Sick clown?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

bromion

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
103
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Hi all,

Five days ago I purchased a pair of Amphiprion ocellaris clowns, both about three weeks old according to the store. Acclimated, added to the tank. They seemed to be doing quite well, but today and yesterday one of the two is acting very lethargic and not eating (ignored flakes and frozen shrimp/scallop/seaweed cocktail). The other seems completely fine and ate the offered food, but sticks by the lazy one at the front-bottom of the tank. Here's the tank info:
58 gal reef, cycled and stable. These are the first fish.
Temp varies from about 78-80 over the course of 24 hr
Salinity 1.023
pH 8.1
KH 300ppm
NH3 0 mg/L
NO2 0 mg/L
NO3 12.5 mg/L
Ca 420 mg/L
PO4 <0.25 (hard to tell from the color chart)
These parameters are quite stable over time.

Is this normal clownfish behavior, or should I be worried? How long can they last without food, if this continues?

Perhaps coincidentally, the not-eating clownfish opens and closes its mouth constantly; much more frequently than the other one. Is this a typical variation in the species?

Thanks!
Jason
 
It does not sound normal. All your params sound good. I guess you did not QT them first. Maybe you did not acclimate him enough of he could have a parasite problem. Keep a close eye on him and let us know.You will need a QT to treat him if there is a problem.
 
Back
Top Bottom