maroon clown color fade

[deepseadan1]

I have a 55gal, with a marron clown. Ihave several other fish, but he is the more agressive out of the bunch.Its a young tank, only 2 months. I added him on fathers day. He was a brightly colored, beautiful fish, but now he is fading. All of his tankmates are fine. What could cause this? I have added trace elements and an anemone.

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by deepseadan1 http:///forum/thread/386653/maroon-clown-color-fade#post_3397428
I have a 55gal, with a marron clown. Ihave several other fish, but he is the more agressive out of the bunch.Its a young tank, only 2 months. I added him on fathers day. He was a brightly colored, beautiful fish, but now he is fading. All of his tankmates are fine. What could cause this? I have added trace elements and an anemone.
Welcome to the site

First - what trace elements are you adding AND what test kits/testing are you doing before adding anything to the tank??? Also list any buffers or things that you add to the tank, and what salt mix are you using? Please post tank water stats too, listing only what you can test for.
As far as color fading, my large female maroon clown is more than 8 years old, and almost 4" long - but is very very dark

 

[deepseadan1]

Thank you for such a peompt responce. I just started using Marine Trace trace elements two days ago.Seachem reef buffer, Instant Ocean sea salt. I dont have a complete test kit. The only test equipt I have is salinity and ph. I have a close friend who has been a part of the hobby for a while and he tests my water for me, and said everything was good. He works at Aquarium Outfitters pet store and has a beautiful reef, so I trust his opinion. My salinity is on the high side of 24, and my ph is at 8.4 Fresh 30% water change yesterday and small live rock addition, but noticed the problem 4 days ago. Should I put him in a quarintine tank? I read that it may be itch, what do you think?

 

[tangs rule]

I/O sea salt is pretty good, so there is really no need to add buffers, unless you have a hungry reef that consumes lots of trace elements - so I'd not add any buffers or supplements for a while.
As far as the fish having ich - please look very closely at him and verify what is is prior to putting it in qtine and doing anything rash.
Also a poor diet can cause color fade - so what are you feeding?

 

[siptang]

also if you just put the rocks in, your water quality can turn bad real quick, keep your eye on it. It may have stressed out the fish.
Do another check on the water parameters because something is making that fish upset.

 

[deepseadan1]

i was feeding formula 1 amd micis, but the micis was left out so I threw it away. I give them half a cube everyday of f1..i was also feedind a cube of rotifords every other day, but my mandarin died so i stoppped.I have allready qtined the clown and began treatment with quick cure.. i chech water every morning. this morning the ph was8.2 and salinity is..24

 

[siptang]

Good job on staying on top of the clown. Quick cure is what I use for ich as well however, I feel that it may not be ich. Does it scratch itself on the rocks or on sand bed constantly ?
Do you see small grain like white dots on his body?
what about other water parameters?
Nitrites
Nitrates
Ammonia

 

[deepseadan1]

i just returned from pet shop, had water im main and qtine tested,,both have zero amonia, nitrites,and nitrates..ph is 8.2... i saw 1 or 2 small spots, but most of the issues are color fade.. the black out line on dorsal and anal fin fave disapeared, and what black is in the fins is now gray. he is eating but not like he sould. i was wondering if the anemone my not be accepting him. i have a condy, i have heard of a few sucess stories as far as hosting but also heard from owner of pet store that they wont host..the clown has was trying tp host it, but maybe the condy was refusing and stinging him..only thing is i added the condy in hopes of that helping with the problem in question..idk just a shot in the dark, forgive me im new at this.

 

[tangs rule]

I would feed him some PE mysis or san franscisco bay brand mysis, along with some marine cusine (both frozen and most lfs or even ***** carries) . Also - my maroon does not care for foumula 1, but loves marine cusine & all brands of small mysis
as far as anemones go - mine goes for a bubble tip - I'd be suprised to find a maroon clown in a condy, as the condy anemone comes from Caribbean and Western Atlantic waters, while the fish is western Pacific Ocean in origin. I'm not saying a maroon clown will never host in one, it's just not their natural host anemone. The bubble tip would be better, but is a pretty sensitive creature, requiring a very established tank and good light.

 

[deepseadan1]

I have heard that the condy wont host the maroon, but my maroon loves it. It looks like he is trying to rape it. Im just not so sure how much the condy likes the fish. Im going to get him some better food. He likes formula 1 but I do need to get him some good stuff. Thanks for all your help and advice. You have been more help then alot of people i know. I took the fish to let the pet shop manager look at today. He looks a little better, but Im going to continue treatment for a few more days.

 

[swisswiss]

fathers day as in june?, he might still be getting use to the tank and is stressed.
http://www.freefishfacts.com/Effective-Advice-On-Fish-Losing-Colour.html