Clownfish Question

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CoralFixation

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Jan 13, 2006
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Red Creek, NY
Hi folks. A few days ago, I jumped headfirst into a SW reef tank (no, not literally).

The tank had been established for over a year, and was told that it was very health by the LFS - they did the monthly maintenance on it.

I brought it back to my place, and set it all up. Everything has gone very well, though its only been 3 days. The salinity, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, all check out well. The PH is at 8.0, and I believe it should be 8.2.

There are two clownfish (a tomato and percula), a sailfin tang, fiji devil damsel, 3 anemones, a sea cucumber, numerous starfish, mushrooms, and corals. It is a 55g setup. Fluval filter, 3 power heads, protien skimmer.

Since we set up the tank, the percula clownfish has been swimming near the top with his mouth constantly open. He hasn't closed it once. I asked a person at the LFS about it, she confirmed my thoughts that it just might be stress. However, I wanted to get a few other opinions here. She did recommend doing a water change, which I plan to do this afternoon (probably 15%). I'll recheck the PH after adding B-Ionic with the water change.

Anyone have any thoughts on what else I could do for the clownfish?

Thanks,
Chris
 

CoralFixation

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Jan 13, 2006
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Red Creek, NY
Certainly. My Ammonia reading was less than .025. The test vial was clear, but the "color swatch" that came with the pack only goes down to .025 as a very light pink.

Nitrate - less than 10 (again, that is the lowest that the swatch reads).

Nitrite - less than .1 (ditto)

PH 8.0

Those are the only testing tools I have at the moment, besides the hydrometer which reads 1.023.
 

CoralFixation

AC Members
Jan 13, 2006
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Red Creek, NY
The situation has gotten worse. The little fish is moving his fins quite a bit, but he seems to be sideways just near the surface mostly. He swims upright for a few seconds, dives about an inch or two, then back to swimming sideways near the top.

Still, his mouth is always open.

:sick:
 

wastememphis

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Sep 6, 2003
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I dont understand the situation of how you got the tank. You said that you just set it up like 4days ago but that it was set up for a year? Was it set up at the store and you took it down and brought it home?


"There are two clownfish (a tomato and percula), a sailfin tang, fiji devil damsel, 3 anemones, a sea cucumber, numerous starfish, mushrooms, and corals. It is a 55g setup. Fluval filter, 3 power heads, protien skimmer."

If you didn't take all the water, sand, rocks... your probably going to have a cycle. I bet the clown is stressed out from the move, is it eating?
 

CoralFixation

AC Members
Jan 13, 2006
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Red Creek, NY
The tank was at another person's home. She had it setup there and running for over a year (I *think* she said about 16 months). She was selling the house, so I bought it just as it sat. The man from the LFS came to her house w/ me, broke it all down, we packed it up, and I brought it here. The LFS had been coming to her house to do monthly maintenance.

We brought the water, rocks, everything. I tried to put everything back exactly as it was. The only difference was that I bought a protien skimmer and set that up too (upon recommendation from the LFS). So that is the only real difference.

When the LFS took the tank down, he tossed about 15 gallons. I added 15 fresh gallons. I added "Instant Ocean" salt until the hydrometer read 1.020 (the salinity was a little high at her house from evaporation).

The clownfish is eating - and it seems fairly voraciously - which I was very surprised at, since his mouth doesn't close.

His scales and fins look good to me. The only other thing I can think to mention is that the other clownfish is a bit larger (2x) and spends all the time in the anemones. I doubt if it matters though. I've been reading, and it seems that clowns don't need anemones at all in an aquarium.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this.

Chris
 

justin42279

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Sep 6, 2004
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clowns don't need anonomes. I've got 2 in my FOWLR tank. You mentioned that you were going to do a water change. Have you done it yet? I would do about 25% and keep an eye on the parameters. It sounds like you might be going through a small cycle and that clown is just over stressed.
 

Blinky

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Jun 22, 2004
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The tank is cycling, which I'd expect after tearing it down and setting it back up. If you can get to a LFS, get some Prime water conditioner. It will help to detox the ammonia and nitrite - it doesn't get rid of it, but binds it so it's not poisonous for the fish. I'd also mix up a big batch of SW and do a small water change every couple days until the cycle finishes.
 

VippiN

Pro*Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2005
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Same thing happened two my two Clowns when I got them. First one died in 2 days with same symptons, second one in a week with same symptons. Couldn't narrow down the cause.
 
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