Clowns not eating. Suggestions?

[aharrow]

I know it is only the second day after introducing the mated pair to the tank but they swim up to the flake food and spit it out and they only eat a few bites of the brine shrimp. I had read that they are very hardy eaters and will eat just about anything. The one clown I didn't even see eat any of the brine but the other one did eat at least a few bites. I am sure they are still acclimating but how many days should I wait if they don't eat and any other types of food I should try? Also how many times a day should I feed the fish? I have received varying information. They also won't leave the one corner of the tank or each other. Is this normal? Thanks for the info, I am a beginner that likes to do tons of research and am trying to be patient.

 

[xxvietxjustinxx]

Lebowski, isn't Formula One flake food?

 

[bang guy]

Just give them a few more days. Clowns are very territorial and it will take some time before they are comfortable in their new home.

 

[miles o'reef]

I agree 100% with dfosbenner and lebowski. I had the same problem with my Maroon Clown - he was a really picky eater at first. He would spit out flake food and brine shrimp. Fed him some of the Formula One and he loves it. Also, as soon as I added some garlic extract from Kent to some flake food he started to eat it. He's no longer a picky eater.
Don't worry about them staying in one spot in the tank - they're still getting acclimated to their new surroundings.
Miles

 

[bobo]

formual one and two comes in both frozen and flakes. i'd always get the frozen because the fishes prefers them. like dfosbenner said, formula two is better for algae eaters. i feed my angel with it and my clown usually spits it back out after a couple gulps of it. mine goes crazy for mysis, brine, formula two, and any small pieces of seafood shrimp (what we eat) aharrow, if your clowns do not eat in a couple more days i would worry. if they stay listless, won't eat, and swim near the top, they might have anemonefish disease which is commom with wild caught clowns (they're usually bigger and more colorful. if that is the case i would definitely quaratine them and do formalin dips with them. if they don't eat and start having white stringy discharge as waste then its most likely internal parasites and which you should treat with maracyn 2 and maracyn 1 on top of that to be safe. this is just based on my experience treating my clowns. i don't want you to get over worried too soon though. wait for further symptoms and post on the disease board before medicating them, but if i were you i'd put the clowns in a qt if you have not already. best of luck with the clowns.

 

[aharrow]

Thanks for the info, I am concerned though that I soaked the Formula One in the Kent Garlic and it doesn't dissolve. I soaked it in the tank water about 2" worth and 3 drops of the garlic. After soaking it I put the Formula one cube in the tank after about 10 minutes of soaking. The clowns didn't go near it. I even moved it to the corner that they are staying in. Also the cube went right to the bottom, is that normal or should it float or should I have waited for it to dissolve. It didn't look like it was going to dissolve at all. Thanks I am still concerned with the clowns. The hermit crabs came running though and I don't want them to eat the cube of formula one. Oh and the clowns are tank raised so I am not that concerned with diseases, but I will still watch them.

 

[aharrow]

So i should get the chunck that is sitting at the bottom of the tank? And do I break it up while it is frozen or after it goes in the water? Thanks for the info. At what point should I begin to worry about them and take them back to the store. I don't want them to die if they won't eat. I have tried mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and now the formula one. Thanks in advance

 

[mdhyde]

I cut my formula 1 while it is frozen. It makes it easier to get it to cut into smaller pieces. I usually cut up a lot of chunks at onces, then place in a ziplock baggie and store in freezer. that way you dont have to cut it every time you want to feed. The misses has a problem with me cutting up fish food all the time so this way I do it for a month and just pull what I need from the bag.
I think you are worrying too much about these fish. If your tank water is fine, they will come around.
Good luck!

 

[aharrow]

Thanks for the help I will try again tomarrow

 

[aharrow]

Thanks for all the help, however this mornings feeding went the same as the last three. I made the soup with tank water 1" and 1 drop of garlic. Put in half the soup right in front of the clowns. They actually backed up and away from it. Wouldn't have anything to do with it. I then poured the other half of the soup in front of them and same result. They actually would go up to a chunck of the formula one and turn away almost in disgust. This is the fourth day that I haven't seen them eat. I am at that threshold of real concern. Nobody wants to lose fish and being that this is my first saltwater tank I don't want to get so discouraged that I can't even keep the supposedly hardiest and easiest beginner fish out there that I give up on the hobby all together. Should I look at taking them back to the LFS?

