New clowns acting strange this A.M., not eating anymore WITH PICS

kemfish

Member
I have two juvenile Ocellaris clowns (about 1 inch) and have had them for 3 days now. The first two days went great, they are my only fish so I added them to the main tank (don't plan on adding more fish). They are in a 29 gallon set up, my tank has cycled, all that good stuff. The last two days they have been eating well (we have freeze dried brine shrimp, which I put in a seperate container of the tanks water and then feed them small amounts of at a time as to avoid over feeding). This morning when I woke up, one clown(Calvin) is swimming just below the top of the tank(about 1 inch from the surface), and the other(Calypso) appears to be hosting the bottom of the tank. I went about the normal morning rituals, testing the tank, checking the specific gravirty (1.024), temp 80F. I prepared the food for my little ones, thinking maybe the one is at the top waiting to be fed, but neither of them came to eat. They have both just stayed in the same locations all morning. After reading some similar threads on this site, I turned down my filter to slow the current in the tank (many people were advised to do so) but after a few hours, still no change. Am I too anxious? What is going on with them? The last two days they have swam together all over the tank, just following one another, now today they are as seperated as can be, won't leave their location, won't feed...
*update*
I turned the light off to try and get a decent picture of Calvin at the top of the tank, and as soon as I did he started swimming around the middle of the tank, back to the top, down again, etc, which is more "normal" for what they have been doing, but as soon as I turned the light on, he is back to staying that the top of the tank. He only drops maybe 2 inches from the surface then returns. He is not gasping for air, has a normal breathing pattern, etc, just seems to like the light? Anyone ever seen or dealt with this? I am more concerned about this one at the top then the one that appears to be hosting at the bottom... adding some pictures.
Here is Calypso(at the bottom of the tank). She started moving a little when I brought the camera near, they were captive bred and tend to be interested in people.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/393663_10151022082080297_530270296_22174139_15033738_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/390582_10151022081070297_530270296_22174129_1124268318_n.jpg
And here is Calvin and his weird ritual this morning, many more pics of him to show his behavior, first with lights...
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/385973_10151022078425297_530270296_22174117_1712873190_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/390014_10151022078010297_530270296_22174114_1421133601_n.jpg
now without light...
2078965297_530270296_22174121_861208385_n.jpg">https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377894_10151022078965297_530270296_22174121_861208385_n.jpg
and as soon as I turn the light back on...
heading to the top
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388934_10151022079350297_530270296_22174123_420447124_n.jpg
back at the top
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/390603_10151022079485297_530270296_22174124_1011941616_n.jpg
Sorry for all the links, it won't let me HTML, and it says I don't have permission to add photos =/
 

btldreef

Moderator
I wouldn't be too concerned if they've eaten in past days. Just keep an eye on them. You might actually be feeding them too much. Young clowns don't really need to be fed every day.
When they're still young, they'll swim together, then apart, then together again, etc. Eventually they'll bond and really won't leave each others side.
What have you been attempting to feed?
What are your water readings? (nitrates, ammonia, nitrite, pH)
Just continue to observe them, but I wouldn't be too worried about one day of not eating.
 

kemfish

Member
nitrate-0
ammonia- 0
nitrite-0
pH- 8.1
I will decrease the feeding, hopefully thats all it is and they will be fine. They have been eating Hikari Bio-Pure FD- freeze dried brine shrimp. On the first day I stupidly put the entire cube in the tank, to discover that it was WAY too much, so I scooped what they didn't eat out of the tank after about 5 minutes, and then yesterday got a small container of water from the tank and let the cube soak in it, then pulled out small portions for the fish and put that in the tank rather than the whole cube. They ate fine both of those ways and both days, so I went with the same feeding today of just putting some in from the seperate container, but they didn't react to food being in the tank. I may try some others, but as of now that is all I have done the last two days. I also plan to go back to the LFS tonight and find out exactly what they were feeding them there, as they didn't say, just said they were already eating from the shipment when I asked about it.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Try Mysis shrimp instead of Brine. Brine is like potato chips, it fills them up, but has very little nutritional value. It's okay as a treat, but don't make it their main diet.
If they've very small, you can also try Cyclopeez, and Reef Nutrition TiggerFeast (new, not many stores have it yet. It's their live tigger pods in dead form, and is more concentrated) and ArctiFeast (dead arctipods, my fish go nuts for them).
It's best to feed your fish a variety of foods instead of just one.
 

kemfish

Member
Ok, thanks for the ideas to try. I will look for a better diet for them tonight at the LFS in the area and see what we can come up with that is better than potato chips :) I'll take the list of what you gave me and hopefully find one or more of them to try.
 

luvmyreef

Active Member
My clowns go nuts over reef plankton when I give it to the anthias!!! Try some of it too. The frozen kind.
 

kemfish

Member
Ok, we are in the prepworks for getting new clowns, we lost those two the same night I posted this... currently we have frozen and feeze dried brine (potato chips), frozen mysis shrimp, and some formula two. I am going to see if we can find the Cyclopeez and Reef Nutrition TiggerFeast when we go to the fish store tomorrow night. We have totally redone our tank, new filter, live sand and rock, etc...so hopefully things will go better. Bought a better test kit too!
 
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