Clowns Acting wierd

[flighter x]

Hi im new to Saltwater tanks and everything to do with it. basically i got a new tank started it all up not completely sure the nitrogen cycle is complete. but been left there standing just over 3 weeks with pump and air bubbles flowing.
So Yesterday i went out a baught 1 blue tang, and 2 nemo clownfish, small ones about less then an inch.
one is slightly bigger then the other. All day the blue tang has been fine and last night swimming around all happy and all the tank, no signs of stress or frightened. But however the 2 Clownfish hide by this tree and i have a small pebble under it. they like to stay about 2 mm from the sand. the big one will go out and explore the tank every 1 hour or so. but the smaller one swims vertical, flapping its fins rather fast, now i dont know if its normal or what, weather he is too small and struggling to swim, there isnt much current either. but now about 2 hours ago, he is like trying to lay flat on a rock, trying to sit down, but cant stay on the pebble upright. the big one wont move and swims around him, like he defending him from anything that comes near. my water is rather warm at 90F becuase its hot here in uk today, and salt levels mb a tiny bit low but nothing of scale, pinch to less. but the tang is fine. eats all time, havent seen clowns eat once.
Cheers for reading like i said new to saltwater, dunno how these behave, cant see him stressing out becuase he does fall of rock every now then and try once agen to sit on it.
Cheers for any help and just hit me with everything, bad news i wanna know my mistakes.

 

[fishfatty]

Well
1) you should be POSITIVE that your cycle was over before even thinking about adding any fish.
2) 90 degrees is WAYY to hot for any fish! Try a fan on top of the tank.
What size tank do you have? How long has it been set up?

 

[flighter x]

90F. 30C. and its about 50 litres. they aint big fish, shop said it fine, but my shop seem to just want ur money. they more then enuff space it seems if i was them. but it just seems he trying to rest on rock. been set up about 3 half weeks.
im probably making mistakes but im learning, and ill guess ill have to see how it goes. but the tang seems 100% thats wat i dont understand. he swims about 10miles in 1 minute it seems. and eats all time.

 

[rkmayphd]

You likely did not start your cycle until the addition of the fish. You need something biological (food, waste, otehr decaying bio matter, etc). Your fish are probably extremely stresseed from high ammonia levels and the extremely hot temp.
The clowns are fairly hardy, and may weather this. The tang however will prbably not make it. You should try and take all fish back to your local fish store until your water levels are ok. Read other threads about the cycle- ammonia->nitrite->nitrate->
Remember everyone is a newbie when they start. It pays to do research and ask alot of questions before you do anything.
Hope this helps.

 

[fishfatty]

Do you have live rock? Just 411- you shouldnt buy 3 fish at one time.... its a huge increase in your bioload! Not trying to be mean or anything... And i really think you should lower your temperature...

 

[flighter x]

my ammonia reads 0. and i just turned the light off for 1min, the two clowns started swimming off and as soon as light came back on, went back to his rock, where he been all day. the tang seems fine tho, and like i said ive probably have made million mistakes here and no i have no life plants or live rock, my shop said none that is needed. just plastic ones will do. he swims fine aswell. but as i say he looks like he trying to rest, all i can do is wait and see what happens, if he makes it then i guess im the most dogiest saltwater newbie ever.
but cheers for your help and ill keep you updated on whats going on, but the tang seems to be loving it.

 

[meisacao]

I'm no expert, but I have been doing this for a little over a year. My first response to your fish store saying you didn't need anything like live rock of sand was a load of crap. You should get some live rock and sand it will help a great deal with the biological filtration and it is more of a natural enviornment for the fish. I don't like to put fake plants or fake anything for that matter in my tank. Others may disagree, but I feel that if you are keeping saltwater fish it is very important to keep your tank as close to their natural enviornment as possible. Get your temps down on the tank and maybe get some books and read through them to get as much information as you can before you start losing your fish.

