is there something im missing about clowns

[crb530]

ok so here is my problem

i thought that two half inch would be great for my ten gallon tank till i move up to a fourty gallon

well the problem is they keep dieing i bought two of them today and they didnt even make it eight hours

amona=0
trite=0
trate=20
slenity=1.024

my fire fish is doing great he has been for two weeks now so what could be wrong

the two clowns have been in a gt at the petstore for two weeks

could it be cause there only a half inch ?

 

[melosu58]

Did you cycle the 40 gallon tank? Could your test kit be off? Too much flow in the tank for them? Take some water to your LFS and have him double check your results.

 

[crb530]

the fourty gallon tank has not been started yet i put them in the ten gallon


im taking my water in today to see

also i did a water change before i added them could that be the problem

 

[crb530]

could the problem be that i started the tank with tap water that i declorinated

after reading my tap water has a high copper content could that be the problem

 

[Innovator]

Could be alot of things. Have you made the same purchases from the same store? Have you QT the animals? Have you tested your tank for copper concentration? How are you acclimating them? It seems fish are being collected or made available at smaller and smaller sizes these days, something I personally dislike. I would aim for a fish in the 1"-1.5" range for the clowns, assuming they're "Nemo's" *cringe*

 

[crb530]

yes there from the same store

no they are not gt

and how would i go about testing for copper

 

[thincat]

Did you cycle the 10g? How old is that setup?

 

[crb530]

yes i did its seven weeks old

 

[Innovator]

If you are worried about copper you can purchase a copper test kit. You should be QT'ing your fish and fully acclimating before introduction.

 

[crb530]

i think it was the size of the fish that was the problem

i went with a bigger clown from a different store and he is happy in the tank eating and everything

 

[thincat]

Good call on your part. Glad it's working out for you.

 

[crb530]

yeah it didnt make sense to keep getting the smalls so i git a bigger petco clown cause the where on sale and my discount so it was ten bucks not bad

problem though my fire fish who was doing great in the tank got scared by my pistal shrimp and jumped out well i was at work so i came to him died which sucked cause it was my first sw fish he jumped through an inch gap which has now been closed up

 

[thincat]

Sorry about that loss. It was out of your control and you found and corrected the problem.
Good for you on a quick correction of the problem.