Icylder
Active Member
Hello! I've got some clownfish who are right now giving me a lot of trouble feeding them. I love them more than anything though and want to do everything I can to make sure they thrive in my tank. Here's how my tank got built out and where everything stands today.
I spent the last couple months picking out parts and setting up my tank. I let it cycle with DrTims nitrifying bacteria + their ammonium chloride. A week later after some testing the cycle was complete. I let it run for the rest of the month dosing small amounts once every week just to be sure. I then did a big water change in preparation for my clownfish who I got last Saturday. A beautiful pair of 2 Percula Clownfish.
[Don't these clowns look kinda percula?
]
If you're still reading after that horrible pun...
My tank parameters were at the following when I added them:
Temperature = 78.0 F (swings +/-0.5F, Fluval E heater)
Salinity (measured with a refractometer ) = 1.025g
Alkalinity (salifert test kit ) = 9.9 dKH
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate (API test kit) = 0/0/0
I didn't bother measuring for phosphate/calcium at the start since the tank was running empty until the fish were added.
I acclimatized my two clownfish to bring them up to my tank temperature before I gave them a freshwater dip so I could start quarantine process (I've read on here that wild caught clownfish are very susceptible to all sorts of internal parasites/brook/marine velvet and so on). I set up a timer for 5 minutes after aerating the freshwater dip for around an hour before hand. This was by far the most nerve wracking part. I decided to pull them out at the 4 minute mark as they seemed to be coming up and gasping for air. They were then introduced to the quarantine tank.
On Tuesday I added API General Cure (Prazi + Metronidazole). Ever since I've noticed their appetite plummet. Previously they would peck at New Life Spectrum pellets but they stopped doing that. I've read that praziquantel can make them lose their appetite so I didn't worry too much but on Wednesday they didn't eat at all so I ran out and got some LRS Reef frenzy. Maybe frozen food would do the trick I thought. It was mostly hit and miss. Sometimes they'll peck at it and then just spit it out. Wednesday night they ravenously ate some of the seaweed in it. A whole gulp! Progress I thought. Come this morning their appetite seems to be gone again. Flakes/pellets/frozen brine shrimp. Nothing really seems to work. When feeding I turn off my return pump and the wave maker. They usually appear to host a little corner by the wave maker but when everything turns off rarely do they think "ooh food!". Instead, they take it as an opportunity to wander around the tank... ;Rage
Now I turn to the great collective consciousness of reef2reef. How do I save these two clowns who seem to be actively thwarting my every attempt to feed them
I spent the last couple months picking out parts and setting up my tank. I let it cycle with DrTims nitrifying bacteria + their ammonium chloride. A week later after some testing the cycle was complete. I let it run for the rest of the month dosing small amounts once every week just to be sure. I then did a big water change in preparation for my clownfish who I got last Saturday. A beautiful pair of 2 Percula Clownfish.
[Don't these clowns look kinda percula?
]If you're still reading after that horrible pun...
My tank parameters were at the following when I added them:
Temperature = 78.0 F (swings +/-0.5F, Fluval E heater)
Salinity (measured with a refractometer ) = 1.025g
Alkalinity (salifert test kit ) = 9.9 dKH
Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate (API test kit) = 0/0/0
I didn't bother measuring for phosphate/calcium at the start since the tank was running empty until the fish were added.
I acclimatized my two clownfish to bring them up to my tank temperature before I gave them a freshwater dip so I could start quarantine process (I've read on here that wild caught clownfish are very susceptible to all sorts of internal parasites/brook/marine velvet and so on). I set up a timer for 5 minutes after aerating the freshwater dip for around an hour before hand. This was by far the most nerve wracking part. I decided to pull them out at the 4 minute mark as they seemed to be coming up and gasping for air. They were then introduced to the quarantine tank.
On Tuesday I added API General Cure (Prazi + Metronidazole). Ever since I've noticed their appetite plummet. Previously they would peck at New Life Spectrum pellets but they stopped doing that. I've read that praziquantel can make them lose their appetite so I didn't worry too much but on Wednesday they didn't eat at all so I ran out and got some LRS Reef frenzy. Maybe frozen food would do the trick I thought. It was mostly hit and miss. Sometimes they'll peck at it and then just spit it out. Wednesday night they ravenously ate some of the seaweed in it. A whole gulp! Progress I thought. Come this morning their appetite seems to be gone again. Flakes/pellets/frozen brine shrimp. Nothing really seems to work. When feeding I turn off my return pump and the wave maker. They usually appear to host a little corner by the wave maker but when everything turns off rarely do they think "ooh food!". Instead, they take it as an opportunity to wander around the tank... ;Rage
Now I turn to the great collective consciousness of reef2reef. How do I save these two clowns who seem to be actively thwarting my every attempt to feed them
