I just put in a clown yesterday and he seems to be ok but he sits in the lower front left of my tank. its a 10g nano for those who dont know.

Is this normal behavior or is something wrong with him?

Thanks

He might be adjusting.

if he's eating, swimming upright, he ahould be ok

ok, he is swimming in the area, eating, i havent seen him but i think he is, and the way he is swimming is with his face point slightly up.

but ldybkr said he maybe be adjusting so i guess i got to wait and see,
he hides at night id that is any help

I have a false perc that stayed in the back left corner of my old 75gal for months!!! The only time he would come out of there was to eat,and then he went right back into hidding.

I've seen clowns dig in the sand and host down there.

Matt

wow, i never knew clowns were odd

they pick a small spot, then they stay in that one area as a general rule

ok, well he has found a very odd place to be, its right out in the open but if that is what her wants then thats ok with me as long as he stays healty, also, the spot he chose is close to the power head and that part doesnt have very much circulation but has it, just not like a raging current

Ok, now I am getting worried, I took a last look and he seems to be at the surface going around and around by the current and sometimes swimming, I think he may be dying, this is soo sad watching him as he dies, if that is the case. I did a water test and all seems fine for what I know, trites are 0 ammonia 0 and trate around 20ppm, but its been like that for about a week and a half and salt at 1.022-3.....


did i do something wrong?


he has also moved around the tank with in the last few hours

His body is also becomming tanslucent, like if i see him at an angle, i can see thru him.


i'm such a failure at this. UGH! :((((( i dont know what to do anymore. I just cant seem to keep saltwater fish alive.

Calm down. I cant tell you how many fish I lost when I started out! But now only a few years later I have a 90 gallon full reef and have learned so much about this great hobby. What size is the clown? If you can see through him then it sounds like you might have a very young clown. Young fish have a pretty high mortality rate and you might want to consider getting an older one. Also where did you purchase the fish from and when?

when i got him, i could not see through him, he had bright colors (Orange and white). I got him from Rare Earth (rareearthga.com) when I brought him home he was active and looked healthy he was about .5-1" in size

he died this morning

I'm sorry to hear that. I lost my favorite fish about a month ago so, it must be hard. What are your current parameters? And what kinda test kits are you using?

Sorry to hear...sometimes it happens no matter what you do. I would take a sample to your water to LFS and have it tested just to make sure. I'd do a 30-50% water change to make sure also.

do you happen to have a bare bottom tank?

well, i have used them but now they have decided to charge for test which was inconvient to me.

Salt - 1.022-.23
Temp - 82-82.9
pH - 8.4
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 15-20ppm

I am using the API Saltwater Master Test Kit, liquid chemical.

I'd attach a spreadsheet of my past result to the current one, but I cant attach an excel document

I'm sorry to hear this too. :sad: I have two perc clowns and they are great fish! I'm new here and to this hobby, but, I thought I'd throw my $.02 into the ring for what it's worth.

Your params seem ok to me. I'm wondering what you are using for water? Do you have an RO/DI set up? It could be trace elements (that you aren't testing for) caused the clown to die, although I'd expect your snails to have been affected as well. Still, something to test for...

My other question goes to how you introduced him to your tank? I had a similar die off shortly after my cycle. I added ten snails and five hermits. Not really knowing any better I just floated the bags for a bit and then dumped them all in. The hermits eventually recovered and seem to be ok, but, over the course of the following week or so, I lost all but two of the snails. Reading afterwards, I found that snails are very susceptible to pH shock. My pH was at 8.4 then (I keep it around 8.0 now).

Just my thoughts and don't give up! I've wanted to get into this hobby for a very LONG time and have had a great time with it since I started my tank 3 months ago. Don't give up!

do you happen to have a bare bottom tank?


no, i have 20lbs of sand in a 10gallon tank, depending on where you measure at, it cant reach 4" and as low as 1.5"

both snails seem to be doing just fine, i think, they are moving around and eating stuff from the glass and the crabs are doing ok, they are eating stuff outta the sand and moving when i am not looking then i have to try to find them again.

My other question goes to how you introduced him to your tank? I had a similar die off shortly after my cycle. I added ten snails and five hermits. Not really knowing any better I just floated the bags for a bit and then dumped them all in. The hermits eventually recovered and seem to be ok, but, over the course of the following week or so, I lost all but two of the snails. Reading afterwards, I found that snails are very susceptible to pH shock. My pH was at 8.4 then (I keep it around 8.0 now)


Well thats how I was told to do it but assuming that isnt that best way, what is for all aquatic life? Also, when I i first started the tank, the pH never went higher than 8.0 and never lower than 7.4 and its has finally stayed at 8.4 for a couple of weeks now.

