Final attempt in keeping Clownfish

Jonathan.T · Apr 20, 2019

I have my reef tank setup for about a year now. The current live stocks are a blue tank, fox face, six line wrasse ,diamond goby and a skunk shrimp which I've kept since day 1 till now. The problem that I have been facing is that I can never successfully keep clowns. They just seems to fall sick over time, I had issues such as brook, pop eye and swollen belly with all my clowns. It is weird as all this disease only happens to the clowns in my tank the other fish are not affected by it. I tried buying from different breeders but the issue still remains the same after a good 3/4 months the clowns will surely fall sick. Please advise as I really want to be successful in keeping clowns as it is the whole reason why I started this hobby

ludnix · Apr 20, 2019

Hey Jonathan, are you able to set up a quarantine tank for the next clowns?

Jonathan.T · Apr 20, 2019

ludnix said:
Hey Jonathan, are you able to set up a quarantine tank for the next clowns?

I did QT the 2 latest snowflakes that I bought 4 months back. Did a QT of copper, prazipro and metroplex for 6 weeks before introducing them into the DT. However this morning I lost one of the snowflakes upon inspection it had pop-eye.

W1ngz · Apr 20, 2019

is it possible the tang or 6 line is being aggressive toward the clowns? If I don't keep something in the algae clip for my tang, it picks on the clowns, pinning them in a corner. Stress and lack of food might be causing them to get sick, when an otherwise healthy fish would be fine.

Jonathan.T · Apr 21, 2019

It could be possibly true as I've seen the blue tang trying to somewhat do a'body slam' on them. Thanks for the tip, I will try to fatten the remaining clown fish up.

W1ngz said:
is it possible the tang or 6 line is being aggressive toward the clowns? If I don't keep something in the algae clip for my tang, it picks on the clowns, pinning them in a corner. Stress and lack of food might be causing them to get sick, when an otherwise healthy fish would be fine.

W1ngz · Apr 21, 2019

"Body-slamming" is the surgeonfish's defense/attack. They swipe at their target with a scalpel protuding from the sides of the tail. It's not just bumping it, it's trying to cut and injure the target.

While you're helping the clown recover, also put some dried seaweed, nori, as far away as possible from where the clownfish usually hang out. The tang will see that as it's food source and won't defend whatever resource it's protecting near the clownfish.

It could also be a lack of territory, depending on the size of the tank. The tang may just not feel it has enough room to share with others.

Jonathan.T said:
It could be possibly true as I've seen the blue tang trying to somewhat do a'body slam' on them. Thanks for the tip, I will try to fatten the remaining clown fish up.

drcole · Apr 22, 2019

What size is your tank?

RobW · Apr 22, 2019

Sounds to me like there is a tank bully! I've always been successful with clowns and tangs together. However I have always put the clowns in first and let them establish their territory. When I added tangs to the tank, I did a yellow, a purple, and a blue all at the same time and at a juvenile size. Tends to work better that way imo.

Jonathan.T · Apr 22, 2019

drcole said:
What size is your tank?

It is a 60 gallon tank.

W1ngz · Apr 22, 2019

Jonathan.T said:
It is a 60 gallon tank.

It's possible the tang has outgrown the tank. I usually go with the information on liveaquaria.com for suitable tank sizes. They suggest a 180 gallon is suitable for a blue tang.
Perhaps someone with more experience with tangs will follow up.