Damsel staying in a hole and not eating nor coming out

my damsel is dying...... its breathing really fast and its lying on its side. iv transfered it to my sump, dipped some formula 2 pellets to garlic and kept it close to him.. im feeling bad for it.... would my percula clowns have done that by dominating it? i had seen my fem perc dominating it but i thought its just coz its new and damsel is the hardiest fish so wont be under stress....

 

nanomania,

Fact is that Damsels just die for unknown reasons. It could be the way they were collected, transported, housed. While a hardy fish once established newly acquired ones have a high mortality rate in my experience.

I removed my yellow tail Damsel because my Clown fish were tearing it fin from fin. The Damsel has to be larger and established to have a chance against another aggressive Damsel such as a Clown.

If I was a Damsel newly introduced to a tank with 2 Clowns I would not come out either.

Basically you have to get the best specimen you can, coloration is a huge factor with Damsels.

 

the colouration was perfect, it was eating too the first day. never knew that clowns were so aggressive... iv kept it in an acrylic box in the sump, hope it gets better. what fish should i add then? also in my new tank im scared of adding fishes (which fish should be added first and which next). i had 1 chromis that had killed every new fish within 2 days in my first ever sumpless 20gal tank. this time i shifted my chromis in the sump. added clowns and its been a month now, so planning to add it in the DT this weekend at night.

 

You need to move the scape around some right before introduction to re-establish new territories. Get yourself an acclimation box and place the clowns in that or the sump and allow the new introduction a couple days to acclimate. Also introduce with the lights off.

I had a female Maroon Clown that killed anything and everything introduced to the tank, I know my current female Clown would do the same. An established female Clown is very aggressive, especially in smaller tanks were a new resident has no room to escape.

In your region what are the types of fish available to you?

 

i have a chromis in my sump which i will be introducing this weekend to my DT. well for my new tank im planning on GBTA with 2black clown, 2fire dart fish, lawnmower and 2bangai. how should i go about it?

 

Always add Clowns last.

Need to do the previously mentioned tricks prior to introduction of the Chromis. It will not stand a chance against Clowns.

Next tank: Cardinals, Fire fish, Blenny (needs a lot of algae) and Clowns last. If they do not take to the BTA there are ways to deal with that.

 

my damsel died......

 

ok, i will add GBTA first, then bangai, then fire dart, then lawnmower, then clowns. but iv heard that lawnmowers are agressive......

 

In the small fish world, not many fish can stand up against Clowns. Survival of the fittest. Clown have adapted to be dominate.

If you get small Clowns under 6 months old that is a different story.

Again size of the tank makes a huge difference. Fish need areas to hide and establish a territory, in a small tank this is a disadvantage.

 

my chromis was dominating the clowns so was shifted to sump. well can i add a skunk cleaner? will my clowns kill it too?