new clownfish question

scott270

scott270

Active Member
I just got a mated pair of false perculas and they don't seem to take to my flake food. I am using prime reef flake the I got at the lfs and I also got the fish from the same place. Is this normal? They just swim up to the food and turn away or spit it out. Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated.
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
My clowns have always eaten flake foods. Sometimes they're a little picky about exactly which flake to eat, but they do get their fill. Give it some time, and also try some brine shrimp. Frozen or live will work fine.
 
scott270

scott270

Active Member
I'm hoping he will take to the flake. The lfs said it should be fine. What type of pellets do you use?
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Flake is okay as long as that's not their only food. You should offer a variety of food and some claim that garlic helps entice feeding. Try this stuff, it's suposed to be great
http://www.***********.com/IMD/150/ON6115.jpg
 
scott270

scott270

Active Member
Well I'm sorry to say that the bigger one of the two did not make it overnight. The other one is still not taking to the flakes. Level were at 0, but now the trites are at .2. What should I do.
 
dawman

dawman

Active Member
How old is your tank set up ? How did you acclimate the fish ?
As for feeding the clowns , when I buy fish I ALWAYS ask what they fed them and ask them to feed the fish I want to buy and see how the fish react . Also possible your LFS just received the clowns and they didn`t get a chance to settle down before you bought them . It is a good idea to find out what day[strike] your LFS get their fish shipments in . I will go in the day of shipment and see what they received . Then come back a few days later to buy them .[/strike]
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by scott270
Well I'm sorry to say that the bigger one of the two did not make it overnight. The other one is still not taking to the flakes. Level were at 0, but now the trites are at .2. What should I do.
I'm assuming you removed the fish. You should do a series of water changes to reduce your trites.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by scott270
I just got a mated pair of false perculas and they don't seem to take to my flake food.
Don't feed them for a few days. Feeding them will just stress them out and foul the water.
Flaked food is a terrible idea for saltwater tanks. Get some good frozen Mysis Shrimp or blend your own food.
 
scott270

scott270

Active Member
Thanks for the help. I got some formula one frozen cubes and he did not take to that either. I will wait it out and try to feed again tomorrow. My lfs told be to use turbo start to help the trites. What do you think about this? And yes I removed the dead fish.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by scott270
Thanks for the help. I got some formula one frozen cubes and he did not take to that either. I will wait it out and try to feed again tomorrow. My lfs told be to use turbo start to help the trites. What do you think about this? And yes I removed the dead fish.
Nitrite is totally harmless at that level but it does indicate that the biological filtration has taken a hit from something. My guess is that the tank is young and still a bit unstable and the feeding of Clownfish added some excess nutrients because they didn't actually eat the food.
Clownfish are the most territorial fish I can think of. As a result they become extremely stressed when moved from one home to another. They will rarely eat after being moved, at least not for a few days.
 
gravs42

gravs42

New Member
I'm pretty new at this too, but my first fish was a clownfish (his name is scarface due to a huge ordeal with the LFS) and he was doing the same thing that you said, running to the flake food like he was starving but then spit it out. I got some frozen brine to try from the LFS and he went crazy and ate it all up. Tried the frozen mysis afterwards and he likes that too, but seems to prefer the brine, so I feed him one in the morning and one in the evening and he is going strong for a month now!
 
scott270

scott270

Active Member
Originally Posted by scott270
I did what I could, but the other one was dead this morning.

I tried
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top