my little Nemo

[pumpkin_52483]

ok well i am sure that everyone here has at least heard of the movie "finding Nemo". well i have become part of the craze i have had my 80 gallon tank since before the movie came out but just put water in it this last week and have added the biozyme, and a single percula, bc the place i went to only had one left. needless to say he is my cycler fish and i am pick up another one on tuesday, bc i know that they do better in pairs. it is a marine tank only no live rock. ok now for my actual question... i put him in today, and when i first put him in he seemed to do fine. now as it got darker he became less active and is down all the way at the bottom. i fed him and he ate. so i guess that is a good thing. is it normal for him to go to the bottom when it gets dark. i do not have alight on him at the moment bc i have to replace the bulb. any help would be wondeful.
thanks

 

[neah84]

you said that you just put the water in your tank. i put my clown in about 4 months after my cycle and she just chills alot but is doing great. clown fish are not the best fish to cycle a tank with. it causes alot of stress to them. also since u just put him in, it could take him a few days to feel comfortable with its surroundings. mine took a while but now swims throughout the tank. just give him some time to get use to the surroundings and he should be swimming around just fine. unless its too stressed from the cycle....gl with him

 

[pumpkin_52483]

thanks for the info. the person that is helping me set this tank up has had the same tank with the same fish in it for the past 4 years. he knows what he is talking about. i put the water in the tank on tuesday, and the fish in today. i think i will also be better when i get another one in there with it, and it is also tank raised whichi know is a little hardier than wild caught., again thank you for the info, it helped alot.

 

[jrein40806]

Your friend gave you bad information. I don't care if he has had a tank for 40 years. People on here get mad for using damsels to cycle tanks with.You are cycling with a clown? That is horrible

 

[lionstorm]

Yes your friend is giving you faulty information. You cannot mix the saltwater up and toss in a fish without letting the tank establish itself first. Do you have any understanding of a little thing your friend might have forgotten to mention known as "The Nitrogen Cycle" ?
Please, please, PLEASE return your clownfish to the store if you can.
Also adding another will NOT make things better, clown fish often attack one another unless they are a mated pair and you don't even have any live rock in your tank yet, so there's no way that they could pair because the female clown will beat the male senseless and he won't have anywhere to hide!
Please take your fish out and use a frozen dead shrimp to cycle, I realize that you are impatient but I can, as well as many other people on this board, almost surely guarantee that your clownfish isn't going to live through the cycle.
You must be patient.
If there is no way you can take the clownfish back then I suggest this:
If your friend has an aquarium that's been set up for 4 years and its salt water what you should do is see if he has any crushed coral or anything with beneficial bactera on it that you can borrow and seed your tank with, this might help your Clownfish survive. Without that bacteria though, he's a gonner.

 

[pumpkin_52483]

ok well it is not that i am impaitent!!! i have had everything checked and all of my levels are fine, and i do have crushed coral in the tank instead of LR/LS. he seems to being fine, and i could not put him in my friends tank bc his lion would eat him. so thank you for the info but i am going to keep him and i think he will be fine. btw i forgot to mention that i work at petsmart, and have for the past year, in the specialty deptarment, which is all of the animals, fish, reptiles, birds, and small animals.

 

[austinreef]

I would really doubt your levels are fine after only a week. Just a hunch

 

[pumpkin_52483]

would you like to come over here and check them for your self. i infact just tested the water yesterday, and it was all in normal range. so unless you would like to check it for me i think i am ok

 

[jenni1979]

Poor little fishy.

 

[jrein40806]

I could take a new tank,doesn't matter what size,fill it with RO/DI water,and test it. Of course the levels will all come up as 0's.
The ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate levels WILL all rise when ammonia from the clowns waste is introduced into the tank.There isn't any benficial bacteria to break the ammonia down to nitries and then to nitrates.
Maybe you should look for a different job. You are 100% wrong. I feel bad for all the clownfish after the Nemo movie has been out.What a waste

 

[clownfish2]

I just wonder how many Clownfish species have died on count of that movie.

 

[bentrue]

it is very true that your levels will look great until ammonia is introduced into the tank from the waste of your clown, or the frozen shrimp that tangs mentioned.
do you plan on getting live rock for your tank? also, it would be good for you to search on this site to get information on crushed coral vs. live sand. most will tell you that live sand will be better for you in the long run because it will become part of your filtration. the crushed coral beds usually become nitrate traps which, over time, will throw your water levels off. i started with crushed coral also, but switched to live sand very early in the life of my tank. easier to switch at the beginning in my opinion.
hope that helps, and don't be discouraged from the negative responses. this board has helped me and hundreds of others quite a bit.

