New Clown Fish Will Not Eat

[Juka087]

So we are 2 days in, and my new davinci clown anton will not eat. I purchased Dainichi Marine Small Pellets from the store. They said that is what they feed them. He kinda chills out all day does not seem to be in distress or anything like that. When I turn off the return pump to attempt to feed him. He just comes to the front, and waits. The pellets sits up top, and just falls to the bottom. He does not seem to get it..... I have had 2 other clowns before, and never encountered this problem. They were greedy with the food. Any suggestions?

 

[Gareth elliott]

So we are 2 days in, and my new davinci clown anton will not eat. I purchased Dainichi Marine Small Pellets from the store. They said that is what they feed them. He kinda chills out all day does not seem to be in distress or anything like that. When I turn off the return pump to attempt to feed him. He just comes to the front, and waits. The pellets sits up top, and just falls to the bottom. He does not seem to get it..... I have had 2 other clowns before, and never encountered this problem. They were greedy with the food. Any suggestions?

Try some frozen foods or live foods. Live Brineshrimp is a good appetite enhancer.
if wish to switch over to pellets later. Slowly add more pellets to your frozen slurry over a few weeks.
you can also try selcon(omega fatty acids) or entice(banana flavoring) to try to get more interested.

 

[RunBikeSwim]

No need to panic. It may take a few more days before they start eating. They can go many days without food. it will eat when it is ready (hungry).

 

[Juka087]

No need to panic. It may take a few more days before they start eating. They can go many days without food. it will eat when it is ready (hungry).

We are on day 4 still has not eaten. I attempt to feed two times per day. even soaked the food in garlic.

 

[RunBikeSwim]

You’re starting to panic......
If it is happily swimming around, everything is fine.
It will eat when it is ready.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Try some frozen foods or live foods. Live Brineshrimp is a good appetite enhancer.
if wish to switch over to pellets later. Slowly add more pellets to your frozen slurry over a few weeks.
you can also try selcon(omega fatty acids) or entice(banana flavoring) to try to get more interested.

I agree with @Garethelliot. Frozen brine shrimp would be good to try, even better like he mentioned would live BBS

 

[Superman_Reefer]

I just added my Black Ice Snowflake clown to my tank. It has been 3 days now that he has not eaten. He ate Friday at our shop before i brought him home. He is swimming around fine and has no signs of illness. Hopefully he will eat this week. I have tried frozen brine shrimp pellets and flakes. He was separated from his friend due to the other clown having a parasite so that may be causing him stress. Stay tuned I will keep everyone posted!

 

[Gareth elliott]

I just added my Black Ice Snowflake clown to my tank. It has been 3 days now that he has not eaten. He ate Friday at our shop before i brought him home. He is swimming around fine and has no signs of illness. Hopefully he will eat this week. I have tried frozen brine shrimp pellets and flakes. He was separated from his friend due to the other clown having a parasite so that may be causing him stress. Stay tuned I will keep everyone posted!

Could try to subdue the lights a bit if stress is a factor.

If both clowns were in the same tank, if one has parasites its very likely the other one does too. Might be beneficial to treat both.

 

[Sashaka]

So we are 2 days in, and my new davinci clown anton will not eat. I purchased Dainichi Marine Small Pellets from the store. They said that is what they feed them. He kinda chills out all day does not seem to be in distress or anything like that. When I turn off the return pump to attempt to feed him. He just comes to the front, and waits. The pellets sits up top, and just falls to the bottom. He does not seem to get it..... I have had 2 other clowns before, and never encountered this problem. They were greedy with the food. Any suggestions?

You didn't mention when your tank was setup. New tank syndrome or random ammonia spikes in a new tank can cause stress and a fish may stop eating when this happens. My advice, check your tank perimeters and do a large 50% water change even if the parameters look good. Sometimes, just doing a water change is enough to turn things around. Just siphon and replace the water as quickly as possible so as not to stress the new clown as much as possible. Also, watch the fish closely for any physical signs of illness developing such as white or black spots, red streaks or odd patches of color on the body or fins. Good luck. Keep us posted.

I agree with Gareth. I would treat all your fish in your main display tank if you added the new clown to the tank without quarantine. The odds are VERY high that the fish carried in a parasite if it was housed with a fish that was confirmed to have a parasite. Many parasites are internal or hide in the gills where you can't see them.

