Clown Fish...help!

[rudeskawn]

I just set up my first saltwater aquarium. Its a 55 Gallon tank with a reef system. It has a protein skimmer and whatnot. I know hardly anything about saltwater. I got the whole setup for free from my neighbor. It was sitting in his garage so I asked how much he wanted for it and he gave it to me. I am 17 and don't have a whole lot of money. But I got it up and running and let it run and checked the water and everything. I bought (2) clown fish, (4) Blue damsels, (1)Royal Gramma, and (3) 3 stripe damselfish. I put them in my tank 2-3 days ago and the problem is the clownfish won't eat. They have sat in the same spot for like 2 days and I think they are dying. They haven't moved and won't eat. What could be the problem and what should I do? Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[thepomonacow]

What is your water chemistry like. (NO3, NO2 Etc.) If you are still in the cycling period it will be a stressful time for any fish. also...if your tank is uncycled dont turn on your skimmer. The skimmer will remove bacteria which you need inorder to cycle your tank. Post a little more information.

 

[ruaround]

Did your tank cycle? How long was it up and runnin befor you put the fish in there? Have you tested your water perameters? Amonia, pH, NitrIte and NitrAte?

 

[hunterdaddy]

If I were you I would take out the fish and take them to the store you got them at for credit and cycle your tank with live rock and a store bought cocktail shrimp. There is a LOT to learn about the nitrogen cycle and water chemistry and what type of fish go together and like I said there is ALOT to learn. Best thing to do is take the fish back to the store and ask them to hold them for you untill your tank is cycled (with live rock and shrimp) or at least get 50% credit.
Most fish will die during the cyucle due to harmfull water conditions. You can cycle a fresh water tank with fish because over thousands of years frsh water fish have adapted to changing water chemistry. Lakes and rivers change season to season at the very least so the fish have adapted to a seni unstable environment.
Reefs are one of the most if not the most stable environments in the world so the inhabitants of the reefs have never needed to adapt to change. Therefore they cant handel a tank cycle.
Hope this helps. Good people on this board some of them even know a little about salt water fish keeping. Dont take every persons word as law though. Listen to sharks mostly. They are moderators so are probably your best bet. Remember though no one is correct 100% of the time.
Hope this helps and welcome to the board.

 

[bbreaux1]

sounds like you didnt cycle your tank and if you did and added all those fish at once its too much of a shock on your tank you need to slow down with the adding fish maybe take the clowns and royal gramma back to the store and let the damsels sit in there for awhile to get your biological filter going for about 4 weeks and in that time just look up articles online about beginning saltwater aquariums youll learn alot quick

 

[rudeskawn]

My tank cycled for about 3 weeks. I put a couple store bought shrimp in there and they lived the whole time. I thought they would die after a couple days but they didn't. My dad is helping me with the whole project. Back in the day he used to have a saltware aquarium but now all he has is freshwater. And the new saltware tank.
But anyways, all of the fish are doing great except for the clowns. And neither of them is doing good I don't think. They still are in the same spot. They are swimming like they are in a strong current but their isn't any. Like I said, I am still learning. Thanks for the help so far guys...