Is my Clownfish okay?

[LoveJC03]

Friday we bought a pair of Clownfish, one is almost 1 1/2" and the smaller one is about 1". They've been in our tank since Friday night and both were swimming together and making friends with our Chromis the next day. The bigger one "Coral" seems perfectly fine and has been eating since Saturday. The smaller one "Nemo" has not eaten anything since they've been in the tank, he kinda hangs out on his own in the top corner next to a powerhead and the bottom area of the tank barely swimming. He occasionally swims with the others.. but mostly he he sticks to himself. We feed brine shrimp, a mixture of mysis & other shrimps..flakes from time to time. He doesn't swim to get the food like the others and food just floats by him and he doesn't even seem to care or move. What could be wrong? Is he just stressed.. still acclimating.. scared? :question:

 

[RockStacker]

It sounds like the little one is scared of the other clown.
Are they a mated pair? or were just bought together?

In the past I have tried adding several clowns at the same time and the smallest one always gets picked on. When that small one was removed, the next smallest one becomes the target.

Since then I only keep one kind of clownfish in my tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

Did you notice if he was eating and acting normally at the store before you bought him? It is not uncommon for fish to take a week or so to adjust to a new tank. And it's definitely not uncommon for two clowns to want nothing to do with each other! They may never pair up and may always occupy separate parts of the tank.

His behavior (besides not eating) does sound normal for a clown. Do you know what they were fed at the store?

 

[LoveJC03]

Rockstacker
We bought them together, they're tank bred and from the same tank.

Bifferwine
We didn't see him eating at the store, it's always busy there because it's the only one we have in our town.. never really see the fish eat. I hope he starts eating by this weekend, it's just frustrating. They do swim together & sleep together.. just sometimes he stays by himself while the bigger one hangs out with our Chromis. It's just so weird.. he doesn't even try to have one bite! The fish guy said he fed them Hikari frozen brine & frozen mysis shrimp.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yes, what you are feeding them is fine. Maybe he's just a late bloomer and takes a little bit more time to adjust than normal.

 

[Reef boy]

That's what happened to my clowns and last week the one Staying in the corner died

 

[LoveJC03]

Another one bites the dust.. R.I.P Nemo :( He died last Friday, one week after having him. He never ate one bite, half of his body faded in color and he became anorexic. It was so sad, he looked like a baby fish that turned into a 90yr old man. Coral or.. Marlin now(?) is doing fine.. eating well and swimming around enjoying life though. I don't think we'll get another clown.

 

[fastrd400]

If you get another, ask one of the staff to drop some food in the tank so you can see them eat. Always see a fish eat before you pick, and pay for one. Just one less thing to worry about. Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Humuhumununu]

Sorry about nemo.

 

[LoveJC03]

I guess fish come and go.. atleast it wasn't a $100 fish I suppose.

 

[spongeycrab]

hmmm I know the fish is already gone but what you are feeding dosent have that much nutriton value. So I would recommend still feeding with mysis shrimp and brine shrimp but replace the flake food with frozen foods.

 

[LoveJC03]

hmmm I know the fish is already gone but what you are feeding dosent have that much nutriton value. So I would recommend still feeding with mysis shrimp and brine shrimp but replace the flake food with frozen foods.

We used flakes when we only had our Chromis.. everyone else was eating frozen food when we got them. We were just trying flakes to see if Nemo would eat them. All we use is frozen brine & frozen mysis now :mrgreen:

 

[spongeycrab]

We used flakes when we only had our Chromis.. everyone else was eating frozen food when we got them. We were just trying flakes to see if Nemo would eat them. All we use is frozen brine & frozen mysis now :mrgreen:

Yes I know but brine and mysis shrimp don't have very much nutrition for the fish at all, so diffrent frozen foods do and that's why I said use frozen foods.