clowns not eating

yothereyo

yothereyo

just fishing
Nov 18, 2006
208
1
0
UK, England, Hampshire
I added two small percula clowns today, from two diffrent LFS. they seem to like each other, and the liitle one follows the big everywhere, and swim around tank mostly on the mid and top, and like to stick to the sides of tank.
To me they looked like they where struggling in the current, so i turned down the powerheads alittle - is this normal.

The problem is that they dont eat. does anyone know why my clowns take the food nibble it and then spit it out. I'm using flake food at the moment. Is there anything else i can try. My water readings are ammo 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 25ppm- (i'am working on this, but it is hard work). SG 1.022 ph 8.2 temp 24.2.

I have just finished a cycle with LR.
 
It seems like you're going through the EXACT same thing I went through. I recently added two percs to my newly cycled tank. For the first day, they looked like they too were struggling while swimming around, very much like the current was too powerful for them. They almost seemed like they were getting swept up and down and struggling to swim straight. Also, they didn't seem to eat the flake food that I was giving them. The guy at the LFS swore that it was okay to feed them flake food, which I have found out to be quite untrue. So, the next day, I got some frozen food, and they were chowing it down like nothing else!! Also, they seemed to have gotten used to the tank and the water flow now, and they swim around just fine.

I'd keep a close eye on them just to make sure its no illness or injury of some sort. And yeah, do get some frozen food ... it worked for me and more than likely will work for you as well.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers!
Yash
 
the thing is that when the powerheads where on full, they seem to ' surf ' it
if you know what i mean, and they would happly go do it again. but as any newbie, i was concerned about this and dont wont to really hurt these little guys, because they look quite fragile.

As for the food, i'am going to try frozen(whats the best), what do you think of live food?

or vegetable matter.


thanks
 
also will these clowns be alright, if they do not feed. I won't be getting food for them untill tomorrow. (it is 01.47am in the uk right about now)
 
I know exactly what you mean by 'surfing' ... mine did precisely the same thing. But now, they even swim around in the current just fine.

Regarding the frozen food, I got this pack from my LFS that had an assortment of 4 different kinds of meals:

One consistes primarily of krill and brine & mysis shrimp. The second one has brine & mysis, krill, plankton, spinach, romaine lettuce, and red leaf lettuce in it. The third is Omega-3 brime shrimp. The fourth is squid.

The first two are meant to be their standard diet whereas the third and fourth are supposed to be "treat foods" The percs absolutely love all four of them, I think the squid being their favorite.

If such a mix is available at your store, I'd suggest getting it. If not, get one of the first two, and maybe one of the treat foods. I'm sure they'll enjoy them!

I'm fairly new to the salty side myself, so I'm not sure on the live food and vegatable matter to be honest with you. Maybe someone else can offer their thoughts on that ... I'd like to know as well.

Regards,
Yash
 
You can also try adding Garlic to the flakes. My clowns love that. I use the kent Garlic extreme. There is something about the garlic that fish love!
 
If its only one day, your fish should be fine. But make sure to get them some food they'd eat tomorrow. Regarding serving the food, I let the cube of frozen food thaw out, and then just take some out on my fingertips and stick my finger in the tank. They eat right off my fingers now!! I prefer to add really small quantities at a time ... once they've finished it, I add a little more. I feed them for about 2-3 minutes.
 
I put the flakes on a plastic spoon, then add 2 drops of garlic to it wait about a minute for it to soak in, then just feed them.
 
Today i went and bought some ocean nutrition formula 1 marine pellet it contains garlic, thats what the LFS was feeding the bigger clown, and they did start to eat it, which is a good sign. i did try live brine shrimp, but the clowns won't intrested in this, but the cleaner and peppermint shrimp loved it.

I have also bought frozen brine shrimp, but i'am not sure if they will take this as they did not bother with the live shrimp.


and i have turned the powerheads back on full. They seem to be looking fine. - not the powerheads, the fish.
 
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