Clownfish look bad

[lsawchuk]

Hello everyone. I purchase some pretty caramel clownfish. They looked great... Until the hosted in my zoanthids and now they've turned black with white mouths, they look rough! Is this normal??

 

[mochaclownlover]

Some clown fish turn black as they mature. I'm not to sure whats up with the white/rough mouth,but i doubt it's from the zoas.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

@Humblefish

 

[Humblefish]

Can fish get palytoxin poisoning? Thinking out loud here...

 

[Humblefish]

I'm thinking they can. I've seen some stubborn fish get stung (and even killed) by LPS sweepers because they refused to find a new sleeping den.

 

[Humblefish]

Look here: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/clownfish/56660-can-zoanthids-kill-clown-fish.html

 

[lsawchuk]

Thank you!! Ok. They are toxic but what do I do? I only have 1 tank...

 

[Humblefish]

Thank you!! Ok. They are toxic but what do I do? I only have 1 tank...

Well, with only 1 tank your options are limited. Personally, I would remove the clowns to a QT for observation and to get them away from those zoas.

 

[lsawchuk]

As soon as I pressed send I knew I needed a QT tank...only option really. I did see someone put a strawberry basket over the zoas to keep fish from nesting... Smart or stupid??

 

[Humblefish]

As soon as I pressed send I knew I needed a QT tank...only option really. I did see someone put a strawberry basket over the zoas to keep fish from nesting... Smart or stupid??

That might work as a temporary solution. Or if you have an acclimation box, you could put the clowns (or zoas) in there. At the end of the day, I'm thinking one or the other is going to need to be rehomed. Fish can be very stubborn, even to their own detriment. You could try supplying the clowns with an anemone or some other coral to play host, to get them to leave the zoas alone.

 

[nmertz1]

You should be fine. I had the same issue with my clowns hosting Zoas, frogspawn, etc. they would definitely get "burn" marks but eventually they faded. Maybe built up an immunity. I wouldn't worry too much