Clownfish still not eating...

prosnow · 04-09-2006, 07:25 PM

Hey all, new to this forum, used to be on canreef.com but the sites not working anymore for me...

I need some help on my new addition, 2 true percs... they still wont eat...(day 3) i've tryed mysis and brine shrimp, soaked in garlic and what not..but still nothing......

tank parm.

salinity - 1.025
nitrate - >.2 ppm
ph - 7.8
temp - 80

blade25 · 04-09-2006, 09:36 PM

Everything sounds good, I like my salinity at 1.021 I think 1.025 is kind of high. Did you see them eat at lfs before you brought them home?

prosnow · 04-09-2006, 09:51 PM

no...i didnt even think about asking to see them feed

blade25 · 04-09-2006, 10:00 PM

Its A Good Habbit To Get Into Before You Buy. Call Your Lfs Maybe They Can Do Something For You Doesnt Hurt To Try. Or Turn In For Store Credit.

groovemachine · 04-11-2006, 04:37 PM

hi, try chopping up some cockles or mussells my clowns love it.
your ph seems a bit low i prefer mine at 8.2 although it does go down at night

mattie · 04-11-2006, 05:48 PM

okay... You ready..
I have never seen a clownfish not eat live brine....
i am surprised you are having problems with clownfish they usually are pigs and will over-eat if you let em.
something to be alerted to is ...If you have too high of amonia in the the tank it will make the fish lose there apetite (amonia poisioning)

Cougra · 04-11-2006, 05:57 PM

How long have you had the fish? If you just got them then I would say they are still really stressed out. I would leave the water alone for a while and let the clownfish settle in before doing any major changes. It could be that your water chemistry was very different from the stores water chemistry and they need the time to adjust.

In the mean time, try to get some live adult brine shrimp to feed them. Perhaps the live food will intice them unlike dead food since it's more natural and they know what it is. If you can't get live brine then try hatching some brine shrimp (it's fairly easy to do) and feed the newly hatched ones (should only take a day or two to hatch them).

Keep offering them some of the frozen foods like you have been doing.

Do you have any other fish in the tank? Sometimes if new fish see other fish eating what you've offered they'll learn to try it as well but it might take a couple days yet.

If you've had them for a while did you notice anything odd in the tank recently? Have you changed anything up like the aquascaping or the food types?

eagle1010 · 05-24-2006, 05:00 PM

with regards to salinity... 1.025 is perfect (Ocean water). I say 1.0245. 1.021 might be a little low.

Elmo18 · 05-25-2006, 09:28 AM

A couple of questions.....

how long have you had these True perculas?
did you perform any QT methods?

Also please state the temperature, pH, alk, and SG of the water currently

Best,
Ilham

Elmo18 · 05-25-2006, 09:33 AM

It looks as though you got them in April, and I'm replying to an older post.

When you first get clownfish, no matter what type, please QT. In fact, I will go further and say that you should QT everything else you plan to put into the tank.

QT'ing a fish involves decreasing the specific gravity of the water. Naturally, clownfish's blood and internal fluids are at 1.016. Therefore, they use less energy in water that closely matches the specific gravity of their fluids. I am not saying to decrease it instantly, but if you brought the fish home (in a bag) in 1.025 water, I would decrease it slowly until 1.016, and then decrease further to 1.009-1.011 for the QT period. While this sounds drastic, clownfishes will be happier in the long-run (since many will live longer, and diseases will die in exposure to a lower specific gravity water).

After the QT period, you may reintroduce the clowns to your main tank which probably is around the 1.023-1.0255 mark (as I'm guessing it is a reef). You will want to slowly increase the specific gravity of the QT tank before just dumping the fish into the higher specific gravity water.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Ilham

Woodstock · 05-25-2006, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blade25

Everything sounds good, I like my salinity at 1.021 I think 1.025 is kind of high. Did you see them eat at lfs before you brought them home?

1.021 is low. Check out Water Parameters

Woodstock · 05-25-2006, 09:43 AM

They hyposalinity QT method that Elmo explains above is a great idea for new or sick fishes! I've used it before to treat ICH.

04-09-2006, 07:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
prosnow Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 6 View Gallery Karma Komment	Clownfish still not eating... Hey all, new to this forum, used to be on canreef.com but the sites not working anymore for me... I need some help on my new addition, 2 true percs... they still wont eat...(day 3) i've tryed mysis and brine shrimp, soaked in garlic and what not..but still nothing...... tank parm. salinity - 1.025 nitrate - >.2 ppm ph - 7.8 temp - 80

04-09-2006, 09:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
blade25 Bryozoan Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 43 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... Everything sounds good, I like my salinity at 1.021 I think 1.025 is kind of high. Did you see them eat at lfs before you brought them home?

