Worried 'bout my Percula

[frink]

So I get this percula clown about 2 weeks ago and for the first five days he does not eat no matter what I fed it. Finally he started feeding about a week ago, but only 1 or 2 very small pieces of mysis at most. Now it seems that he is starting to loose his brightness and turn brown in patches. I wouldn't say that I see brown spots, just darkening in some areas. His swimming seems labored as well. He is always on the same corner of the tank from when I first put him in. Right now he is with 3 cardinalfish that are just a bit bigger than him. I don't notice any bullying going on. Also have a colt coral, mushrooms, button polyps, 2 cleaner shrimps, various snails and hermits. NH4, NO2, NO3 are all 0 or very close. pH is 8.3, temp at 78, salt at 1.024.
Any suggestions

 

[beth]

Well, he could have a bacterial infection. Do you have a hospital tank?

 

[frink]

It is not setup. Have supplies to do it though

 

[beth]

How did he look when you got him? Notice any deterioation of fins?
Now might be the right time to get the hospital up. However, I've seen this same type problem with clowns and no matter, they seem to slowly fade, then die.
Don't add any fish to the tank until this is resolved one way or the other.
Was this fish in a tank with an anemone by change? Do you know if it is tank raised?

 

[frink]

Hey Beth,
He looked great when I got him. And the fins look okay. He just has a gradual darkening over 50 percent of his body. He was in a tank with an anemone at the LFS and yes, it is tank raised. Oh, I forgot to mention it in the original post but I also have a condy anemone. Don't know if this has anything to do with it, but one time when the lights were out, I noticed my perc slowing moving close to the anemone and then he just took off the other way like he got stung. Thats all I can say.

 

[beth]

Well, condys aren't HOST anemones, but they are commonly used by clowns. Frankly I haven't seen that the condy likes the intrusion much.
If it is a young clown, darkening might just be a normal growing attribute. Clowns can really change in colors, even as adults.
Try getting a turkey baster and spot feeding all the fish. This clown may just be a bit put off by the boisterious other fish. Try using brine shrimp to coax the perc, mysis may just be a tad large [my clown doesn't go for it much]. Percs can get pretty friendly with people. Does he notice you at all when you come up to glass, or is he ignoring you? Does he try to get into the anemone anymore?
You might also try another HOST, such as anthelia or xenia. My clown loves this as a host, and they are pretty hardy. You could also trade your condy for a real host that is specific to percs.

 

[beth]

Oh, and, by chance, is it possible that the perc you got was mated with another clown that you inadvertantly separated it from at the LFS?? Clowns are real "family" fish, and mates are important once they are established.