 

[bang guy]

Try to find some live adult brine shrimp. I've never seen a fish resist them unless it was too sick to eat.

 

[bobo]

the garlic thing is not abnormal. while some fish likes the taste of garlic, many of mine hates it and would spit anything with garlic taste in it. try the live brine as suggested, and if that doesn't work and they are still not eating then something is wrong. observe for awhile and see if other tank mates are harrassing them at all. they should not take so long if the water condition is good. healthy clowns that are not stressed out are very aggressive eater and will take almost anything, they are also suppose to be lively. my clowns swims towards me everytime they see me and kisses my finger if i stick it in the water, and i even worry about overfeeding them all the time since they beat everyone else to it and looks pregnant after feeding time. especially if tank raised they should be more acceptive of foods. i'm sure the lfs didn't feed them live brine all the time. go back to the lfs and ask them what they feed their so called tank raised clowns.

 

[aharrow]

Thanks for all the reply's. I will try the live brine and if that doesn't work then they go back because I don't want to kill any fish. However, I tested the water this morning just to see if maybe it was that and everything is great.
PH is 8.2,
Ammonia 0,
NO2 0,
NO3 is 10 ppm.
The salinity is 1.024 and the temp is 78-79 degrees.
The other fish are very tolerant of them. I see them come over to the corner the clowns are in, and never have I seen them chase them. It doesn't make sense that they would have so much trouble eating. Anyway thanks for all the reply's

 

[aharrow]

Well sad to say that one of the clowns is now pronounced DOA and the other one looks like it is going to join him soon. I am going to try and get him back to the LFS but I don't think he is going to make it as slow as he is moving and he is hanging out near the top of the tank. Does that mean he is not getting enough oxygen. I just put in a air stone thinking that maybe there isn't enough oxygen getting in there.

 

[aharrow]

I took 40 minutes to acclimate them. 20 minutes with the bag sealed soaking in the tank. Then I opened the bag and slowly added my water to the bag water every 5 minutes until the bag was full. Then I dumped out half of the bag water and slowly added more of my tank water to the bag. Then I released them into the tank. Like I said the tests on the water came back negative. I also had the LFS test my water just in case I somehow can't follow directions on the test kit which my two sons can follow the directions but anyway they had the same results as I did. The other tank mates seem to be doing fine. They are eating so I assume since they have been in there a little while longer. It is kind of a downer since the clowns are supposed to be the easiest of the saltwater fish to take care of. Maybe it was just a bad set. I hope that I can finish work in time to get the one clown that is left back to the LFS before he kicks it because he isn't looking very good.

 

[sunken ship]

sorry to hear about those poor little guys.

 

[bobo]

sorry to hear your lost. i'm sure it is nothing you did wrong. however fish do not just die, there's always a reaon behind it, especially if its a hardy fish like tank raised clowns. i would guess that they were strickened with anemonefish disease. often parasites would infest their gills and cause them to have a hard time breathing, hence why they swim near the top. i would definitely return that clown and ask for a refund, but don't get another fish to replace them just yet. the next time you get another fish i would keep it in a quaratine tank and do hypo on it to relief its initial stress and get rid of ich and other harmful parasites. good luck in the future. may your clown rest in peace

 

[aharrow]

I did take the fish back and they actually gave me a refund for the deceased and the live one. The policy on the local stores here is 48 hours for saltwater and it was about 4 days. Anyway, I am waiting a while to proceed. The damsels look like they are doing just fine. Anyway what were you referring to when you said do a hypo on any fish to relieve the stress. Could you elaborate? Thanks for all the replies to everyone. This has been a very informative board and it makes the process much more enjoyable.