Clownfish turning brown - please help!

[wrightkelly16]

I just think you’re not helping the situation by not using what nature needs for thriving. A tetra filter is for freshwater, not saltwater, and even less for a reef tank.

You need biodiversity and micro organisms won’t be living in that tetra filter.

You have room in your tank for dry rock. In a few months, it will become live rock. Why not go this way ?

I am not opposed to it - I asked the folks at speciality store if it was necessary and they said no so I never bought one. I am still new to this hobby. Can I just buy one from specialty store and put it in? Will it throw off any parameters or shock the fish?

 

[Idech]

I am not opposed to it - I asked the folks at speciality store if it was necessary and they said no so I never bought one. I am still new to this hobby. Can I just buy one from specialty store and put it in? Will it throw off any parameters or shock the fish?

Dry rock won’t harm anything. And yes, you can buy some from the LFS and add it. Just rinse it before and let it dry. It’s usually sold by the pound. People often suggest 1 lb per gallon but you can go 70% or 80% of that. Any amount will help.

You might go through an ugly phase, but that’s just a part of reefing.

This store is not giving you good advice, so don’t listen to the, blindly. Do your research on this forum or other good internet resources.

 

[HaiFish]

UPDATE: I have included a photo here. You can see one is darker in the white area than the other. This was not the case 3 days ago. Today is 2 days after sand cleaning and 50% water change and my fish is eating and swimming around. I hope he continues to recover over next couple of days and gets his color back. I wonder if this was just shock from salinity and temp change too quickly or stress from cleaning tank with new tool.

Sometimes they darken if they host in corals rather than anemones even to a black color

 

[wrightkelly16]

Dry rock won’t harm anything. And yes, you can buy some from the LFS and add it. Just rinse it before and let it dry. It’s usually sold by the pound. People often suggest 1 lb per gallon but you can go 70% or 80% of that. Any amount will help.

You might go through an ugly phase, but that’s just a part of reefing.

This store is not giving you good advice, so don’t listen to the, blindly. Do your research on this forum or other good internet resources.

Okay, looks like it could cause algae bloom and to add live bacteria to reduce the impact of the mini cycle from the dry rock. I will research and buy this weekend.

The tank has been fine all year and I test water all the time and do weekly 25% changes but I had a starfish and after it died a few months ago (I did remove it right away) this purple and bright green algae started to build up on send bed, that is when I bought the new sand cleaning tool, did 50% water change which caused the fish discoloration.

 

[wrightkelly16]

I feel terrible if he’s in pain. He seems to be excited to eat today and is swimming around like normal - not showing any symptoms of being sick other than the discoloration.

I will keep you all updated over the next week in case it’s helpful information for anyone else who might experience this.

He is starting to get his color back 4 days later!

 

[canorton81]

Here is a video with lights on today. Was trying to keep them off for few days to avoid further stress. I don’t have live rock but have tetra bio bag filter and am good about changing every month. The folks at specialty fish store said I didn’t “need” live rock. This tank is 1 year old. I also have fire shrimp and snail. Used to have skimmer when I had coral but coral was not doing well and removed it 2 months ago and took out skimmer.

Curious how things went with your fish. I noticed some browning on one of my clownfish today. I think it may be something similar.

 

[judyb]

Ya pics would help a lot here. Never seen a brown clown fish before.