Q's re: Clown fish & Coral banded shrimp

[AundriaM]

So I am hooked! I am the one who moved in and found a 55 gallon tank that had been neglected for a year and a half. I have switched it over to Aragonite sand and live rock, and have all kinds of interesting things popping out now :D

My water quality is great: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 - 15, PH 8.3. I took a sample in just to be sure my kit was good & everything matched up - they said the alk was perfect, but calcium was a little low so I have an additive that I'm using.

I got brave and added 2 Clown fish (wild caught) and a coral banded shrimp. My questions: How big & aggressive will this shimp get, and what does it eat? All I can find is conflicting info on them. Right now it is 2", 4 - 5" if you add the antane (sp?).

And...the clowns are at the size that they choose what sex to be - at least that was what I was told. They were the only two in the tank, so it was a good chance they were a pair. One is neon orange, the other a pale orange. They got along great the first 5 hours - playing in caves, chasing around the 2 damsels (only other fish in the tank), etc. I come back to find the pale one gasping in the upper corner of the tank, vertical in the water. It was almost like he was floating and couldn't swim down - even went on his side at one point. I thought he was dying, and turned out the light to give him a little peace. As soon as the light went out he started swimming around, went to the other clown, no problems. Whenever the light goes on, he goes to the same corner and plays dead. Any ideas? It's driving me crazy - I want the lights on for the live rock, and so I can see everything! They are generally on from 10 - 10.

Sorry for the long post - I appreciate any help you have to offer!

 

[JellyMan]

Wild caught clowns have a lower survival rate then Tank Raised. How many powerheads do you have in your tank and what is your surface agitation like? Do you have the powerheads pointing at the surface? Info on clowns you can have an entire tank of clowns only one will assume the role of a female she will become large she will choose her mate the rest will stay male until the female dies then one of the males will change to female and assume the responsibilities of the last female mainly staying near a chosen area if she pairs up she will watch over her mate and run anything off that she may feel is a threat. Just because you have two in your tank does not guarentee that they will pair up there wierd like that usually if there is a couple choices for the female to choose from she will go for the smallest one of the bunch she will pick on him until he no longer fears her they then will pair. You do not need an anemone for them to be happy or breed they just need to feel safe and secure with there surroundings they will host many different types of corals ie frogspawn, hairy mushrooms, sps, even some have been known to host aptaisa. Your shrimp can get somewhat large around 3 inches though Ive not seen one get evil it doesnt mean it wont happen. Hope this helps.

 

[AundriaM]

Thanks Jelly! I have 3 powerheads and a Fluval 404 Canister Filter. Powerheads are pointed just below the surafce of the water, and I can see the water moving - I don't know a lot about agitation, what's good/bad yet.

I appreciate the info on the clowns and the shrimp. I'm not dying for a pair of clowns, I just don't want one to be aggressive and kill the other. Too - that's what I've been reading about the shrimp, but the guy in the store said 8" - that's a big shrimp - had me a little worried!

 

[JellyMan]

I dont see it in a 55 :D If your pointed just below the suface you should have good surface agitation. How did you acclimate your clowns?

 

[AundriaM]

Cool. I don't eat seafood and never realized that shrimp have pinchers - um, yikes!

I floated them for 15 min, added a 1/2 cup of water from my tank every 5 min, emptied half the water from the bag after I had added 2 cups and did the 1/2 cup evey 5 minutes 4 more times. It took about an hour total. I netted them and popped them in the tank, and they seemed to be doing so well! They staked out a cave - the pale one (that plays dead) hung out in the cave while the neon one chased the damsels around. I left for a bit and came back to the one being all weird.

 

[JellyMan]

interesting how long has the tank been established and what are your params?

 

[AundriaM]

The tank has been running for at least a year and a half and wasn't touched other than to feed the fish once in awhile (this wasn't me - the guy who owned the house before we bought it). He never cleaned it, changed the water or switched out filters. Since 1/30 I have done 2 big water changes (50+ %), switched out the crushed coral for sand (rinsed) and added live rock (purchased cured). A domino damsel & a blue devil damsel made it through all of this with me. Params as of yesterday:

Temp = 78 degrees
Ph = 8.3
Amonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10 - 15

Seeing it written down I wonder if I rushed adding fish. I've tested 5 times since 1/30 and have gotten the same results, and had the store test my water as well to double check. All the other fish are fine.

 

[yote]

I dont know that much about clownfish.So I cant help you out there.
But you'll want to watch the coral banded shrimp if you ever decide to add any corals.
I caught mine munching on some zoas so he got traded for a yellow wrasse/

 

[AundriaM]

Thanks Yote! I'm hoping that corals are in my future, so that is good to know - I will keep an eye on him.

 

[AundriaM]

HA! That's what I get for taking a couple days off from my reading - I just found two more threads about clowns doing this! I'm going to move one of the powerheads so it breaks the surface of the water, and if that doesn't help I'll take the lid off the tank. Everyone seemed to think it was lack of oxygen. I called the store and he said the fish hadn't found a good hiding place yet :question:

I have various snails, the two clowns, two damsels and the shrimp in the tank - do you think anything will jump with the lids off? I have to say I live in fear of stepping on someone, or finding something from the tank in my daughter's mouth :shock:

 

[reeffreak]

I never had a banded coral shrimp harm any corals just steal food from them....but then again I fed mine a whole cube of prime reef(ocean nutrition) once a week.She was in my tank 4 years never bothered fish,corals or any invertebrate that I knew of and only grew to about 3 inches or so....but those antennae were long as heck though.

From what I read they are scavengers right?

 

[Bifferwine]

Someone might jump. You should got to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a sheet of egg crate, it's in the lighting section. It's sort of a white plastic grid that will keep your fish from jumping out but still lets the air circulate and light get through. It's cheap too. You can use a pair of scissors to cut it to fit your tank.

 

[yote]

Yeah reeffeak their scavengers. And i'll admit I like em.But I caught mine in the act of pinching off the polyps of my zoas and eatting them.Other wise I would have kept him.He was just a bottomless pit when it came to anything to eat.

 

[matthew1048]

This response may be a little late, but I have read about a rouge algae, Amyloodinium, that infects the gills of fish. The symptoms usually consist of 1) rapid shallow fanning of the gills, like the fish is gasping for air.
2) Stays in an area of high water movement near the surface.
3) Behaves lethargically.
4) Appears to be struggling to swim.

I saw the symptoms that you initally described and thought that it sounded like the symptoms Amyloodinium. I don't know at all if it is Amyloodinium, but the symptoms do sound eerily similar to what you described to me.

 

[AundriaM]

Thanks for your reply - I will look into that! Unfortunately the clown died a few days after this post, but I would like to make sure my other fish aren't affected if it is contagious or still in my tank.