new fish

[dork_fish]

my tank 80g has finished cycling, tested the water and everything was spot on perfect. i have added a pseudochromis purpleback, true perc. clown, and sailfin tang....the only thing off in the testing was that my phosphates were way up as were the alkaline so the store personelle gave me a phos. reducer.
first quest....i'm assuming this is algea but all my white crushed rock on bottom of the tank is slowly (but pretty quickly) turning brown, as is the live rock. is this normal. is was just a little at first but now nearly the entire bottom has spread that way. should i be concerned or is that just because its a new set up??
Second quest....my clown, for 2 days now (since i added the sailfin) has been staying in the top corner along the water surface of the tank. is that normal? are they just getting used to each other or is that common of clownfish to spend hours / days in the same spot? all the fish have come in contact w/ each other and are doing well together but i dont know why the clown is "hiding" in the corner.
thanks for reading this novel, your response is appreciated.
Mike

 

[b0bby1]

both things are normal. im not sure if u do already, but a cleaning crew will get rid of most that algae. as for ur clown, he'll be fine, hes just gettin used to the tank with the sailfin in ther.

 

[dork_fish]

are you sure the clown fish thing is normal. i am getting worried that it is dying. it is sideways on the top of the water but still swimming or wiggling a bit. i tried to get it to move by butting the glass scrubber in the water but after it went back to the same spot and sideways again. do clowns swim at waterlevel sideways cause i've never seen anything like that and am very worried. is there anything i can do or just assume it's normal????

 

[greenwolf52]

clowns are not supposed to swim like that. my guess would be that it is dying. are you sure your tank was completely cycled? how long has it been set up?

 

[sfoister]

The diatom bloom you're getting is generally something that happens in the middle of the cycle.
Also, how did you acclimate your new arrivals?
It sounds like your clown's dying. Usually death so quickly is due to bad water conditions, PH shock, or improper acclimation.
Introducing a fish while your tank is still cycling can cause all of the above.

 

[dork_fish]

the water was tested at a SWF outlet so i know the water was fine. the acclimation was done in a bucket with a steady drip over about 45 minutes as instructed to do so. the clown is going after food and eating if i put food in there, but then goes right back to the top. the other fish (purpleback) is doing just fine and was put in the same way same time and everything.