feeding o clowns

[pspiegel]

I just got a pair of o clowns for my 14 gallon nano-cube.. they have been in for just a day and look fairly well acclimated (swimming all around), i figured i would give it a shot and feed them some prime reef flakes.. they kind of were interested in it, but not interested enough to swallow any..

i know it is just the second day of having them so it might be a little soon to feed them, but I was wondering if there is any reason that prime reef would not be something they would want? they seem to not really know what to do with it and just flutter around the flakes, and bite at them and miss.. they look very young since they are quite small, so i was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to encourage them to eat or any other product to try?

thanks!

 

[roka64]

I'm not sure of two of them will be happey in that size tank, once they get bigger. I found that my clown didn't like flakes, either. What was the LFS feeding them? I have found that some fish won't eat off the surface or bottom, only in the water column. Have you tried feeding them brine/mysis soaked in garlic? I have found that to be a great stimulator and it also helps to boost their immune systems.

 

[pspiegel]

not sure what the lfs was feeding them.. i will have to ask, i haven't tried brine/mysis yet, i will pick some up later on.. would frozen food work well?

what type of clown would you think to be right for this size tank? also, i am wondering if these clowns are actually not percula and more likely Ocellaris.. they have two full bands, but a very thin black strip around the bands, not as thick as the perculas i have seen on the web..

is there an easy way to tell which type it is? i know an ocellaris might be a bit better choice for this small of a tank..

 

[roka64]

Brine and mysis are frozen, shrimp, sorry, I should have been more specific. I soak mine in garlic/zoe/selcon, for added nutrience, for around 30 minutes. The Percula tends to have thicker black outline around it's stripes, the O clown's should be really thin.

 

[pspiegel]

Brine and mysis are frozen, shrimp, sorry, I should have been more specific. I soak mine in garlic/zoe/selcon, for added nutrience, for around 30 minutes. The Percula tends to have thicker black outline around it's stripes, the O clown's should be really thin.

thanks! i will grab some later today, attached is the best pic i can get of one of them.. they were swimming around too fast to get the camera to focus on them well.. let me know what type you think it is if you dont mind!

 

[roka64]

Looks like an O. Clown to me. The percula's black stripes look like the black is bleeding into the orange.

 

[blazeyreef]

it does looks like a oc, but its almost yellow and usually false percs. are a more yellow arnt they?

 

[roka64]

I agree, but it could be the lighting. Here is a True Percula from livceaquaria.com, the black stripes are very pronounced. Now there may be a difference between juveniles and mature ones, of that I am not sure.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=142&N=0

 

[blazeyreef]

wow you are right! you can really tell the Diff.

 

[pspiegel]

i use to have a true perc so i figured that when they said it was a percula that it was probably more likely an O clown.. it is rather yellow, almost a tangerine color

is an o clown a better fit for my size tank? it does seem like it is a young one though based on the size

 

[roka64]

Are you planning on upgrading? If not, it might even be a streach to have two in there. You may want to post in the Nano subforum, those folks have more experience in keeping nanos and other suggestions.

 

[pspiegel]

not going to be upgrading for a bit, eventually I will be though...

just got some vita chem, brine, and garlic extreme.. hopefully they will like it!

EDIT: just fed them.. they arent too interested in it, they kind of bite at it and spit it out, it's almost as if they don't know what to do with it.. any ideas?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

1. It's an O. Clown, for sure.

2. My O.Clown devours mysis (not brine) shrimp (thawed in aquarium water, no garlic/selcon/etc.), and sucks up the Formula One "small" pellets, and does eat the Prime Reef flakes also. But the flakes are by far it's least favorite, although he seems to suck those up pretty good too. I found you have to pulverize those flakes into pretty small bite-size pieces and dunk them under the surface to get them into the water column.

After about 2 weeks of getting used to me though, my O.Clown now comes to the surface and pretty much pulls the food out of my fingers and will eat the pulverized flakes off the surface. Yours probably will too once they settle in.

 

[pspiegel]

have you tried brine shrimp at all? do they not like them?

 

[Guest]

Absolutely O clown.

I agree that your tank is to small. Have you ever seen them full grown? They actually get decent size from young and thick too.

My clowns would eat me if they could. I have alot of foods such as Omega 1 pellets, flakes, Mysid, ,zooplankton, cyclopseeze(spelling).....and they have eaten every single thing.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I haven't tried brine shrimp. From what I've heard/read, they don't have much nutritional value by themselves.

When I bought mine from the fish store, I asked what they'd been feeding them. They said a mixture of mysis/bloodworms/clams. I've tried bloodworms by themselves, and he just picks at them a little. Even mixed up with the mysis shrimp, he'll go around and just pick out the mysis shrimp! The clams (frozen bits) were too big for him, but even chopped up smaller he just sucked them up and then promptly spit them back out.

My feeding routine is...

Day One - frozen mysis
Day Two - Formula One small pellet
Day Three - frozen mysis
Day Four - Prime Reef flake

... and repeat back from the beginning. I feed once a day, in the evening. I'd like to cut it back to once every other day, but think I'll hold off on that until he gets adjusted to his new bigger tank as he just moved in from the initial QT. He's a big pig, but then I hear most clowns are.

 

[roka64]

Did you soak for 30 mins? Also, use exactly what the garlic container tells you. If you put in too much, I have read it will confuse them.

 

[tecwzrd]

I've fed my fish everything from flake to frozen to homemade blended concoctions but over all they always dig into Marine Cuisine which your lfs should sell.

I'd thaw your frozen food in a small cup of tank water and drain before adding. You can feed every day or every other day but I'd limit the amount to what they will eat within 2-3 minutes. Anymore and it will go to waste and foul up your small tank. For two young clowns ¼ a cube every other day should be adequate.

Do you have a clean up crew that will eat any leftovers like hermits/snails?