Well thats how I was told to do it but assuming that isnt that best way, what is for all aquatic life? Also, when I i first started the tank, the pH never went higher than 8.0 and never lower than 7.4 and its has finally stayed at 8.4 for a couple of weeks now.

Well, for fish in general (I know there will always be exceptions) what I was told by the lady at the Aviarium (I forget her name) where I bought my clowns and goby was this -

1) Keep the bags closed and float them for about 15-30 minutes to match temps with the water in the tank
2) open the bags and roll the tops back to catch some air so that they still float and then add about half a cup of tank water to the bag and wait 15 minutes or so
3) add another half a cup of tank water to the bag and wait another 15 minutes or so
4) remove fish from the bag and enter into tank being careful not to let the water in the bag get in the tank (the reason is that the LFS doses with various chemicals that might be harmful to the other tank inhabitants).

With my coral, she said basically the same, but, cut it shorter (to step 3 only). I think being bagged is more stress on the corals. I also know that some shrimp and other inverts are much more delcate and require a drip acclimation set up...

I hope this helps... recheck all your parameters, do some more research and, when everything seems ok, go get another clown. :)

Just so you don't feel too bad, my Goby didn't make it through the night. I had concerns when I bought him that I didn't have a high enough pod population to support him, but, the LFS said that shouldn't be a problem. He never came out during feeding and seemed to be eating from the sand bed. I did notice he was being extra hidey yesterday (was working from home).

This morning he was dead.:sad:

Everyone else in the tank is fine though and my param's are good, so, I think he starved to death. This makes me sad but, not sure what I could have done differently (I did bring up my concern when I bought him). I'll be heading to that store in Marietta someone mentioned yesterday in another thread and buying some pods there to seed my tank before I get anything else that may relie on them.

Tim at Keens Reef is so close to you! he has pods! or even Chris at Einsteins.

Tim at Keens Reef is so close to you! he has pods! or even Chris at Einsteins.

Kewl! Maybe I'll stop by today on my way home then... THANKS!

Question... my Aquapod has two rear chambers. On the overflow side, I have a spnge (which will be replaced with the Phosban sponge I ordered to remove silicates), a heater, and my Chaeto. On the return side, I have my return, a UV sterilizer, a bag of purigen and a bag of chemipure elite. Is this the best way to do it? I was thinking of moving the chaeto to the return side and the sterilizer to the overflow side...

I am not familar with the nano's, so post in the nano section. I need the answer, too, since I just got my daughter one. I would guess that the cheato would be better in the return.

I am not familar with the nano's, so post in the nano section. I need the answer, too, since I just got my daughter one. I would guess that the cheato would be better in the return.

I thought this was the Nano section... :confused2:

:)

I thought this was the Nano section... :confused2:

:)


Same here :D

well luckily the fish store gives a 48hr guarantee on the fish they sell so I took it back and got one small damsel that is doing great in the tank, also got two more blue legged hermits. everyone seems happy in the tank.

Just a heads up, you will need to catch that damsel if you want to buy any other fish. Easily the meanest fish you can buy and will beat the crap out of anything else you put in the tank. Best of luck and they are a good hardy starter fish. And yes this is the nano section, mystery must be getting a bit loopy in his age.

Kewl! Maybe I'll stop by today on my way home then... THANKS!

Question... my Aquapod has two rear chambers. On the overflow side, I have a spnge (which will be replaced with the Phosban sponge I ordered to remove silicates), a heater, and my Chaeto. On the return side, I have my return, a UV sterilizer, a bag of purigen and a bag of chemipure elite. Is this the best way to do it? I was thinking of moving the chaeto to the return side and the sterilizer to the overflow side...

You want slow flow through the cheato so I would put that in the place you think has the least flow. The UV doesnt really matter since it has its own pump. The media for the most part will be ok in any chamber as long as it had good flow. There isnt really a right or wrong way, I would just play with it and see which set up makes your tank the happiest.

Just a heads up, you will need to catch that damsel if you want to buy any other fish. Easily the meanest fish you can buy and will beat the crap out of anything else you put in the tank. Best of luck and they are a good hardy starter fish. And yes this is the nano section, mystery must be getting a bit loopy in his age.

must have been that cheap bottle of wine. LOL!

Haha moved up from box wine I see?!?

yea, i know i'm gonna have to do that :( but is there a way to confuse him or something? do i have to remove the damsel completely or what?

I dont know how you would half way remove a fish :) But no you cant confuse them. Its like a prisoner in jail, they might behave, they might fly off for no reason and kill everyone.

haha, i'll try something, i'm sure I'll figure out a way to get the jump on the little bugger.

:)

There are a few ways, blinding them with a flash light at night, fish trap, hook....haha jk...ok so only kinda. I HATE DAMSELS.

they're delicious on rice ;)

how bout smoked on wood and a some lemons, that sounds good.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm