I recently bought a clownfish for my 55g sw. I've had my tank up for about 3 weeks now and had one fish already in there (striped damsel) petco recommended this method. Since adding the clownfish (Nemo) all he does is stay at the bottom corner of the tank ALL day. At times I catch him resting on the bottom and leaning on the glass. I know that clowns and damsels are compatable but is my Nemo sick, or scared or stressed. I don't want him to die. And yes my ph, Nh3 and Ni are all fine. I just want him to swim around and be happy.
My other question is my sand is turning brownish. I think I may have brown algae. Is that the same as brown diatoms? What is the best and quickest way possible to remove this? 10 points for best ans. Please help
2006-07-13 04:54:22 · 7 answers · asked by Ryan G 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Okay to add detail....I have 2 anenome...1 long tentacle anenome and another smaller kind. I have about 15-20 lbs of live rock (plan to get more), I DO have live sand. I also have one chocolate starfish and one cleaner shrimp. I should have mentioned that my clownfish is just getting over ick. I plan to buy at least 2 more cleaner shrimp this weekend. So to those who say buy a anenome, I already have it. I also tried putting my hand in there and scaring him to run to the other side and explore the tank. He won't even go half way. I don't believe I have a fish vet around me...Is there a way to find out? Again plz help, Nemo's life depends on it.
2006-07-13 07:15:14 · update #1
sorry to say but he sounds as if he is sick. Your tank at 3 weeks is still cycling, that is all the brown algae. The brown is slime algae,diatom algae is those little hard brown pepper looking spots on the tank glass they will develop over time. You usually have to scrape them off. Vaccum the algae from your sand and use turbo or astre snails to eat it from everything else they work really well.
The clown may just be adjusting to the tank but the laying on the bottom is not right. It sounds to me like he has had a sudden shock from the ick and the tank transfer with the added stress. DO NOT add any medications involving copper it will kill all your invertabrates immediately. I usually takes up to 6 weeks or more to cycle a tank fully. Your nitrate and nitrite probally have no even spiked yet. Do you have a protein skimmer? I don't want to be a stick in the mud but it sounds like Nemo is in some bad shape. There is not much you can do for a stressed or ill fish like that in a saltwater. Just wait and hope for the best. A word of good though clownfish are some of the toughest fish there are right up there with damsels. Being sick already though the tank cycleing may be too much. Good luck. Ohh, also that choclate or choclate chip star will crack open and kill most any kind of snails or clams. I had one and he was cracking my turbo snails open sounded like a small pistol going off.
2006-07-13 07:35:40 · answer #1 · answered by dogdude1969 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The behavior is very normal for a clown fish, mine likes to hide on a slant at the very top of the tank behind the power-head and cannot swimm in a straight line. Your clown fish will start coming out more as he gets more comfortable but will always choose an odd spot to sleep unless you get an anemone. Damsel fish can be very aggressive for their size so plan carefully what you put in with it. The slime is cyanobacteria and always occurs in new tanks. Increased water movement and using only R-O of distilled water is the best way to deal with it. You can also use a glass scraper and turkey baster to keep it from settling in your tank, but until you tank matures, you will get blooms of both red and brown algae regularly. I would also suggest (if you didn't already) using live sand/rock to help with the cycling of your tank. I have a horseshoe crab that stirs up the sand nicely and keeps anything from growing on it, but a lot of people use sand sifting starfish for this.
2006-07-13 05:15:37 · answer #2 · answered by iceni 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your clownfish may be sick.Do you have a vet that you can go to close by? Maybe you can just ask them. The brown algae is just from not cleaning the tank. Just take the fish out and put them in something and get new sand. He might be sick from not cleaning the tank but i dont understand why the other fish wouldnt be sick or like him. Im not sure so you might ask a person that knows about this kinda stuff.
2006-07-13 05:04:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you get the brown algae growing it just means your tank is healthy and cycling the way it should be.I have a clown fish and he's always at the top swimming around..I never see him on the bottom..so there may be something wrong with your fish.
2006-07-13 05:27:29 · answer #4 · answered by Courtney L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Clown fish love Anemones. They look like plants, but they are alive. Looks just like the one they live in on the movie. They even eat. I had a couple of Anemones and about three Clown Fish before. They really like them a lot. They sleep in them and play in them. If you get one you will see your little fish be as happy as ever!
2006-07-13 05:12:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
stay rock and sand isn't actually mandatory in preserving with se, notwithstanding this is the favoured variety of filtration for marine tanks lately. you ought to fairly surely use a fave organic and organic clear out consisting of an exterior with a suitable protein skimmer or some macroalgae and chemical filtration media for nutrient export.
2016-10-14 10:29:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i do think your clown fish is sick
i ahev aone named chloe and all she does is stay up in teh current swimming all day adn thats what clown fish liek to do
but im not sure what to do sorry
2006-07-14 16:44:57 · answer #7 · answered by americanidiotslp 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