Brand new clowns - Need some help

R

ronster1

Guest
Hey guys and gals. I purchased a pair of false percs at my LFS yesterday evening. While at the store I saw them eat well and they looked very good. I acclimated them for about 1 and 1/2 hours.
I tried to feed them this morning and this evening and they will not eat. I have 3 other fish in the tank as well. They are Damsels. One domino and they others are yellowtail Blues. I bought them just as a help with getting the tank up.
The Domino does swim up above the Clowns and sort of blocks half the tank but does NOT seem to go after the clowns at all.
I know they can be a problem to keep them together but could this be why the clowns are not feeding?
My LFS did say to get rid of the Damsels if they showed aggresiion toward the clowns and I dont have a problem getting rid of them if this the problem.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Ron
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
From what I have read on this forum Damsels seem to be not good for much as they can be bullies and very hard to catch. It seems the only reason people get them is to cycle their tank, and though I don't like damsels I don't think this is right. I would have taken the damsels out before adding the clowns, but now that you have, good luck on catching the damsels without stressing out your clowns. (I'm a newbie, so probably don't know what I'm talking about. Just going on what I've read.)
 
R

ronster1

Guest
OK. I had to take out 1/2 the lr, now of course the water looks like crap but that will clear in a hour or to. Got the Damsels out and the clowns seem completely unaffected by the whole ordeal. In fact they are cruizing around more than they had in the last 24 hrs. hopefully everything works out.
Ron
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Any time you add new fish it can take them a couple of days to get them to eat again. Not all fish will be like this, but some will. You can never tell. Some fish will eat right away, and some will take a while to begin eating again. If they were eating in the lfs, they should start eating again soon.
HTH
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Great to hear that you got the devils out, (I mean damsels). What are you feeding the clowns and what were they eating at the LFS?
 
garnet13aj

garnet13aj

Active Member
Although the damsels would probably end up bullying the clowns in the end, if they weren't showing any agression, then the clowns were probably not eating because they are still getting used to their environment. As people have said, it can take 3-4 days sometimes to get new fish to eat and it's not really something to start worrying about until that time. It probably saved you a lot of work later on, by catching the damsels now, but they may or may not have been the problem. Give it some time and everything will probably be okay.
 
R

ronster1

Guest
They ate Brine Shrimp at the LFS. Tried Brine, Lysis, and flake. They dont seem agitated so I will keep you posted.
Thx for all the help.
 
lolly1

lolly1

Member
It took my false percs a few days before they would eat. Now they eat everything in sight, but it was frozen prime reef that really whet their appetites. I suggest giving that a try! Good luck!
 
marine fanatic

marine fanatic

Member
My clowns were picky at first too...I used some frozen Formula One which seemed to get them really going. Now they eat anything I put in the tank and will even dart towards my hand when I am feeding.
 
buwanna

buwanna

New Member
I put a yellow tang in my tank a couple of weeks ago. It would not eat for about 3 days sides were caved in looked bad now it is eating all the time looks great. Give them time
 
R

ronster1

Guest
OK
It has been 6 days and these clowns still havent eaten anything that I see. The LFS suggested that I put a few big eaters with them in the tank. I did this added a Vlamingi Tang and 2 Bangaii cardinals. The tang lives up to its rep by eating everything in sight one cardinal is having some stress issues but the other is eating well. Still the clowns do not eat. The LFS said they would replace if they died because I called and talked to them about them not eating, but I would prefer them not dying obviously.
Foods I have tried:
Frozen Brine, Frozen Mysis, Frozen Prime Reef, Flake Prime Reef, a pellet food called Marine s, and finally another flake called total color.
Tank stats are:
nitrate = 0
nitrite= 0
Ammonia = 0
PH = 8.3 (right around)
Spec. Grav. = 1.024
Temp 77.3 - 77.7
Any other suggestions? Or do I just wait and see?
Ronster
 
seasalt101

seasalt101

Active Member
yep add the garlic should do it and if they are stresses it could prevent ich from taking hold in there tobin
 
ejensen

ejensen

Member
I had the same problem and the lfs gave me some live brime shrimp. That did the trick for me. After that they ate all the time.
 
lolly1

lolly1

Member
I had this problem with my bg chromis recently (unusual, I know...they usually eat everything), and I soaked frozen prime reef in garlic. That did the trick and now they are weaned off and eating whatever is dropped in. Again, good luck.
 
chuckcac

chuckcac

Member
Originally Posted by Ronster1
OK
It has been 6 days and these clowns still havent eaten anything that I see. The LFS suggested that I put a few big eaters with them in the tank. I did this added a Vlamingi Tang and 2 Bangaii cardinals.
Ronster

I dont want to come off rude... read this in an "i'm-looking-out-for-your-best-intrest" tone of voice....

looks like the LFS is cashing in on your anorexic clowns

sounds like you've added 5 fish in 6 days? that may be a lot of biload to introduce very quickly.... watch your parameters.
also -doesnt sound like you're QTing your new arrivals..... be careful... slow down... :scared:
try the garlic solution as seasalt suggested....
 
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