New clowns gone south :<

So, a couple weeks ago, I bought 2 percula clown fish, and both of them died . I'm not sure what it was - my ammonia and nitrites are 0, and my nitrates are 10. I acclimated them for about 30-45 minutes (same as everything else I've added), and they still went south. It appeared as though they were eating the first couple of days, but then one would just refuse to even pay attention to the food (this one died first) and the other one would go after it, try it, and spit it out. I bought formula 1 flakes, some pellet food that my damsels/fire fish love, and brine shrimp, and I tried it all - still didn't seem to like any of it.

Any ideas? I want to figure this out before I try getting clowns again :-\

 

I had the same problem here and mine died as well. No solution to it just a bad batch of fish the LFS got. All the ones they did not sell died as well as I am sure the ones sold to other people also perished. I have another one now and seems to be doing OK but not eating like I would like. We'll see. I tried everything in the book even live brine and nothing so it could just be one of those things.

 

May not have liked the food you were feeding. I know you said you were feeding different kinds but maybe he would only eat a frozen food! If everything else in you tank is ok I bet they just were not used to whatever it is you were feeding!

 

i wouldn't sweat it, if they're wildcaught{and even if they're not} they change hands many times before you get to them and the point of collection practices aren't always with the end consumer in mind. i had a beautiful naso tang die for no damn reason at all and i was heart broken. it happens.. clowns are pretty tough customers and not known for being picky eaters.

 

Also somthing to consider is were they tank raised or wild? If wild they are often times so stressed that it is common for them to perish. :-/

 

I am a big believer in seeing a fish live at the LFS for a period of time before taking it home. Most LFS will let you put money down (or outright buy the fish) but keep it (them) there for a week or so to make sure they survive their trip from the reef to the LFS tank. The process of getting the fish from the ocean to your tank is pretty ugly and it surprises me that any fish live through it at all.

So take advantage of the "hold it for me" game and make sure it lives. Acclimating it from their tank to yours is the easiest part of it all for the fish.

If you have to drive a ways and are worried about the small bag it's in, it is good in that small bag for about 2 hours. Anything over that and I would request a larger bag to make sure it does not run out of oxygen.

Peace.......John.

 

I was lucky with my clown, the LFS was also the breeder. Both mom and dad are on display there. I also put my clown in QT. At first she would not eat, they had been feeding her Spectrum, I got some and in a few days she began to eat. I believe that if I had put her in the tank with the other fish, she would have died. She needed the alone time to get used to me and the new surroundings. She would not have been able to compete with the other fish to start with.

 

Selcon has also been noted to help picky eaters eat- and it provides a whole lot of nutrients that just aren't found in other foods.

 

This is a common problem with clownfish that have been caught from the wild. The best you can do is be certain that the fish you are getting have been bred in captivity.