Help please - Clown Fish

[lauren_88]

Hi there I have a few questions....

First question:
I added my first fish last week (2 common clowns) and one of the clown is attacking the other one. Not caused any damage but constantly chasing the other into a corner and at feeding time not letting the other one eat easily without chasing it back into the corner again. I have noticed them both 'shaking' at one another as well throughout the day. This bullying and shaking only started today before today they were fine swimming around together. I bought them at the same time from the same tank at my LFS and they are both juveniles.

Second question:
I bought some Rowaphos from my LFS yesterday and according to the instructions I need about 80ml (I have a RR94l) Just a quick question, my LFS advised that I put the Rowaphos in the bag provided and then put it in between 2 sponges. Is this necessary to put it in between the sponges or can it just be in the bag in one of the back chambers without sponges? Just wondering as may need to purchase some more sponges tomorrow if needed.
Also will the Rowaphos get rid of algae or just keep more from developing? I have a lot of the purple algae on the rocks and a small amount of green hair algae - (I think its hair algae) on one rock and starting to develop on the glass. I will be purchasing a CUC this weekend as well.

Third question:
Can anyone advise on stocking for my tank. The fish I like are:

Watchman goby
Royal Gramma
Firefish

Would all of these be suitable with my clowns. I might in the future add coral to my tank, maybe some mushrooms or something so fish need to be reef safe as well.

Also for CUC am thinking:

2 Hermit Crabs
2 Pistol Shrimp
A few Turbo Snails

Any advice much appreciated.

Sorry for the long post!

Lauren_88

 

[carey]

Hi, welcome to the forum! You found a great site for good people and good advice.

I can't really comment on the clowns, it may be that they are trying to show the dominance so that the larger one will become the female.

Rowaphos will help keep yout phosphate levels low and therfore can help with algae.

Not sure how big of a tank you have, but the fish you choose are all fine together provided the tank is big enough.

I have a pistol shrimp and while it seemed a good idea at the time, I;m not so sure now. He never paired up with my watchman goby for one and number two, I seem to have a shrimp killer in my tank and I suspect the pistol. It's either him or my yellow tang or my clowns which is unlikely in my opinion. lol

The fish you picked are all reef safe, I've had or currently have all of the ones you mentioned and they were all fine with my corals.

Hope that helps a bit, and again, welcome!

 

[lauren_88]

Hi Carey,

Thanks for your response. My tank is 94litres which is just over 20 gallons.

 

[carey]

Normally I'd say that it would be overstocked BUT withthe watchman he basically chills on the sandbed and the gramma is BIG on hanging out in the rockwork, I hardly ever saw mine. LOL

I think that you would be pushingit if you added anything other than what you mentioned. Keeping up with weekly water changes will go a long way in keeping your parameters stable with that many fish.

Just my opinion though, some would say not to add one or two of the proposed fish.

 

[lauren_88]

Thanks for the advice. I wont be adding any more fish then those mentioned. I may add the firefish in a few weeks then the goby and see how I go from there...maybe add the gramma later depending on how I am doing. I am planning on changing 10% every week. I buy my SW from my LFS at 29p per litre so works out just under £3 a week. Worrying about my clown at the moment may end up taking one back if they stay hurting each other.

 

[carey]

I'd give it a few more days. Are they similar in size? If you decide to take one back make sure you get one that is either smaller or larger than your current one, smaller being the preference.

 

[Rscomia]

Did the clowns come from the same tank? Are they about the same size? They may be trying to figure out who will become the female

 

[lauren_88]

Yes they came from the same tank. They are similar in size but one is a little bigger then the other. The lights have gone off now and they were swimming around together for the last half an hour. Just now the bullying has started again.

I will wait a few more days and if I have to take one back then I will....maybe I will just stick with the one clown and get something else....maybe a purple firefish

 

[Rscomia]

Was there more than those 2 in that tank?

 

[lauren_88]

Yes there was probably about 10 in the LFS tank.

 

[Rscomia]

Good chance you got 2 males then all they are doing is seeing whose gonna where the pants in the female usually the larger of the 2 becomes the female when I buy clowns out of a group like that I usually try to get the biggest one in there giving me a better chance of getting the female

 

[twisted metal]

Don't worrie. All clowns are born males and the larger one turns into a female. She is showing the other one, she is the boss. That is how my clowns acted for many months. Now that there almost full grown, I never see them fight. But I can tell the clown I had attack the other turned into the female. She is bigger. There a great pair, and never fight anymore. In fact when I spot feed corals they nip/bite me. It's not alot to hurt, but unexpected. They think they own the tank. Lol

 

[twisted metal]

O and when I got them they were the same size.

 

[Hinds04]

pistol shrimp will kill other shrimp in the tank. where do you think they got there name from... they dont shoot dead shrimp or sinking pellets. Also my clowns do this a little still just the smaller one shakes on his side though as a sign of "submission" to the larger. You should expect only one to do this shaking after a while while the other one slowly gets larger than the shaker(male)

 

[lauren_88]

Well the smaller one is still cowering in the front left corner behind a rock. He has been there all day. He hasn't been shaking as such today although the other one has been shaking at him. It's getting difficult for the one being bullied to eat as every time I feed them the bully clown is more bothered about ensuring the other fish stays in his corner and therefore neither of them are eating as much as usual.

 

[lauren_88]

pistol shrimp will kill other shrimp in the tank. where do you think they got there name from... they dont shoot dead shrimp or sinking pellets.

Are you saying pistol shrimp are a bad idea? Can you advise of a shrimp that will be a good addition to a CUC with hermits and turbo snails as I would like to add CUC this weekend to keep algae down.

Thanks

 

[carey]

My personal experience with pistol shrimp hasn't been very good. I would go for some cleaner shrimp or some peppermints. They don't eat algae though, just leftover food, shrimp are scavengers.

Just my opinion though, I believe my pistol killed off all my other shrimp. :-(

 

[lauren_88]

My personal experience with pistol shrimp hasn't been very good. I would go for some cleaner shrimp or some peppermints. They don't eat algae though, just leftover food, shrimp are scavengers.

Just my opinion though, I believe my pistol killed off all my other shrimp. :-(

Sorry to hear that
What would you recommend is good for eating algae? i have bought some rowaphos so hopefully that will take phosphate out of the water and prevent more algae growth, also I have cut down the amount of time I leave my aquarium lights on. I just need a CUC that will tackle the little bit of algae growing on my LR and the tiny bit that keeps coming onto my glass.

Thanks

 

[carey]

Youre best bet for that is either snails or hermits. Do you use tap water or ro/di water? That has a huge effect on algae as well.

 

[lauren_88]

I buy my SW ready mixed from my LFS. I think they use RO water to make the SW. Random question but....I'm going to buy some RO water to store at my home to top off my tank when water evaporates. Would it be OK to store the RO water in used water drinking bottles with the lid on ready to use for topping off the tank? And how long do you think I would be safe to store the RO water?