Clown fish in distress?

[iluvfish]

I purchased 2 percs with my most recent order (got everything in on Friday.) Today my smallest clown fish is acting slightly weird. He hides behind the rocks and wiggles alot. Kind of looks like he's breathing a little more rapid then the bigger of the two. He ate yesterday and this morning but not tonight. Do you think he's turning into a boy or should I be worried about something else?

 

[fishman830]

they're born male, so if hes changing gender he'd become a female

 

[iluvfish]

Oh, OOPS! Well that blew my theory. I guess I thought that the smaller was probably the male. I'll have to watch him and make sure he's okay. Don't see any spots or other signs of illness. If you have another ideas, please let me know. THANKS!

 

[clarkiiboi]

"All clowns begin life non-gendered. A dominant Clown will become female and the next dominant will be the male. If the Female is removed then the male will become female and the next in line will become male."
You were correct on your theory, so since it is the smaller of the two it may just be what you thought. The bigger one tends to be the dominate one (female) and smaller (male). Is the other fish going near the smaller one? I have never had experience with 2 clowns and the process, but I thought they did this together. Bump for ya

 

[tyr-sog]

Hmmm, be carful. I just had something similar in signs wipe out my entire fish stock. Rapid breathing, twitching, loss of appetite. Also just be wary of discoloration of skin, fin rot, cloudy eyes and your other fish starting to do the same. Just a heads up.

 

[shoreliner11]

I have 2 percs and the smaller (male) does the twitchy thing all the time though it is usually in the presence of the larger (female). I'm not sure if you should be worried about him eating simply for the fact that hes new to the tank. My male clown was in my tank for a good week before he would eat. He's just now becoming the pig that clowns are known for being almost 4 weeks after adding him. Good luck with him.

 

[iluvfish]

Well, I'm sorry to say that I lost my little clown fish. He was dead when I woke the next morning. Darn - wish I could have done something. Anyway - now he's back on his way to SWF.com - bad thing is I have to wait until I can place another $75 order to get another one.
I'm glad everything else seems to be looking good!! Excet I can't seem to locate my fighting conch

 

[worldchanger]

Same thing happened to my order (not from SWF) my little perc seemed fine for a couple of day then he was breathing really heavy for about 3 days and died that night. The other one was fine and is still doing great as well as the other one I added about 4 days after the little one died. I guess sometimes you just get a sick fish that doesn't spread anything to your other tank mates. Everything else is doing great. But I would keep a close eye on your other tank mates for a few days anyway.

 

[booya]

My clown did the same thing. I to have to wait until the $75 limit to get anouther one do you think that they will be OK if we wait for a while before adding them?

 

[doodle1800]

What other fish are in your tank? Maybe one of them is(was) picking on your clowns.
I lost a set of clowns from a velvet damsel picking on them all the time. The stress killed them. I bought another pair and thats when I found this out that the damsel was the culprit. I took the clowns out and put them in their own tank. They're fine now.

 

[iluvfish]

Booya- I was wondering the same thing. THe other thing I wondered about - do we have to get the same fish for our "freebie" Cause I was thinking about finding a new perc at the LFS and then using my return for something else.
Doodle - Nothing is picking on anyone else. I was lucky and got my damsel out before I added this guy.

 

[booya]

I was wondering that same thing. I would like to have a pair right now. I sent mine back today so i should be getting a email in a few days maybe I can ask then.
There is nothing in my tank so there could not be anything picking on my fish.

 

[iluvfish]

Booya - that's funny!! I sent mine back today too! Guess we'll see what they say. Was yours the smaller of the two that died also?