clown fish

My tank is about 6 1/2 months old and all water parameters are good. I have an extreme misbar clown I bought about a month after starting. It is doing very well and eating like a pig. I have tried getting another partner for my clown, now 3 times. The three clowns (2 ocellaris & 1 misbar) have all died, within a week, after purchase. I am totally frustrated about it.:confused1 I kept a very close eye on them but I didn't see any signs of disease. They were eating, but towards the end they suddenly got very skinny and died.
Has this happened to any one else? Any clues? I want to get another friend for my clown but I want to know what's going on and don't want another to die again.

 

The current clownfish you have could be bullying the others causing stress and eventually death.

 

how big is the tank?

if the clown is still young and smallish, it is still a male. might want to wait until it grows into a female before you add another clown, then when you do find a small but healthy one of the same species and good luck!

 

The misbar I have is about 1.5". Hard to tell with it swimming a lot. When I got the other clowns, they were about 2/3 smaller. The original clown didn't bully either of them, it actually was very protective. wouldn't let any other fish near it. They would stay together the whole time and do the "dance".
So Ashevillian, you think I should wait or get another misbar, around the same size? I know one would change the sex, curious.
I have a 20 gal. right now. Planning to get a 40 gal. soon.

 

that's a really hard question kimmy. I might try another about the same size but be very vigilant in terms of watching it. Do you have other fish? Are your other fish healthy? Most people would suggest you quarantine fish before adding them to your display tank.

 

What type of filtration do you have and can you post your params. Also, did you get the fish from the same store?

 

I did get my fish from the same place. I make sure to look at all the fish before getting it. I have a couple other fish...scooter blenny and bangaii cardinal, cleaner shrimp and turbo snail.
I will recheck water. I don't introduce new fish for about an hour or so.
Right now I have a whisper carbon filter, skimmer and power head

 

To much bioload at once could be the problem causing new tank syndrome. Not much filtration in a small tank will cause problems. I would check ASAP for params.

 

I would try to avoid getting another clown until you upgrade your tank! I have a 29g and I have resisted all temptations on adding another clown until I move to my 40g. I currently only have 3 fish in my tank and I feel bad for them as it is! In the 3 years my tank has been running they have grown a lot. My indigo dottyback is now 3" My occy clown is about 3.25" and fat. And my flametail blenny is about 4" and chubby. They all need more room to swim imho. If you looked up how many miles a day your average fish swims you'd be impressed. That distance may only stay within a small territory but they move a lot!

When the time does come for another one, I would aim for the same species and one that is noticably smaller than yours. I am not really sure what the misbar clowns are, but I assume they're a selectively bred pair of occelaris clowns. Which in that case, any occy will do, funky colors or not!