feeding o clowns - Aquarium Advice

pspiegel · 10-30-2006, 04:37 PM

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** · 10-30-2006, 04:54 PM

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 · 10-30-2006, 05:21 PM

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** · 10-30-2006, 05:30 PM

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 · 10-30-2006, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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** · 10-30-2006, 05:35 PM

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

blazeyreef · 10-30-2006, 05:43 PM

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

**roka64** · 10-30-2006, 05:57 PM

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/p...pcatid=142&N=0

blazeyreef · 10-30-2006, 05:59 PM

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

pspiegel · 10-30-2006, 07:05 PM

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