New clownfish stopped eating; always in corner of tank

[BelieveInBlue]

On March 11th I purchased a pair of clowns, 1 black, 1 orange, both ocellaris.

Initially, neither clown ate, but they would hang out together in the middle of the tank.

March 13th I fed both clowns a bit of mysis: the black one ate; the orange one did not. They also separated at this time, with the orange one exploring the tank and the black one attempting to host my frogspawn, to no avail (he would rest on the frogspawn for a few seconds then dart away as if he was stung).

The next day (14th), the black one moved to the top left corner of the tank, next to the outflow where the water enters the DT. It's been there ever since and has stopped eating. I even tried dropping food on its head (brine shrimp and chopped up bloodworms), and got no response, not even a nibble.

The orange one is doing fine now; it's always out in the open and is eating, but not voraciously going after food, though I think that'll come with time.

Tank parameters:

ammonia: 0
nitrates: ~5
pH: 8.2
Ca: 490
Mg: 1480
kH: 9.5
SG: 1.026

Livestock:
the 2 clowns in question
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 blood red fire shrimp
1 electric blue leg hermit (molted on day 2 and just yesterday started to move around again)
1 scarlet hermit (currently flipped over and chilling on the sand bed)
bunch of snails (turban [tectus] snails have not moved since I bought them, but the rest are exploring the tank well)
bunch of corals, which all seem to be doing great

Tank is about 2 weeks old. Is this normal? I know clowns tend to be strange little buggers, but going from eating to not eating is a pretty big red flag isn't it?

I did notice the orange one swim up to the black one and try to pair with it to no avail a few days ago. No signs of aggression or anything like that. Both clowns are fairly small, at a little over an inch, both roughly the same size.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Do you know what they were eating at the store when you bought them?

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Do you know what they were eating at the store when you bought them?

No clue. Unfortunately I was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot to ask.

 

[CrimsonTide]

They can live for awhile without eating. If the store was feeding them the small hatchling pellets that might be better but it could take them a few days to eat anything if they are stressed. But it is going on day 6 so I would hope they are both eating a small bit everyday. How many times are you trying to make them eat per day? Staying near an overflow or something is not unusual for a clown both of mine host one. Spend 80+% of their day there. You don't see any cuts or lesions on the black one do you? No spots or anything that say sickness?

 

[BelieveInBlue]

They can live for awhile without eating. If the store was feeding them the small hatchling pellets that might be better but it could take them a few days to eat anything if they are stressed. But it is going on day 6 so I would hope they are both eating a small bit everyday. How many times are you trying to make them eat per day? Staying near an overflow or something is not unusual for a clown both of mine host one. Spend 80+% of their day there. You don't see any cuts or lesions on the black one do you? No spots or anything that say sickness?

I usually offer them food twice a day, sometimes 3.

I have frozen mysis, brine shrimp, bloodworms, NLS small fish pellet, normal 1mm pellet, flake food, and lots of live pods, which I've noticed appear to be disappearing slowly, so maybe they're eating that?

No signs of disease/injury, but he appears to be breathing rapidly?

He's not actually hosting the output nozzle he's just up in the corner next to it.

 

[Frogspon]

I usually offer them food twice a day, sometimes 3.

I have frozen mysis, brine shrimp, bloodworms, NLS small fish pellet, normal 1mm pellet, flake food, and lots of live pods, which I've noticed appear to be disappearing slowly, so maybe they're eating that?

No signs of disease/injury, but he appears to be breathing rapidly?

He's not actually hosting the output nozzle he's just up in the corner next to it.

lol sounds like mine... I think it's just a product of being captive bred and so far removed from the wild. They're a lil slow if you catch my drift.

 

[Randy’s reef]

100% sure it’s acclimating ,just give a few more days and don’t bother it it will be fine clowns are probably the easiest hardiest fish you can keep in my opinion !

 

[BelieveInBlue]

100% sure it’s acclimating ,just give a few more days and don’t bother it it will be fine clowns are probably the easiest hardiest fish you can keep in my opinion !

Boy I certainly hope so. I've never gotten this attached so quickly to fish before. It just bugs me a little that the one that seemed to acclimate quickly did a reversal and the one that took a bit longer to adjust is now doing better.

 

[ReeferLou]

No clue. Unfortunately I was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot to ask.

Last 2 times I bought clowns for my tank I was also concerned about getting them to eat so I called seller when I got home and asked what exact foods they use and bough the exact same. I will say I was impressed with the TDO pellets for my last pair of lightning maroons. They had to wait for BRS to deliver but glad I ordered it.

In future, I will ask for a small sample of food from the seller if I remember. Good luck. It does seem to me that the clowns took a week to accept the other foods - even frozen. 1 is even still picky about flake

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Last 2 times I bought clowns for my tank I was also concerned about getting them to eat so I called seller when I got home and asked what exact foods they use and bough the exact same. I will say I was impressed with the TDO pellets for my last pair of lightning maroons. They had to wait for BRS to deliver but glad I ordered it.

In future, I will ask for a small sample of food from the seller if I remember. Good luck. It does seem to me that the clowns took a week to accept the other foods - even frozen. 1 is even still picky about flake

Honestly I thought about doing this but decided not to/forgot because everything I've read and heard says that clowns are very easy fish to keep.

In any case, the black clown has moved out from the back corner of the tank to the front corner, under one of my power heads... The orange clown appears ecstatic with this recent development and has spent the last half hour excitedly swimming around the black clown and courting it. So, here's to hoping it really was just taking a bit longer to acclimate.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Update: he's moved from the power head to the front of the tank near/on the sand bed. Breathing seems to be very rapid, especially compared to the other clown. He also seems to be swimming on his side right up against the glass. Here's a video. Is this still just part of the acclimation process?