04-09-2006, 09:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
prosnow Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 6 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... no...i didnt even think about asking to see them feed __________________ 18 Gallon Custom starfire cube, 70w MH 20,000k Bulb, 2-20w 10k, 2-3/4w moonlights, 20 pds LR, Rena Xp3/heater mod, Eheim 2217/fuge(cheato), http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...current=4a.jpg

04-09-2006, 10:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
blade25 Bryozoan Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 43 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... Its A Good Habbit To Get Into Before You Buy. Call Your Lfs Maybe They Can Do Something For You Doesnt Hurt To Try. Or Turn In For Store Credit.

04-11-2006, 04:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
groovemachine Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: essex united kingdom Posts: 10 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... hi, try chopping up some cockles or mussells my clowns love it. your ph seems a bit low i prefer mine at 8.2 although it does go down at night

04-11-2006, 05:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
mattie RS Sponsor Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Torrance CA Posts: 522 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... okay... You ready.. I have never seen a clownfish not eat live brine.... i am surprised you are having problems with clownfish they usually are pigs and will over-eat if you let em. something to be alerted to is ...If you have too high of amonia in the the tank it will make the fish lose there apetite (amonia poisioning) __________________ www.reef-care.com

04-11-2006, 05:57 PM	#7 (permalink)
Cougra Dragon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 2,216 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... How long have you had the fish? If you just got them then I would say they are still really stressed out. I would leave the water alone for a while and let the clownfish settle in before doing any major changes. It could be that your water chemistry was very different from the stores water chemistry and they need the time to adjust. In the mean time, try to get some live adult brine shrimp to feed them. Perhaps the live food will intice them unlike dead food since it's more natural and they know what it is. If you can't get live brine then try hatching some brine shrimp (it's fairly easy to do) and feed the newly hatched ones (should only take a day or two to hatch them). Keep offering them some of the frozen foods like you have been doing. Do you have any other fish in the tank? Sometimes if new fish see other fish eating what you've offered they'll learn to try it as well but it might take a couple days yet. If you've had them for a while did you notice anything odd in the tank recently? Have you changed anything up like the aquascaping or the food types? __________________ Michelle Just because something CAN be done, it doesn't mean that it SHOULD be done!

05-24-2006, 05:00 PM	#8 (permalink)
eagle1010 Tunicate Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 2 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... with regards to salinity... 1.025 is perfect (Ocean water). I say 1.0245. 1.021 might be a little low.

05-25-2006, 09:28 AM	#9 (permalink)
Elmo18 Midas Blenny Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 92 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... A couple of questions..... how long have you had these True perculas? did you perform any QT methods? Also please state the temperature, pH, alk, and SG of the water currently Best, Ilham

05-25-2006, 09:33 AM	#10 (permalink)
Elmo18 Midas Blenny Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 92 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Clownfish still not eating... It looks as though you got them in April, and I'm replying to an older post. When you first get clownfish, no matter what type, please QT. In fact, I will go further and say that you should QT everything else you plan to put into the tank. QT'ing a fish involves decreasing the specific gravity of the water. Naturally, clownfish's blood and internal fluids are at 1.016. Therefore, they use less energy in water that closely matches the specific gravity of their fluids. I am not saying to decrease it instantly, but if you brought the fish home (in a bag) in 1.025 water, I would decrease it slowly until 1.016, and then decrease further to 1.009-1.011 for the QT period. While this sounds drastic, clownfishes will be happier in the long-run (since many will live longer, and diseases will die in exposure to a lower specific gravity water). After the QT period, you may reintroduce the clowns to your main tank which probably is around the 1.023-1.0255 mark (as I'm guessing it is a reef). You will want to slowly increase the specific gravity of the QT tank before just dumping the fish into the higher specific gravity water. Let me know if you have any questions. Best, Ilham

05-25-2006, 09:43 AM	#12 (permalink)
Woodstock The Wand Geek was here. ;) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 25,502 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Clownfish still not eating... They hyposalinity QT method that Elmo explains above is a great idea for new or sick fishes! I've used it before to treat ICH. __________________ ~Doni Marie~ *GOT ICH???* *My Victorious Battle with ICH* 120 Reef Chronicle ~ *Breeding Picasso Clownfish~* *Massive 300 gal growout~* *My Anemone & Picasso Tank ~* *Picasso & Snowcasso for sale~* "Energy and persistance conquer all things." Benjamin Franklin __________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

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