Clowns Dying?

[ThatDarnDragon]

I bought 2 clown fishes earlier today (about 10 hours ago) and now they are at the very top of the tank. They are swimming (or struggling?) but they keep letting themselves float towards the filter.

I checked the water, everythings fine.

what am I doing wrong and how can I help them?

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

I failed to mention:

the tank's a 10 gallon
Temp's 75
PH- 7

new tank that I let going and cycling for few hours.

other fish:
Yellow Tang
Pistol Shrimp
spot damsel
blue devil damsel
and of course the 2 clowns.

Other fish looks like they're doing fine.

 

[wuvmybetta]

uhhhm

Firstly,make sure you have plenty of aeration.

Secondly, uggh.... Curse the store that told you it was ok to put all those fish in a 10 gallon,let alone at once! Let alone in a 10 gallon!
Read this on cycling
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

and then tell me that you have lots of live rock and live sand

(by the way,I'm moving this to the marine forum where you'll get better help!)

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

err.. I think I will have to curse the store, they said I didnt need live rocks or sand.. i just have gravel..


I'll exchange the coral i have for a live rock tomorrow after work.. its 2:30 am now. Hopefully that will help

Thanks for finding a better place for my posts

 

[wuvmybetta]

Certainly. And the live rock/sand will just help your tank cycle faster from what I know. Mind you, I'm no salty! But I've listened in on convos at my lfs

I hope that will pacify until someone who KNOWS what they're talking about comes around

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

I hope so.

One of the clowns is now down and swimming about, and has been for about 10 mins, so that I think will do ok, the other's just wiggling in a corner furthest from the filter only cuz I guided it away from there.


Why do pet stores tell me one thing and I find something entirely different later? Literally, I went to 4 petstores and they all told me the same thing. -.-;


Oh yea, plenty of aeration, got that air pump going

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

Update: its 8:40 am, and one clown is swimming along the side of the tank staying on one area, but the other one is still in the corner. Its trying to go down, but it goes up. I tested the water again, it was low on salt, so I added some more to even it up.

After work, I'll get some live rock and request some matured gravel to help with the cycling. any other suggestions to help?

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

Update again:

Karen (me) was very stupid and got paranoid over nothing.. I just realized the lights reduced their activity when I turned it off.

Me being a newbie at salt water fish (and sorta fresh water aside from lots of bettas and one fish that lived in the basement for over 8 years...) didnt think fish 'sleep' and remain active all night long with the lights off. I was worried for nothing..

But I will still get the live rocks and matured gravel anyway since the tank is still fairly new.

 

[Navarre]

Just read your post with interest. Im glad to hear the clowns are swimming happily. I am afraid to say that you are higly likely to get real problems ahead of you. The tang is totally out of its environment for a tank this size. 100 gallon minimum for a yellow tang.. 125 gallons or more for most other tangs.
Tangs grow large and are open water swimmers. 10 gallons ( I assume this is US gallons which means its probably only 7 UK gallons) will stress the tang probably to the point of sending it mad or catchijng whitespot (tangs are easily stressed and whitespot is ususly what they bring with them)

In a 10 gallon tank you should be looking at a stocking level of 2 clowns.. perhaps a goby but nothing more. Marines cannot be stocked like freshwater fish, they give off enormous amounts of waste material when compared to the freshwater cousins and thus they needs more space per gallon. They are also highly territorial and a tank of this size is going to cause problems with the fish you have as they will eventually beginto fight over this space.

lastly.. you mentioned the tank was cycling for 2 hours and yet you had all these fish in the tank.. you have no sand or live rock and only gravel? If this is true then i give the tank a week before you get a wipeout. )
The ammonia is going to increase at a high rate (marines give of alot of ammonia, they even give out ammonia when they breath).

If you arent using live rock then you tank needs to cycle for about a month before its safe to introduce any form of fish. with the amount of fish you have in this tank the ammonia is going to go off like a rocket im afraid to say.

I would urge you to return the tang (preferrably all the fish) and get at least 10lbs of live rock, this will cycle the tank far faster. get a skimmer in place if possible for a tank thjis size as it can reduce waste before it gets changed into ammonia.

Sorry to sound so negative but your lfs has really done you no favours and the money you have spent out will be wasted in dead fish within a week or so. It makes me mad to see shops trying to make a fast buck with no regard for the welfare of the fish and any care for the customers that they should be trying to make return for more items at a later stage.

Hope it works out well for you. )

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

I got some live rock and sand now, the petshop was nice enough to let me buy one of theirs and gave me some of their matured gravel and sand, so hopefully that will help. I hate it when petshops gives me the wrong info! and thanks so much for your input, it helped

 

[Navarre]

I would do something about that tang. Its a timebomb waiting to go off imsorry to say. )

Perhaps exchange it for a Cherub angel? A gorgeos fish that is better suited to small tanks.

 

[chkltcow]

You also need to do something to get the pH up to marine range... .as close to 8.3 as you can. I'm surprised moving the fish from the tank they were in to one with that pH didn't shock them and kill them right then.

If I were you, I'd get rid of both damsels and the tang. If you want to keep the shrimp, you should probably get a small watchman goby to make it feel more comfortable having a bodyguard around. Otherwise, the two clowns are probably all a 10g tank can sustain. Damsels are WAY too aggressive to keep in there with them in a tank of that size.

 

[Navarre]

Damsels are WAY too aggressive to keep in there with them in a tank of that size

I have to agree sorry ) Just didnt want to ruin your enthusiasm all on one go sorry

A watchman goby will be a great addtion to the shrimp. in fact the relationship between these 2 creatures is one of the most fascinating things you can watch in your own tank. The shrimp is poor sighted and uses the goby as its alarm. the goby likes the security of the large clawed defender and they will stick close together.. the shrimp will always be touching hte goby with its feelers so it will be alerted at the first sign of trouble. they will dig a tunnel and share this home together. fascinating to watch

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

thing is, I cant return them now. I called the petshop, they refuse to take them back. I argued with the manager too. I checked other petshops and they said no as well.

Well, they all are very tiny right now and I AM planning on getting a bigger tank, a 50-100 gall and I can transfer the tang and damsels over. Just not right away, but soon.

 

[ostrow]

After adding the rock and sand you are likely down to maybe 5 gallons of water.

If no store near you (where are you) will take them, find a local club (check Reef Central for a listing of clubs and you'll find one near you) and someone to hold the fish for you until you have a tank that can handle them.

A 4-ft tank minimum is needed (75-110 gallons) to keep these fish. But sounds to me like you might want to do a lot of reading on this hobby before going much further as frustration lies ahead, and money wasted and lives lost.

You might note the consistency of this message here. At least read the pinned articles at the top of the saltwater discussion forum here.