Fish not eating

[cre]

I am a new salt water tank owner. I have 2 clown fish and three damsels in a 72 gallon tank that has 40 lbs of live rock.. The tank has been up for about 3 weeks. My fish seem to hide a lot and don't seem to eat.. I have only had them for 3 days now.. Is it normal to do this? The reason I ask it because I have not seen one of my fish in 24 hours!!

 

[adrian]

Have you tested the water quality, ammonia, nitrtite, nitrate and salinity? Its normal for new fish to not eat the first couple of days after being introduced while they get familiar with their new enviroment, you should always make sure the fish is eating prior to purchase though. HTH

 

[drkegel]

It could be an "acclimation period", but I think it is something else.
I did this same thing on my first set-up. I had damsels and clowns in my tank. My damsels would eat, my clowns would not. I lost 3 clowns before I removed the damsels. After removing the damsels, I didn't lose any more clowns.
Damsels are very terretorial and do not like other tank inhabitants, in general. They will attack fish larger than them, and other damsels.
If you want to keep the damsels, consider making the tank a damsel only tank. If you want to keep the clowns, I would definitely remove the damsels.
Damsels are very tough fish. There is one member who posted in another link that he hasn't fed his damsel in 5 months and its still alive! I don't think you can safely say the same thing about a clown.