Various Problems

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AiLikeRamen

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
2
Location
Bay Area, Northern California
Hello Everyone,

I have a 20 Gallon Nano-Reef that has been up for about 8 months now. There is a firefish in the tank with two ocellaris clownfish and a carpenter fairy wrasse. I see the clownfish and the carpenter fairy wrasse quite often, but I never see the firefish. In accordance to my current fish, are there any firsh that I could add to the tank that would serve as a dither fish as well a way to keep the two clownfish from chasing the firefish back into its darthole everytime it comes out?
My other problem is that I use a Rio Nano Skimmer. It's a great skimmer and it is very productive; however, I find that if I set the flow to higher levels, bubbles leak into the aquarium which make the water look rather displeasing.
I also currently have one powersweep power head in the aquarium. I was thinking on adding another powerhead to the aquarium to increase the flow throughout the tank but I do not know if that would be too much for the clowns and the other fish to handle. I am not sure on what the gph for the powersweep is, but I do not think it effectively mixes the water very well because it's located on one side of the tank, leaving the other side quite untouched.

Thank you for reading my post, I hope to hear from everyone soon,
Andrew C3~
 
clowns are quite territorial to begin with. Having two is like double team on the fire fish but my royal gramma did the same thing at first then actually started showing the clown who's the boss after two weeks.
 
Fish are territorial... you can't change that. Adding more fish will not make them any less territorial - it just gives them more targets.

Regardless, I'd say your tank is overstocked to start with which is probably one of the main reasons your clowns are being so aggressive. Not the news you're probably wanting to hear, but I think the only way you're going to decrease the aggression is to decrease the population.
 
However, even before the flasher fairy wrasse was added, the clownfish had shown signs of aggression toward the firefish. Even at the LFS where the clownfish were bought, they were housed with a firefish and it looked sickly and its health was deteriorating; however, it was out of its hole more than my firefish. The clownfish are only agressive to the firefish, they leave the flasher wrasse alone.
 
Clowns become quite territorial once they establish their "home" and even a bit more so if they are a mated pair. I have heard of people moving around their live rock to force the fish to reestablish their territory but in a tank that small i would guess that it probably won't help to much. Firefish are small and shy which makes them more prone to bullying. Why they pick on the firefish and not the wrasse could be any number of reasons. Long and short of it is that you probably won't be able to keep them from picking on your firefish.
 
I agree with Kurt and Pat on this. Clowns are damsels and they can be very "nippy" towards more docile fish.

As for your flow, you could easily add an additional power head to the other side of your tank to increase the flow. The clowns will have no problem dealing with the extra water movement.
 
Just make sure the additional power head doesn't create a one directional flow. You don't want it to go in a circle or any kind of a constant pattern. Random/chaotic flow is what your looking for. I think its tuff to have to much flow but you can have it be the wrong kind of flow if that makes sence.
 
Hello Everyone,

IMy other problem is that I use a Rio Nano Skimmer. It's a great skimmer and it is very productive; however, I find that if I set the flow to higher levels, bubbles leak into the aquarium which make the water look rather displeasing.

Hey can I please see some pictures of how you set your skimmer up? Like placement and everything. I have one too but I dont know how to work it. :/
 
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