TommyP
Aquarium Advice Addict
have a 10g that I have 15-20lbs of live Fiji rock in it. Not sure of the exact weight since the guy at register only charged me $10.99 instead of $10.99 per lb. so that's a plus. It had a Hawaiian feather duster already attached to it so I took that as well. I put live sand in my tank and they sold boxed salt water from the pacific all levels ammonia salinity was perfect previous to purchasing the live rock. So i put almost both boxes in, they were 5 gal boxes. About a week after i added a turbo snail a margarita snail a black snail and an emerald crab. I let the tank filter and also have bubbler strip going along the back wall. I have 2 or 3 small artificial plants as well. I currently have tetra advanced testing strips that I have been using and matching up the colors everything has been fine (I thought it would be since the water was already good). So on Saturday (3 weeks later from the install of tank) I purchased 2 clowns about 1-1.5" each from petco. I picked the best ones that I saw. One was a slight more colorful than the other. I acclimated the fish by turning the light off, and having them in the bag for about 20 minutes before lowering them into the tank. ( I just noticed now about the drip process). They were both very active. Swimming against the filter return to get a little current just swimming around being well, clowns.
I fed them the day after which was on Sunday I bought frozen brine shrimp which ( that is what petco fed them and said it was a good diet) I thawed in tank water and strained out the juices. I put small amounts in at a time until 3 mins or so when they stopped eating continuously.
Yesterday I was at work so my girlfriend fed the fish for me she was with me when I fed them first so she knew what to do. When I got home around 10pm I fed them once more. Around 2am I noticed the 1 clown (a little less colorful from the start) was having a hard time swimming. His breathing was much more noticeable so I sat there and watched. Normally when the clowns swim they shake their whole body but the rear of this clown was not moving as much as the other. I saw the tail get stuck on the filter so I immediately turned the filter off momentarily to see if the fish would swim off and he did. Like he was trying so hard. I feel so bad and he finally passed. I did not flush him my girlfriend brought him right back to the store today to try an exchange it. I noticed my trates are in the "caution" stage on those stupid strips that aren't worth ****. I am pickin up a legit test kit as well and ammonia remover I asked her to get when she went to try and get a new clown. Could this be natural or did I really mess something up?
I am quite new at this hobby so all advice would be great, but don't be too hard on me! Lol. Thanks in advance.
I fed them the day after which was on Sunday I bought frozen brine shrimp which ( that is what petco fed them and said it was a good diet) I thawed in tank water and strained out the juices. I put small amounts in at a time until 3 mins or so when they stopped eating continuously.
Yesterday I was at work so my girlfriend fed the fish for me she was with me when I fed them first so she knew what to do. When I got home around 10pm I fed them once more. Around 2am I noticed the 1 clown (a little less colorful from the start) was having a hard time swimming. His breathing was much more noticeable so I sat there and watched. Normally when the clowns swim they shake their whole body but the rear of this clown was not moving as much as the other. I saw the tail get stuck on the filter so I immediately turned the filter off momentarily to see if the fish would swim off and he did. Like he was trying so hard. I feel so bad and he finally passed. I did not flush him my girlfriend brought him right back to the store today to try an exchange it. I noticed my trates are in the "caution" stage on those stupid strips that aren't worth ****. I am pickin up a legit test kit as well and ammonia remover I asked her to get when she went to try and get a new clown. Could this be natural or did I really mess something up?
I am quite new at this hobby so all advice would be great, but don't be too hard on me! Lol. Thanks in advance.