What is my luck with clowns?

[vietcu]

Here is my story, I think I might go crazy if this keep happening to me. I have my tank for a little more than a month now. Everything is fine and dandy as far as water quality is concerned, followed every tips and suggestions on this site as well as many other sites. Bought 2 clowns to start with and one got eaten by a powerhead(my mistake for not covering the intake valve), thought it was a predator. Got an isopod in my tank and was trying to figure out how to get rid of it. Today I went and got another clown to replace the one I lost, along with a coral banded shrimp, striped damsel, and 3 red leg hermit crab. Acclimated everyting for more than an hour. Put them all in the tank and everything is fine and good, everyone is swimming around happy and eating. This was at 2:00 pm today. I had to go to a wedding at 5, came back at 9, and headed straight for the aquarium. To my surprise the clown that I bought a few hours ago is MIA. Powerhead is covered this time so he didn't get sucked up there. Checked my overflow, and return line(litterally took apart all the hose) and he is not in there. Proceded to move all my rocks and everything to try to locate him, and no go. Everything else that I bought is still alive, but the clown is nowhere to be found. The original clown is still there. I am totally stump, I could very well be going crazy if this keep happening to me.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I would be patient, look around the tank on the floor, check again in the morning.. fish are very good at hiding.

 

[AndyH5512]

I've had to take 2 of my clowns out of the overflow 3 times in the last month. If you have a drilled tank, you may need to take a better look into the overflow. If they are down toward the bottom, you will need a flashlight to see them.

 

[Sadielynn]

Couple things , what size tank is it ? what type is it , all in one or plain off the shelf tank ?
Were the lights on or off when looking . As stated fish usually hide , ours go up under the "spillway" of our filter and swim ?
Your tank may be to new to handle the fish .
What are your perameters in numbers .
What are your inhibatants ,that you know about ? Check floors cabinets , baskets , with in a 3-4 foot range , they can get some good air . Also check chairs sofas , ect .... Do you have a cat ?
I know when I put in my clown that I have in the 6.5 He hid for 3 days straight under a cave , finally he came out and is out all the time ...

 

[vietcu]

I found the **** fish, I am so mad at myself right now. I don't think I will be getting another clown for a while. Sorry to say I found it laying motionless in between some rocks this morning before going to work. I can't figure it out, everything else that I put in the tank is still alive, including the first clown that I bought. When I put the new one in he seemed fine, eating and swimming just perfect. Tested the waters today and everything is in great condition.

Salinity = 1.022-23
Ph= 8- 8.2
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 5
ammonia = 0
temp = 78
I don't get it, my wife think that the coral shrimp bit it. I keep telling her its not possible, and she won't listen. I think I might have crushed it moving some rocks looking for it the night before, but not really sure. Either way I don't think I have much luck with clowns, so I will concentrate on keeping the one I have alive. Not a good start for a beginner, losing 2 clowns in less than 1 week.

 

[melosu58]

I don't get it, my wife think that the coral shrimp bit it. I keep telling her its not possible, and she won't listen.

This might not be as far fetched as you think. I`m not talking about the biting part but CBS are reported to be aggressive and catch small fish. It could have caught it with his claw and hurt him internally. I`ve heard of this happening before. Also I would take your water to a LFS and do another water test to double check that yours is the same.

 

[fijiwigi]

I feel your pain totally, I had the same luck, I bought a pair of clownfish my daughter dumped an entire bottle of flake food in the tank, After taking my rocks out and cleaning my tank the clownfish went missing never found it? I bought another of the same litter of fish from the LFS to have a maited pair still. Installed my overflow and didn't put the Mesh screen over the box. 1 clown got sucked into the overflow and stuck on the drain sponge and died. My dumb mistake, I didn't put the mesh on even after thought I should have done it right away, 2 days later the other clownfish got sucked into the overflow box I caught it in time I thought. I used a spoon to put him back in the tank he was swimming around just fine that night. The next morning My sallylightfoot crab was munching down the other clownfish. I pulled the carcas out> Extremely angry at myself I now have the mesh screen on the overflow thats for sure. The wierd thing is the other fish I have never ventured into the overflow and I still have them. I think mainly because clownfish swim toward the top and out in the open and don't hide much from what I expierienced. I am definately after this point getting rid of the SLF crab and going crabless probably not adding any more fish until I am done adding invertabrates and some corals.

 

[vietcu]

Thanks for the story fijiwigi, I feel a little better now. Glad to know that I am not the only with crappy luck starting out. To make things worse wife says I cant buy anymore fishes until I sort everything out. Shes probably right though, I don't need to kill anything else, cause if I do the tank will probably be torn down. Joking, this is too much fun, aside from losing those clowns. Cool thing was my coral banded molted today that was neat to watch.

 

[Innovator]

I highly doubt the cbs bothered your clownfish unless it was weak/sickly. I understand your dismay, but most newly introduced fish will hide for 24-48hrs. Before I go on, what coloration and any scarring on the fish when you pulled it out?

 

[vietcu]

I highly doubt the cbs bothered your clownfish unless it was weak/sickly. I understand your dismay, but most newly introduced fish will hide for 24-48hrs. Before I go on, what coloration and any scarring on the fish when you pulled it out?

I didn't take a careful look at the clown when I took him out of the tank. Just kind of threw it into the trash, although I don't remember seeing any kind of scarring or anything from it. And it was larger than the one that is in my tank now. I think it was about 2 inches, maybe a little smaller.