Pale clownfish help

[benabus]

Hi all. I'm new here, but I need some help. I apologize if I'm not posting this in the right area.

I have a clown fish but he's looking a little pale and swims around the bottom of the tank at an angle... his tail is tilted down. The paleness is mainly on his back. He's not really gasping for air or anything. It doesn't look like Ick or Brooklynella since it's not really mucusy or anything. It really looks like he's just kind of losing color.

I've got a 9 gallon tank cylindrical tank from jellyfish art (Christmas gift). We had 3 jellyfish but two died in noob related accidents. So, a week or so ago we decided to get this clown fish because we've read that they can get along with jellyfish. We've also got several dwarf hermit crabs and some snails, though some of the snails have recently started dying.

I use some testing strips to test the levels and everything looks good except the ph is a little low which will be remedied later today. Need to go get some ph-fixing stuff from the pet store.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[DesertOrchid]

IMO don't try to alter the pH with chemicals. Do a water change! Add carbon. Because it is such a small amount of water it is rather an unstable enviroment ie, heats and cools quickly and toxins buld up faster than expected. Did you change water after the jellyfish died?? Tested for nitrates, trites and especially ammonia?? What's your specific gravity and how do you measure it?? How long has the tank been set up?? Last water change? Fitration? Dosing? Any live rock?? Lots of details are needed to help you out and I'm sure there will be many that will chime in. But in the mean time....change out some water making sure the sg and temp is the same to reduce shock and add fresh carbon to your filter. Good luck!

 

[benabus]

We set up the tank in late December (it was a christmas gift).

We did a 20% water change on Saturday, typically weekly. I actually put the failing jellyfish in a separate small tank for a day or so before it finally died, but yeah, we did change the water.

I use test strips and the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia levels look okay... just the ph is a little off.

Specific gravity is about 1.026. I have a small Kent hydrometer.

This is the kind of filter used with the tank: Replace the filter cartridge in your Desktop Jellyfish Tank in minutes

After water changes, we add the recommended dosage of nutrafin cycle and stress coat.

The aquarium kit came with gravel that was supposed to be live rock, plus we add the nutrafin.

Thanks for the tips! Hopefully I can get this figured out.

 

[leebca]

Welcome to RS.

I'm afraid you won't like my response very much. There are a few things about your tank that is not very good for marine fishes in general:

1) Size. The smallest size for an Anemonefish (Clownfish) is about a 20 gallon aquarium. In addition, what marine fish require is stability. The smaller the volume the harder it is to make their environment stable.
2) Water quality. Best controlled by the use of test kits, not test strips.
3) pH. Best tested using a pH meter, not a test kit or test strips.
4) Salinity - Specific Gravity. Best read and monitored using a refractometer or high quality hydrometer. The former is the best choice.
5) Water quality control. Best not done by adding buffers and pre-made products. Without proper testing and knowledge, making any kind of addition is unwise.
6) Not sure who is givng you advice or where your advice is coming from, but it sounds like the advice you are getting is wrong/bad advice.
7) Tank shape. Best shape is square, low, retangular, etc. Something that has a large footprint. This makes for a better biological filter.

The above list may actually be longer.

What you have going there is a sub-standard setup, not very good for a marine fish. There are many other things to consider, for instance, how the fish was acclimated to the new system, where did the fish come from, etc.

Since we don't have a good handle on water quality, what is wrong with the fish isn't clear. The fish is showing some signs of stress, but I can't tell from the information you've provided what it might be. If you can you might want to start over following these recommendations: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...arting-your-first-fo-fowlr-marine-system.html. There are many other posts called 'sticky posts' in this forum which provide good information on a marine tank for fish. In the above linked post there are other links to posts that go into more information in detail.

If it's at all possible, I'd recommend you return the fish for credit. Then if you want to still use that tank, make it into a reef tank without fish in it. Put in it just one or two pieces of coral, or a couple crabs and snails with a bit of coral. Then see if you want to keep fish and if you do, start saving up for a larger tank.

The above is not meant to be harsh or rude. But I really think you haven't been getting good advice for setting up and running a marine tank. Having a marine aquarium is fun, but it is very challenging and you need to gather up some reliable information before setting out in this hobby. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[lbiminiblue]

Yeah definitely right. 9 gallons is WAY too small. Get a bigger tank, it'll be easier to maintain. I don't think you can get anything figured out until you at least get a bigger tank.

 

[DesertOrchid]

Many people are keeping nano tanks these days. Though a challenge to do it is not impossible. From the looks of the kit it appears to be a gravel rather than a nice big bacteria loaded nitrifying live rock. That would help with the filtration and stabilization of this tank. Maybe the clown fish will be too much for this tank and a goby would be a better idea. They are colorful and stay small. Granted your tank isn't ideal but there is work to be done to help you out. What kind of light does it have?? Does the water get excessively warm throughout the day?

 

[lbiminiblue]

I've never heard of a 9 gallon nano b4....maybe in a few months if he has enough rock he can keep a dragonet.

 

[benabus]

Thanks all for the advice, even though it is a tad disparaging.

Oddly, the clown fish seems 100% better this afternoon. Maybe he's just not a 'morning person'. Is that possible?

It's in the middle of a house with no direct sunlight. Uses an LED lamp. Stays about 77 all day.

I must admit: I'm not very experienced at all in this area. The tank was kind of thrust upon us as a Christmas gift, so we've been learning as we go.

The tank was originally designed for jellyfish, which is why it's round and doesn't have any actual live rock. Now that we've gone down to just a single jelly, we decided to add a clownfish after talking to another jellyfish tank owner who had success in the past (clown fish aren't affected by jellyfish stings). If/when our last jellyfish dies, I do intend to make it into a proper reef tank. When we've got a bigger house, we'll probably upgrade, as well.

Thanks again for the help.

(Also, I've gotten much ruder and far less informative responses in the past.)

 

[lbiminiblue]

Ok. I understand that. But in the future NEVER put fish in a tank without proper research. Putting the clownfish in was a mistake. Nothing to do for that, but i can't blame you. My first attempt 3 years ago ended catastrophically, i won't even bother to describe it. For example: i've been researching mandarin dragonets for months now, i wanna make sure he survives. We all make mistakes. that's why we even bother to put up with dmatt88 half the time- to find solutions.