 

[fishy88]

a clown can cycle a tank. people use damsels because they are cheap and hardy. clowns are as hardy as damsels. if he cycles with a clown it might die but so would a damsel just a clown is $15 and a damsel is $4.

 

[sinner's girl]

ok, so the clown may live through the cycle, however, your levels will not stay "fine". ammonia will be introduce into the tank from the clown, this can be harmful to fish. Here at swf.com we'd rather use dead raw shrimp, lr or ls to cycle our tanks. fish get stress and/or die from the cycle.
btw, keeping the lights off will reduce the stress on the fish.
to your actual question:
"as it got darker he became less active" this is fine, fish 'sleep' too.
"it normal for him to go to the bottom when it gets dark" do you have anything for the fish to hide behind? base rock? tacky fw decorations? pvc? if not, add something. shortly after lights out, my fish go behind the lr and 'sleep', shortly before lights on they come out.
good luck, people will give you lots of great adivce if you listen, and there is no need to get defensive when people are just trying to help you and the fish. many here have learn from thier mistakes and try to prevents others from making the same mistake.
Clownfish2~it was the same with dalmations (sp) after the first movie came out, we went to a few lfs a few weeks ago, didn't see one clownfish...
"a clown can cycle a tank" and I can drive home with my eyes closed...by why take the chance? any fish will cycle a tank b/c they produce ammonia, but
dead shrimp is much, much cheaper than $4 damsel...if you go to wal-mart and ask for a salad shrimp they'll just give it to you

 

[nm reef]

Everybody take a deep breath and calm down...no need to circle the wagons here!!!
This forum is set up for this exact reason...to offer help/experience for those new to the hobby.
I would urge you to step back just a sec and take a closer look at your process so far. You have just set up a marine system that "should" be allowed to cycle and become stable "before" you add your fish. There are numerous ways to initiate this cycle process...but whatever means you use you need to understand that the process of cycling a new system involves toxic levels of ammonia followed by equally toxic levels of nitrite...both could damage or even kill your percula. Myself I'd let the system cycle free of fish ... then slowly add livestock. Just to provide a source of info for you to refrence as you progress check out this link
Reefkeeping 101
Best of luck as you develope you personal slice of the ocean...and don't hesitate to ask questions as you progress.
before I forget my manners:

To The Forum...and good luck.

NMREEF website
“Whiskey for my men...beer for my horses.”
nmreef@cox.net

 

[birdy]

Whew! easy there kids! I've got some tar and Feathers! J/k
You have done nothing wrong, there are just better ways of doing things. Try not to get too defesive many of us here have done many things wrong in fact I am sure there is no one here who wouldn't change the way they have done something with their tank. The key here is that you came here looking for help and that is a good thing. I would recommend you putting even a few pieces of LR in your tank it will make your fish much happier. Just be aware you may loose your clownfish due to the tank cycling. Good luck and
WELCOME!!
Carla

 

[firefishspike]

Everything will stress now and then, even you borders on here.....a clown can cycle any tank usually without a problem considering that the tank owner doesn't do anything uncalled for...
I have never had a problem with two clowns in the same tank, just add two small ones, they'll decide who'll be female and so on.... just make sure they're the same type of clown....
Go get some lr and lights for your tank, it'll make your fish more comfy and feel more at home, don't touch the anemones yet though if you're thinking about it...they won't survive
take it slowly, read actual and reliable literature about fish keeping then go ask for opinions, best way to do it is by learning yourself
good luck, keep the clown, gurantee he'll be alive when cycle is over

 

[jenni1979]

Actually the clown might not make it. I waited a month before I put in two damels and I lost one because my tank wasn't fully cycle. After reading everyones comments I think it is wrong to go that to fish. I would never cycle with damsels again. I have heard that you can use molleys. I am not sure if that is any safer or if they will live. When I did it, all I was trying to do was put something into my tank that I could see if it lives or not before I add more expensive fish. After only a week of having the tank up and putting the clown is is wrong and a waste of live of a beautiful fish.

 

[firefishspike]

I've never had any die on me, are you sure it wasn't a prior problem before you bought the damsels?? Eh, my exp your exp, we all have different exp....

 

[angelap]

I just wanted to say that I cycled my first tank with 3 damsels and my 2nd tank with 2 dead shrimp. The 2nd tank cycled twice as fast. Everyone here is giving you great advise but utlimately it is your choice. Welcome to the board and I hope you have fun with you new tank and enjoy it for years to come!
Angela