 

[promisetbg]

A tank with no liverock or anything live has not cycled. This tank is less than 20 gallons correct?{ about 12 to be exact} Regardless of the size of the tang..it should NEVER be added to a new tank, or that small of a tank. Plastic plants are not suitable for a saltwater tank, and there should be no"air bubbles" in the tank. It sounds as though you have a freshwater set-up with marine fish in it. There is a huge difference between the two. I suggest first that you find a new shop to deal with...and second that you read up on keeping marine fish, and the proper set-up of a saltwater tank. If you would like..I will explain it to you.

 

[flighter x]

are you from uk? or usa, i dunno bout this site and shipping rocks and stuff but no shops near me have live rock. and anemone stuff. so every1 around here uses fake stuff. i know its probs not best thing to do, but thts how the shop bring em up to, so they prob never even seen live rock. all mines seen is a pebble from seaside. and seem to like to sit on it.

 

[fishfatty]

You can never completely trust a LFS!

 

[promisetbg]

At the very least the tank should have been cycled with a dead shrimp or something to insure the cycle was complete. Your ammonia is reading 0 because your cycle has'nt begun. I don't believe in all of the UK there is no such thing as LR. I have seen tanks from the UK...they had what looked like LR to me.

 

[flighter x]

Originally Posted by promisetbg
A tank with no liverock or anything live has not cycled. This tank is less than 20 gallons correct?{ about 12 to be exact} Regardless of the size of the tang..it should NEVER be added to a new tank, or that small of a tank. Plastic plants are not suitable for a saltwater tank, and there should be no"air bubbles" in the tank. It sounds as though you have a freshwater set-up with marine fish in it. There is a huge difference between the two. I suggest first that you find a new shop to deal with...and second that you read up on keeping marine fish, and the proper set-up of a saltwater tank. If you would like..I will explain it to you.
Yea if you like, would be great help, loads sites tell u totally different things. but i dont get it, if my tank is that bad why is the tang still swimming around like he owns the whole tank and showing no signs of stress or illness. wouldnt he bee feeling the side affects by now or will he keep going for few more days? and yea my tank small, but i dont beleve in tht 20 gall min stuff, the fish is the size my nail, he was in a 4litre tank at shops. from looks of it. with about 10 other nemos and 6 tangs.
if you can just explain what i need to do then ill be more then happy. but ive been reading on these forums ppl with all these wonderful tangs losing fish first night, i had mine more then day now and tang going fine, just the nemos are acting funny.

 

[flighter x]

Originally Posted by promisetbg
At the very least the tank should have been cycled with a dead shrimp or something to insure the cycle was complete. Your ammonia is reading 0 because your cycle has'nt begun. I don't believe in all of the UK there is no such thing as LR. I have seen tanks from the UK...they had what looked like LR to me.
there probs is shops that do it, but not in every town, and im only 17, i cant go traveling the country just for stones i can find in my back garden. lol i have never even seen live rock before, wat is it living rock or somming? if i had gd site some1 from uk uses then please tell me, but i can tell you now, usa destroys uk when coming to slatwater. trust me, unless ure rich and can travel far.

 

[meisacao]

If you can't buy live rock where you're from I recommend ordering it off the net if that's your only option. It's always easier when you can get it locally but you really need to get some regardless of whether it's shipped or not. Never trust just one fish store until you've been to several and dealt with each one a few times. I had a great fish store I thought, until six months in they sold me a chemical for my tank that killed all my live rock, snails, sand and anything else that wasn't a fish. A huge costly mistake!!!! Shop around. Get advice from more than one, some stores are just out for the money and killing your fish means you'll buy more.

 

[flighter x]

Originally Posted by meisacao
If you can't buy live rock where you're from I recommend ordering it off the net if that's your only option. It's always easier when you can get it locally but you really need to get some regardless of whether it's shipped or not. Never trust just one fish store until you've been to several and dealt with each one a few times. I had a great fish store I thought, until six months in they sold me a chemical for my tank that killed all my live rock, snails, sand and anything else that wasn't a fish. A huge costly mistake!!!! Shop around. Get advice from more than one, some stores are just out for the money and killing your fish means you'll buy more.
Thats what i probs doing wrong, and these fish here dont come cheap at all, Thanks to flaming finding nemo. ripped of, im not even gonna tell u the price i payed. but keep posting.

