Clownfish Death's

kube

kube

Member
Here is my question i am on 5 straight clown fish deaths in my tank. Its a 55 gallon tank 7 months old;0 ammon, 0 trites, 5 trates, 0 phospthates. 50 pounds live rock, 3 small damsels for tank mates a good sized anemone, BTA to be exact. Lighting is 4 T5's with individual reflectors. All the clown fish host the anemone and practically lived in it and would not leave it. Could the clown fish be getting stung by it because they haven't naturally built up the immunity from it. The clown fish when they died all died the same way. The would start to swim erratically, breathing really heavily. And just spin around the tank and flow with the current till they died. I know that the damsels are little devil fish and could be the cause, but the clown fish have no signs that i can see of pick marks or anything like that. So do you think its the Damsels, Anemone, or just bad fish from the LFS. They all died in 2 to 3 weeks.
Thanks
Kube
 
kube

kube

Member
Every 2 to 3 days, the one that lived the longest would eat but the others would only eat what was right in there face, think the death symptoms might be from not eating, the last two i got i made the LFS feed them so i could see them eat
 
meeks101

meeks101

Member
That's probably your problem! You need to feed them 2-3 times a day!!! The ones that only eat stuff right in there face were small wern't they? Juvenile clownfish don't see well and they do that. Go to www.fish.com then type in clownfish. There is a book called Clownfishes by Joyce D. Wilkerson that I suggest you buy and read. It has been a help to me!!!
 
kube

kube

Member
hmmm..... could be they were really small...any way you suggest to get them to eat with our wasting all the food, they were kinda small 3/4 in to be exact.....just a question whats your opinion on all the people that say you should only feed every day or two
 
chroniccoral35

chroniccoral35

Member
I feed my clowns Tuesdays and Fridays. Prime Reef Flakes in the morning and brine shrimp at night...and they seem very happy. You do not need to feed them everyday.
 
fau8

fau8

Member
IMHO There are no fish that should be feed 2-3 times a day. It would be impossible to keep any type of water quality with that much waste. Every other day should be enough. As to what killed your fish that is still an unknown.
 
kube

kube

Member
The reason i ask about the anemone is there are quite a few people that say the clown fish is not naturally immune to it, according to them they say that the clownfish slowly builds an immunity to it, slowly staying it it longer and longer, well these guys went in and never left, were they scared of the damsels, i know the damsels are aggressive, but there were no signs of bites on the clowns, the damsel would chase the clown around the tank once or twice a day, but the clown swam into the anemone and he was protected.....any other thoughts? just thinking about bagging the damsels and returning them to the LFS before i buy another clowns.........can't think of any other ideas............
 
meeks101

meeks101

Member
I read a couple of books that have all said to feed clowns two or three times a day. Those of you who feed them every couple of days probably feed them a whole whole bunch of food. I feed mine twice a day and have no amonia and no algae problems!
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
I only feed my fish every other day. The only way I could see feeding multiple times a day would be to young fry. Even juvenille clownes do not need to eat everyday.
 
privatejoker

privatejoker

Member
I used to feed my tank twice a week. As long as you have live rock and algae the clowns should be fine. There are only a few fish that should be feed twice a day in an aquarium and clowns aren't one of them.
 
litoallie

litoallie

Member
Well.. at another pet store that I don't buy fishes at.. also the store that I bought my super skinny tang at.. feeds them 2-3 times a day (brine shrimp).. Though I think that if you are giving them enough nutrience and give them different types of food.. they will be fine. I feed mine once a day.. a few pellets.. not much..
I also read in a book that the size of a fish's stomach is half the size of their eye ball... true or not? I don't know.. but that is true.. they will be full with 3 or 4 pellets.
 
fau8

fau8

Member
Tangs and maybe dwarf angles are the only exception to the feeding that I am aware of. But in reality you are not feeding them more than another fish. Algee should always be available for them to eat so they feed continuously. But having algee sheets available will not effect your water quality as feeding more than every other day will. In my opinion feeding more than every other day might get you some "fat fish" but if your not going to do weekly 25 % or more water change you will get major algee blooms and sooner ot later a crashed tank.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Did you watch them eat??? I would imagine that if you were getting very small fish they would be eating cyclops and things along that line. Brine is not the most nutritious thing available. I fed my 3/4" baby clown Rod's food which has a variety of high protein foods that are also varied in size. Although I did feed everyday a small amount for about the first week I had him. I was also doing alot of water changes :) I have personally never seen a clown die by anemone death, with the exception of a very large anemone and a very small clown being taken as a snack.
 
cyclops

cyclops

Member
Originally Posted by Kube
http:///forum/post/2713329
Every 2 to 3 days, the one that lived the longest would eat but the others would only eat what was right in there face, think the death symptoms might be from not eating, the last two i got i made the LFS feed them so i could see them eat
I have had clowns for two years 4 percs and a pair of maroons I feed everyother day, IMO 2 to 3 days might be to long, do you turn your flow off? how much do they actually eat? Do the damsels hog all the Food? and is there any signs of black marks which would be stings from the Anemone?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
It sounds like a disease to me and not anything to do with starvation.
Amyloodinium would show dusty spots on the scales but it is possible for it to only infect the gills.
Brooklynelle would be very obvious because the skin looks like it's coming off.
The most likely candidate IMO is an internal parasite. It could be picked up from another Damselfish that it handling it better than a Clownfish or it could be coming from the LFS.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Five straight deaths doesn't sound like food to me. How are you acclimating these fish?
 
jimvette1

jimvette1

Member
By no way shape or form am I an expert on clowns, but what I have observed about damsels "in my tank", they are about the meanest fish around. They think they own every hole they can find in my LR and chase every new fish around till they finally get tired.
I know damsels have their place in tank start ups and cycling a tank but on my future tanks I won’t be using them. If I could catch the little buggers I'd be shipping them back to the LFS.
Lucky for my tank the clowns and damsels are the same size and the clowns don't put up with their harassment.
Maybe next time try buying some bigger clowns.
And my 2 cents.... I feed once a day.
 
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