about three days ago i bought a new salt water tank setup (this is my first time) with one clown fish (percula) he is only young and i have nothing else living in the tank i mixed the salt to exactly what the directions said and the hydrometer said it was perfect too
problem:the water seems to be really blurry still and the clown fish keeps swimming at a 12 oclock angle, and sometimes swims on an angle sideways too, he seems fine normally but he will do it every now and then and then stop and go back to normal! he eats all his food and i feed him once a day, i did a 10 % water change today yet it was still blurry i made sure it was mixed properly and let it sit for a night before i put it in to the tank (new water) the temp was between 25 and 30 degrees celcius could it have anything to do with my filter ? it is only a bubble foam one no power one yet tho i will buy one in next couple of days,i will leave old in to keep bacteria population up as well,thank you for answers please help!
2006-12-13 00:18:01 · 8 answers · asked by cammo 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
perculas are difficult to maintain as are most clowns. I would suggest adding a power filter or secondary filter. The Whisper would be the best. Don't change anymore water. The crushed coral or dolomite you placed in the bottom of the tank is going to cloud the water for a few days to a week regardless on how much you washed the gravel. I would suggest picking up some damsel fish, they are inexpensive and that will help your cycling and nitrate problem. As far as the clown swimming oddly, that happens to some of them, it is a typical swimming pattern on some of them. Certain clowns need nitrates from anemones to assist them. They need places to hide as well. They like plants and statues and things to hide in. Monitor your nitrate, ammonia levels, and salt levels as well as PH. Remember when you purchase test kits to make sure they are for saltwater. The levels are much more different. Dolomite is limestone based and it creates a higher level of bicarbonates. Good Luck
2006-12-13 00:28:29 · answer #1 · answered by punxsyparty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should bring the clown fish back to the petstore immediately. He will not live in your tank.
Firstly, what is your method of filtration? Live rock is the most efficient, but it needs 3-6 weeks of sitting your tank with just salt before the tank is ready to add any fish.
The water is blurry, most likely from decaying matter on live rock, if you have it, or from your sand. Many sands will cloud up the water; it just needs to settle.
Temperature "between 25 and 30" is unacceptable. Get a thermometer! Get a heater! You have to know what your temperature is and it has to be stable or it WILL kill your fish.
Saltwater fish aren't like freshwater fish. You can't just throw everything together on the same day and expect it to survive. You have a lot of reading to do.
So, take your clown fish back to the petstore, and while you're there, pick up a book or two on saltwater tank keeping. Get some live rock (1lbs per gallon) if you don't have some already. Go home, put the live rock in, and start reading.
Read the books through, once or twice or three times, look up information on the internet, join forums (http://www.fishforums.com) and ask questions. That'll take you a couple weeks, and then you may be ready to start looking into your cleanup crew, like hermit crabs, starfish, shrimp. Give them another couple weeks. Then, and only then, can you start looking into fish.
What size is your tank? Is it small? Saltwater tanks under 30 gallons are called "nanos" and saltwater tanks under 10 gallons are called "picos" - nano tanks are notoriously difficult to maintain. You need to monitor the levels constantly, clean up uneaten debris, and top off the water on a daily basis. Many nano tanks don't even have fish, just some live rock and some invertebrates. Most are not stable enough to support anything bigger than a blenny.
Pico tanks are almost impossible, and you can not put a fish in them, not even a small blenny. Maybe a few sexy shrimp, but that's all.
So, bring back your clown fish. You can already see he is sick and he will die in your tank.
2006-12-13 09:41:26 · answer #2 · answered by Zoe 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ok ive had saltwater tanks(marine) for years and if i was you i would have set the tank up and let it run for atleast a week before adding any fish to it becuase the water quality is vidal to having a succesful tank you need to monitor it for atleast a week it usually takes a day or two for the salt to properly disolve in the water. but id keep an eye on him cuz it dont sound too good. plus why did you buy a clown fish right away i would have bought a few damsels or some green chromises which can stand a nitrate swing or two cuz your tank hasnt even cycled yet!! if he dies just wait a week before you add another fish i kno itll be hard having an empty tank but ill be worth it in a week!!
2006-12-13 08:30:16 · answer #3 · answered by Frank s 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe the bacteria level wasn't right yet, i was advised to keep my tank ticking over for 4-6 weeks before introducing fish. I know you can get bactinett to start your tank immediately, but it may not have reached the right level. Also I had a fish that was well in itself but couldn't balance properly in the water, the only thing that cured it was to feed it stick food instead of flake food, not sure why though!
2006-12-13 08:33:14 · answer #4 · answered by Vikki V 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're supposed to cycle the aquarium water for like 6 weeks before putting anything in there. You're going to need live rock in your tank. I have 80 pounds of live rock in a 60 gallon tank. Clown fish are territorial fish. You need to put live rock in there so that he can make a home for himself. Don't be surprised if the clown dies though, I think your water hasn't been cycled properly. Did you rinse the sand before putting it in the tank? That makes the water cloudy too. There are many websites out there that can help you with your tank. You can check out aquariacanada. com. maybe you can find help there....
2006-12-13 11:43:35 · answer #5 · answered by Althea 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i would think really that its probably not you filtration, of course filtration is improtant but if you just started up the tank i would check the amonia and nitrite levels in the tank. Its not uncommon to have some fish die during the intial cycle period of a tank honestly i would go buy some cheaper damsels to start it up clowns tend to be 15 dollars or more but damsels are usually dirt cheap and hard to kill. I would wait and if it dies go buy some inexpensive damsels to put in there. Also you can add live rock its always a great thing to have in your tank.
2006-12-13 09:10:34 · answer #6 · answered by orestes19832003 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I worked in a petshop, um are you sure that you did it exact to the letter, did you perhaps made youre clown fish stress, coz he sounds a bit stressd....
Hope he makes it though...
Goodluck!
2006-12-13 08:45:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like a swim bladder problem, which is treatable.
2006-12-13 08:27:12 · answer #8 · answered by Hove Andrew 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