Hi! I’m a bit worried about my clownfish, one of them seems to be doing very well, but the other one seems to be doing more poorly. His color seems to have faded a bit. I’m not sure if it’s because of stress. Here’s some info about my tank:
1- I have had my clownfish for a little over a year now, and I believe they are tank raised.
2- They’ve been in the tank for about a year (since I got them, they were probably around 2 months old). The only tank mates are 3 turbo snails and they don’t show any aggression towards them. But my girl does show aggression to my boy by biting him and they fight each other often. (I believe they haven’t fully established dominance yet)
3- Yes they eat, they eat little pellets by the brand Hikari and they seem to like it. I don’t feed them anything else.
4- I’m using the API Saltwater testing kit to test the water parameters. Last time I checked their water, everything was at low levels with a pH ranging between 8.0-8.4, they only thing that gets high is the nitrates. (I don’t remember the exact number, but it usually gets to around 5-20ppm and I change the water biweekly.) The salt level at the moment is 1.024
5- I’ve recently noticed that my little boy’s color seems to be fading and he lays around at the bottom of the tank more often. I’m not sure if this is stress from establishing dominance, but my girl seems to be bigger in size, bright in color and acting normally.
6- He only seems to be hanging out at the bottom of the tank, and opening and closing his mouth often.
7- He does swim around sometimes at the other end of the tank where my girl usually doesn’t hang around, but he mostly is around his castle (where he usually rests) and doesn’t move much. (Stays at bottom of tank)
8- I’ve never quarantined them or added anything to the water for treatment.
9- I acclimated the fish to the water by leaving them in their bag and I placed the bag into the water. I left them like that for about 15 minutes and then let them into the tank. (I now know that I could’ve done this in a better way!)
10- My tank is 20 gallons, my substrate is sand, and my filtration is aqueon 20 gallon flow. (When I do water changes, I either clean the filter by rising it off a little in the old salt water, or by putting in a new cartridge)
11- I’ve never used additives or meds in my tank.
I just want to know what’s going on- and if it’s best to just leave them alone to sort out their dominance. I’m just a little worried
1- I have had my clownfish for a little over a year now, and I believe they are tank raised.
2- They’ve been in the tank for about a year (since I got them, they were probably around 2 months old). The only tank mates are 3 turbo snails and they don’t show any aggression towards them. But my girl does show aggression to my boy by biting him and they fight each other often. (I believe they haven’t fully established dominance yet)
3- Yes they eat, they eat little pellets by the brand Hikari and they seem to like it. I don’t feed them anything else.
4- I’m using the API Saltwater testing kit to test the water parameters. Last time I checked their water, everything was at low levels with a pH ranging between 8.0-8.4, they only thing that gets high is the nitrates. (I don’t remember the exact number, but it usually gets to around 5-20ppm and I change the water biweekly.) The salt level at the moment is 1.024
5- I’ve recently noticed that my little boy’s color seems to be fading and he lays around at the bottom of the tank more often. I’m not sure if this is stress from establishing dominance, but my girl seems to be bigger in size, bright in color and acting normally.
6- He only seems to be hanging out at the bottom of the tank, and opening and closing his mouth often.
7- He does swim around sometimes at the other end of the tank where my girl usually doesn’t hang around, but he mostly is around his castle (where he usually rests) and doesn’t move much. (Stays at bottom of tank)
8- I’ve never quarantined them or added anything to the water for treatment.
9- I acclimated the fish to the water by leaving them in their bag and I placed the bag into the water. I left them like that for about 15 minutes and then let them into the tank. (I now know that I could’ve done this in a better way!)
10- My tank is 20 gallons, my substrate is sand, and my filtration is aqueon 20 gallon flow. (When I do water changes, I either clean the filter by rising it off a little in the old salt water, or by putting in a new cartridge)
11- I’ve never used additives or meds in my tank.
I just want to know what’s going on- and if it’s best to just leave them alone to sort out their dominance. I’m just a little worried
