
Until they find a place to feel comfortable to host in (and i dont advocate rushing out and getting an anenome) they will continue this behaviour.

As for feeding the.. not sure really, just try as many different types of food as possible.

The clowns dying.. this seems to have been a problem with the clwons around in the last 12 months. For some rason they simply die off within a few days. I usually pick out a clown or two when i loking for good specimens for friends etc and watch them in a tank in the lfs for about a week. if they are showing ood colur and feeding well then i will purchase. If not then i leave em there.

If they are young then they should pair although there is no guarentee. One will become dominant over time and will turn female.
As for breeding them.. its possible but not easy,

 

[squall7733]

two things worry me, one, did u not quarantine them before you added them to the tank to check for disease.. thus not putting your other fish in danger.. and also offering you the chance to detect problems with the clowns and for them to settle down a bit after a rough time.

Sorry getting back to this a little late.

I didnt quarantine them because its a clown only tank, no other fish to contaminate.

Its been a week, maybe going onto two now. I noticed the powerhead was too strong so I replaced it with a weaker one. Also decreased the amount of rock in the tank. It seemed that more rock = more stress for them. Or at least less swimming space and less security. Clownfish really dont seem to like the rocks at all, they spend most of thier time just swimming against the current or hovering in corners of the tank.

The two I have look quite healthy now, I've been feeding them Formula One twice a day. Yes spoiling them quite a bit but in an effort to make them grow fast and remain healthy. This will be a breeding pair once they decide to pair off. Its going smooth now and I dont expect too many more problems

Thanks everyone for the advice

 

[Tiggs]

sounds odd as clowns live on reefs in the ocean.....be surprised if rock and flow would put them off!

 

[Navarre]

Flow should not be an issue.
This is probably the only area of marine keeping that we cannot accurately copy. The best powerhead around are Tunze streams and these can push out a whopping 12,000 ltrs per hour approx. The ocean in the same amount of volume could throw 100,000s of gallons per minute!

Fish really have no problem with flow rates unless they are fish that are not adapted for reef life.

 

[Tiggs]

Flow should not be an issue.
This is probably the only area of marine keeping that we cannot accurately copy. The best powerhead around are Tunze streams and these can push out a whopping 12,000 ltrs per hour approx. The ocean in the same amount of volume could throw 100,000s of gallons per minute!

Fish really have no problem with flow rates unless they are fish that are not adapted for reef life.

agree....i have twin tunzes doing 24,000lph on max pulse and belive it can only be good for the fish to get some exercise. My clowns get blasted about if they waddle into the flow.......but nothing like a bloody great wave in the sea!