Clownfish colour fade

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something_fishy

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 19, 2002
Messages
168
Location
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Hi, I have to osci clowns and the larger of the two seems to be fading in colour, almost becoming a light pale colour. It seems to be fine otherwise, is this normal, or is there something else at play here???
 
Could be nothing or a result of diet and environment. How long have you had the clowns, what foods do you feed and what are the water specs?

Cheers
Steve
 
I double checked the water parameters and nothing is out of the ordinary, I have had this tank up and running for over 2 years now and everything else in the tank including the corals are doing awesome. I feed them a blend of fine marine flakes and frozen food on an alternating schedule (just for variety). The only thing that I have noticed is that the temperature is a tad high (in the 80 to 82 range) I have the tank situated in a corner of the room that does not get any sunlight. I have the heater turned off and lots of water movement, but I can't keep the temperature down. I have 2 flourescent bulbs(marineglo and lifeglo).

I did take the clown out of the tank and gave him a 2 minute freshwater formalin bath and then returned to the tank. Today it seems that there is a bit more colour in him, I will continue this treatment for a week and hope it clears up.
 
something_fishy said:
the temperature is a tad high (in the 80 to 82 range) I have the tank situated in a corner of the room that does not get any sunlight. I have the heater turned off and lots of water movement, but I can't keep the temperature down. I have 2 flourescent bulbs(marineglo and lifeglo).
If your having a problem with heat and no heater is being used I would suspect you have a lid on the tank or one of your powerheads is giving off excess heat. The lights you mention should not generate much in the way of heat. What is the temp in the early AM?

I did take the clown out of the tank and gave him a 2 minute freshwater formalin bath and then returned to the tank. Today it seems that there is a bit more colour in him, I will continue this treatment for a week and hope it clears up.
Unless you have added a fish recently without QTing it, there is no reason the clown would have a parasite problem after two years. I think the formalin dip is unwarranted. What is the pH in the tank and is the color of the fish throughout the day or only in the AM?

Cheers
Steve
 
The tank has been running for 2 years, the clowns have only been there for about 2 months. The colour is not come and go, its steadily becoming more and more pale in general. The temperature hovers around 80 throughout the day, and the powerheads are small and have no heat to the touch. This is the second day that I do the freshwater/formalin bath and I have noticed a small change in the colour, it seems to be coming back and he seems to be more active once more.
 
Good day everyone!
My Maroon Clown seems to loosing his color of late as well, lighter around the entire outline of his body. All systems are go, however, I did recently add two damsels, but all appear fine with the exception of the Clown Color change.
The tank has been set up for a year now with little or no problems.
 
How long have you had the clown and where any of these fish quarantined before placing in the main tank?

The loss of color could be a stress reaction to your new additions, parasite, poor feeding habits or possibley nothing. Any additional info?

Cheers
Steve
 
Steve S.

Good morning! Thanx for the quick response. This is really strange, the tank I maintain is at my office. This morning 0730 when I came in and checked the tank, the color fade on the clown seems to now only be in the fins, all of the fins are outlined with a lighter shade of maroon. He didn't eat as hardily as he usually does either.
I did not do any quarentine on the Damsels before putting them in the tank, just the recommended acclumation.
I may be being to girly about this and I am fairly new at this marine maintenance momma position I have aquired, but when I received the tank a year ago, the occupants that came in the tank were the same maroon clown I'm talking about above and a Snowflake Eel, which jumped out of the tank over the weekend ( office is closed on weekends), needless to say he didn't make it and the final occupant was a Fuzzy Dwarf Lion, well, the Lion died on May 25th, I think he may have had feeder bones lodged inside that he couldn't pass, well...once the Lion died, within a few days the issues with the Clown started, he seemed to be withdrawn, less active and still so. Could he have depression?
This is a 30 gal. tank. I water change 6 gallons every three weeks, I'm due to water change today, should I go ahead with the change or wait?
Also, I was recently told from a worker at not my normal pet store that the Damsels will eventually eat the other fish in the tank??? The clown, a yellow tang and a kole tang??? Any truth to that? I find that hard to believe, at the Damsels biggest captivity size, they would still only be half the size of the other occupants.
So many questions so little time. Sorry to bombard you like this.
Thanx!
 
How many fish do you have in your 30 gal? It sounds like you may be at your max capacity. That could be stressing your poor little maroon out.
 
As indicated by Ayesha97, you have a bioload problem. I would actually say you are well overstocked and that may be the issue. The max load for a 30 gal tank would be about 6-10 inches of adult fish depending on species. 1 GSM clown, 2x damsels, 1 yellow tang and 1 kole tang is far too much for this tank. Having also had an eel and a lion (even though now passed) would suggest the water quality in the tank should be the first suspect.

I would test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to see what's amiss. I would also seriously reconsider the stock you have in the tank. The two tangs will not remain healthy in a 30 gal tank indefinately. They should be housed in no less than 1 for every 75 gallons of tank capacity. I would also have more than 6 gal of water prepared for the water change.

Also, I was recently told from a worker at not my normal pet store that the Damsels will eventually eat the other fish in the tank???
There is some truth to that although there is absolutely no chance the damsels will eat other fish. They are increadibley territorial though and will terrorize other fish in order to maintain their territories and dominance often killing the other fish. I do not think the problems are all that related if the problem with the clown began after the lion passed, the damsels may just have aggravated an already present problem.

Cheers
Steve
 
A97

No no, not all those fish were in the tank at the same time. The PH, Nitrate, and amonia are fine. The tank is at my work, I check everything each Mon. and Fri. I replaced the Eel shortly after he jumped and I replaced the Lion fish a couple weeks after his demise. However, I may consider taking the damsel back to the store, she seems to want the area the Clown had always claimed prior to her arrival.
 
Re: A97

islandgirl66 said:
No no, not all those fish were in the tank at the same time.
What fish are in the tank now? It is more than possible the damsel could be your issue but it's best to be sure.

The PH, Nitrate, and amonia are fine.
Can you post the actual numbers?

Cheers
Steve
 
We have also recently added two clownfish to our tank. One is doing fine the other has lost its colour and is fading. After reading the thread I perhaps think it maight be stress related. They havent found a home yet in our tank and are just swiming up and down the front of the tank all the time.

Just tested the water and everything is fine.

Whats does eveyone think?

Cheers
 
Could easily be stress especially if newly introduced. Clowns usually adjust quite quickly though. Keep tabs on them for possible parasites as well, primarily Brooklynella if they where not QT'd.

What other fish are in the tank and is the color fade constant or only at certain times of the day?

Cheers
Steve
 
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