Having trouble with clarkii clown

jisushika

jisushika

Member
I've had a clarkii (saeba) clownfish for almost 6 months and up until now he was eating and swimming fine. Now all he does is hang out at the very top corner in the back of the tank and won't eat anything. Prior to this he did have popeye. I did a large water change and made sure everything was clean and medicated the water. His eye was starting to get better but it has not fully recovered. He won't eat anything I give him and I tried live food and flakes. Is there anything else I can do for him?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jisushika
I've had a clarkii (saeba) clownfish for almost 6 months and up until now he was eating and swimming fine. Now all he does is hang out at the very top corner in the back of the tank and won't eat anything. Prior to this he did have popeye. I did a large water change and made sure everything was clean and medicated the water. His eye was starting to get better but it has not fully recovered. He won't eat anything I give him and I tried live food and flakes. Is there anything else I can do for him?
What medication did you add to the tank? What are your exact parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, kh, sg, and temp? What kind of live food did you try? Pick up some frozen formula foods, dose them in vitamines and fresh garlic. Flakes will not help him at all. What other fish are in with him? Any new additions? What sized tank is this?
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
The tank is a 40 gal. Ammonia, nitrite nitrate are all 0. Ph is 8.0, salinity, 1.023 with temperature at 80. I tried feeding him live brine shrimp. The only other fish I have in with him is a velvet blue damsel but I've had him for almost a year and he's never been aggressive towards the clown.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jisushika
The tank is a 40 gal. Ammonia, nitrite nitrate are all 0. Ph is 8.0, salinity, 1.023 with temperature at 80. I tried feeding him live brine shrimp. The only other fish I have in with him is a velvet blue damsel but I've had him for almost a year and he's never been aggressive towards the clown.
Check again when the fish does not notice you looking. Sneak into the room and stay away from the tank and just watch. I am willing to bet that the damsel is harassing your clarkii.
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
Thats what I thought at first but these two have been in a 25 gal before and the damsel never bothered the clownfish. I moved them into the 40 gal and after a week the clown started going in the corner. I did observe them from farther away and the clownfish never moves, he even sleeps up there. I did have a saebe anemone that the clown liked a lot but unfortunately, it didn't survive the move. Does the clown just miss the anemone? Or feels like he doesn't have a safe place anymore?
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
It's been setup for about a month and a half, but I took all the live rock and live sand from the old tank and a lot of the water, and waited a couple weeks. I would have waited longer but I had all my fish and inverts in a 10 gal while I was doing the move, I made sure the water parameters were good first before I put them in.
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
yep I got the diatom algae and I tested the water numerous times. All my shrimp, starfish and snails are fine, I thought they were more sensitive to water than the clownfish? So I thought if anything would die it would be the inverts first.
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
I have a coralife double light power compact fixture with a 96 watt (10,000 K) actinic and a 96 watt hyper white.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
I realy do not think that the lack of anemone is the issue with this clown. Do you still have the ten gallon set up? I you do then acclimate him back into there. If he perks up in a few days then something in the 40 is bothering him. I do not think that this is a water issue being that all of your other inhabitants are doing well. Do you notice any tears in his fins?
 
jisushika

jisushika

Member
I don't see any signs of aggression, no tears on his fins or anything. I did notice some black smudges on his bottom fins before I moved him, not really spots but just big smudges, like he got ink on him or something
 
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