 

[promisetbg]

No tang should ever be put in a new unstable system..and this is what you have my friend.And regardless how you feel about about minimum tank size being incorrect..or what size tank he was in..he is not going to thrive in this tank. At a shop it is just a holding tank until he is purchased..he should be there no more than a week or so, so that does'nt count. Regardless..we could banter back and forth about it..and it does'nt matter. It is your tank, your choice. The clown may be ok..or could be stressing from the temperature. You could float a little ice in a plastic bag to lower the temp. Do you have A/C in your home? 90F is going to be too high..if this is going to be the norm. Do you have fans in the canopy? Or do you have one you could point in the direction of the tank?
When was the tank set up? Let's start there. What makes you think the tank cycled? Do you understand the nitrogen cycle? What type of water are you using? You do understand that the water will evaporate daily, but the salt will remain. So fresh water will have to be added daily to keep the SG. where it should be.

 

[promisetbg]

Live rock is not stones from your back yard. It is dead coral rock that has either been harvested from the ocean, or placed in the ocean for later harvest. It is full of the right kind of bacteria, and micro-organisms that the tank needs to cycle and process waste.

 

[flighter x]

Originally Posted by promisetbg
No tang should ever be put in a new unstable system..and this is what you have my friend.And regardless how you feel about about minimum tank size being incorrect..or what size tank he was in..he is not going to thrive in this tank. At a shop it is just a holding tank until he is purchased..he should be there no more than a week or so, so that does'nt count. Regardless..we could banter back and forth about it..and it does'nt matter. It is your tank, your choice. The clown may be ok..or could be stressing from the temperature. You could float a little ice in a plastic bag to lower the temp. Do you have A/C in your home? 90F is going to be too high..if this is going to be the norm. Do you have fans in the canopy? Or do you have one you could point in the direction of the tank?
When was the tank set up? Let's start there. What makes you think the tank cycled? Do you understand the nitrogen cycle? What type of water are you using? You do understand that the water will evaporate daily, but the salt will remain. So fresh water will have to be added daily to keep the SG. where it should be.
well my shop said just let everything in the tank run for 3-4 weeks, and my nitites level rose to 2, now its about 1, and my ammonia is 0 or mb slightly above, 0.25. water around 8.3, and salt is just below perfect,
still tho, answer my question about the tang, if its such a dosile fish, then why is he swimming around perfect, and he has been in the shop well over a week, beleve me, thy dont move em. and i know they dont becoz ive seen this big tang in like a 10l tank for month now. and how they survive i dunno, if wat u say is all neded. but these fish stay in there all time, dont get moved, been in there well over a month, 100% sure. and with no 5mm sand and plastic plant.

 

[jcarroll]

Hey guys, I just read this whole thread from the beginning and I mean no disrespect if I'm wrong, but I think this guys is just pulling all of your legs. If you read the whole thing, you'd probably feel the same way too. Waste of time if you ask me. I apologize to the thread starter if I'm wrong, but noone I know would just jump into it and not even know about the cycle and live rock, they'd atleast ask a FEW questions before starting a tank and this guy has asked none, which is apparent by the amount of his knowledge on the subject, so I'd say move on everyone.

 

[promisetbg]

I don't know the answer..but I hope that the tank has cycled and that he does make it. If the numbers rose and fell as you said, then maybe all is well. Maybe you are just overly concerned about the clowns...they are not a fish that stays still. They rarely do anyway...otherwise they kind of wag back and forth. That is normal. It took me awhile to get used to how clowns act in the beginning. I thought something was wrong with them because they never stayed still. Just watch your parameters very closely for the next few weeks, and be ready with a water change if you see any ammonia or nitrites. Phosphates can also become an issue, so be careful how much you feed. Do you have algae based food for the tang? Tangs are grazers, and with no LR I don't know what he will eat unless you give it to him. Do you have plans to upgrade when he outgrows this tank, or will you trade him out for another fish?