Fish not eating

[Jimboaf]

Ok so I purchased two clown fish from the LFS. Its been two days, and they are not feeding. I hsve tried evrrything brine shrimp frozen and freeze dried, mytis shrimp, bloodworms. Should I be woried that they are not feeding? Also they seem to be acting weird one goes to the corner on ine side of the tank and one goes ob the other.

 

[joshlegs]

I'm not really sure. I had two firefish gobies that didn't eat for a few days after introducing them to my tank. I hear that "you can't underfeed a fish," but don't really know. My gobies started eating after several days, a little at first and then a little more.

Are your water parameters right? Do they have hiding places? Are there other fish that might be intimidating them?

 

[ErinCahir]

Were they eating at the store? Have you tried soaking the food in garlic?

 

[Jimboaf]

The water prams are perfect tested them before I put them in. They are my first fish in my 55gal so they have the thing to themselves. The also have all the hiding places.

 

[poksal]

Was there a difference in the water temp between your tank and the store tank? I have seen my LFSs from store to store vary from 77 to 80°f , and today I was at one that was 74° . I wondered and took my digital probe.

Also there could be a large enough difference in salinity. If you are going to use a LFS a lot as a main one you need to know the salinity and temperature of their tanks.. Today I carried my PAR probe and temp probe with me and I got no complaints. I was surprised at the differences.

Clowns tend to be one of the easiest fish to introduce.. but if there was a decent temp AND salinity difference it could explain.. and they should come around.. but that could be a serious shock. Good Luck!

As far as hanging out in corners.. clowns do that normally. My suggestion is to keep the lights low and let them have some safe stress free time. What happened to all that food they didn't eat??? Do you have a skimmer???

I got two corals from a tank at that LFS today that was at 74.5°f, and floated them in my RODI tank where it is pitch black when the lid is on, for two hours before doing the dip and drip for into into my display tank. I keep my tank at 79°f. These were mushrooms so they should be OK. .. but sometimes such measures are required.

 

[yote]

Something else that most don't think about.
Fish are used to seeing other fish around. In the wild, no other fish usually means there is a predator on the prowl. That can be a huge cause of stress when your bite sized and in unfamiliar territory.

Give a little bit to calm down.

 

[wontonflip]

That makes sense. I know my firefish would always be in hiding; but once I got more active/friendly fish, they stayed out more, seeing that others were happily swimming around.

 

[Jimboaf]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I woke up this morning and could not find one of the clown fish :grumble:. But I did try to feed the one I saw and as soon as it hit the water he was after it, he must have been hungry. He also feed a second time today as well, so I think I am in the clear.

 

[wontonflip]

Hopefully the other one pops up, but if not, at least your other one is now eating. Were they still small when you got them? The smaller they are, the lower the chances of them handling the stress.

 

[Jimboaf]

They were really small. I know the chances of them surviving were small but at the LFS I couldn't just leave them in there like that. The only two LFS around me are horrible and I don't get how they can treat there animals like that.

 

[2XAl]

does your tank have a cover?