 

[Juka087]

You didn't mention when your tank was setup. New tank syndrome or random ammonia spikes in a new tank can cause stress and a fish may stop eating when this happens. My advice, check your tank perimeters and do a large 50% water change even if the parameters look good. Sometimes, just doing a water change is enough to turn things around. Just siphon and replace the water as quickly as possible so as not to stress the new clown as much as possible. Also, watch the fish closely for any physical signs of illness developing such as white or black spots, red streaks or odd patches of color on the body or fins. Good luck. Keep us posted.

He died weeks ago.

 

[Sashaka]

Edit
@Superman_Reefer Sorry, I responded to the OP and meant to respond to Superman_Reefer.

You didn't mention when your tank was setup. New tank syndrome or random ammonia spikes in a new tank can cause stress and a fish may stop eating when this happens. My advice, check your tank perimeters and do a large 50% water change even if the parameters look good. Sometimes, just doing a water change is enough to turn things around. Just siphon and replace the water as quickly as possible so as not to stress the new clown as much as possible. Also, watch the fish closely for any physical signs of illness developing such as white or black spots, red streaks or odd patches of color on the body or fins. Good luck. Keep us posted.

I agree with Gareth. I would treat all your fish in your main display tank if you added the new clown to the tank without quarantine. The odds are VERY high that the fish carried in a parasite if it was housed with a fish that was confirmed to have a parasite. Many parasites are internal or hide in the gills where you can't see them.

 

[happyhourhero]

Frozen cyclops has always cracked the most refined clownfish’s hunger strike.

 

[Superman_Reefer]

Could try to subdue the lights a bit if stress is a factor.

If both clowns were in the same tank, if one has parasites its very likely the other one does too. Might be beneficial to treat both.

My co-worker (our in-house aquarist) recommended a freshwater (RO) bath for 3 minutes. He said that parasites can not survive in fresh RO. He said to do this for 3 minutes then out the clown fish back into the tank. He said to do this no more than 3 times and if there is a parasite you will see it in the dish that has the fresh RO. After that he said to do a water change.

 

[Juka087]

My co-worker (our in-house aquarist) recommended a freshwater (RO) bath for 3 minutes. He said that parasites can not survive in fresh RO. He said to do this for 3 minutes then out the clown fish back into the tank. He said to do this no more than 3 times and if there is a parasite you will see it in the dish that has the fresh RO. After that he said to do a water change.

Fish has died quite some time ago bro

 

[Superman_Reefer]

Edit
@Superman_Reefer Sorry, I responded to the OP and meant to respond to Superman_Reefer.

You didn't mention when your tank was setup. New tank syndrome or random ammonia spikes in a new tank can cause stress and a fish may stop eating when this happens. My advice, check your tank perimeters and do a large 50% water change even if the parameters look good. Sometimes, just doing a water change is enough to turn things around. Just siphon and replace the water as quickly as possible so as not to stress the new clown as much as possible. Also, watch the fish closely for any physical signs of illness developing such as white or black spots, red streaks or odd patches of color on the body or fins. Good luck. Keep us posted.

I agree with Gareth. I would treat all your fish in your main display tank if you added the new clown to the tank without quarantine. The odds are VERY high that the fish carried in a parasite if it was housed with a fish that was confirmed to have a parasite. Many parasites are internal or hide in the gills where you can't see them.

Update 12-26
** It has been 6 days now and my clown fish still has not eaten. Every time I feed him he seems to react but not eat. Also my inverts have not moved an inch since i added them last week. I did a 50% water change and re checked my parameters. Everything is on point with my water parameters. The only thing i can think of is that i am using different salt than what we use here at the shop. (we use instant ocean and i am using Aqua Forest at home). My corals in my tank are super happy but my clown and inverts are not doing well. The clown has zero signs of parasite or fungus. I had a light and magnifying glass up to his mouth and everything looks fine. The mystery continues!

 

[AC1211]

Update 12-26
** It has been 6 days now and my clown fish still has not eaten. Every time I feed him he seems to react but not eat. Also my inverts have not moved an inch since i added them last week. I did a 50% water change and re checked my parameters. Everything is on point with my water parameters. The only thing i can think of is that i am using different salt than what we use here at the shop. (we use instant ocean and i am using Aqua Forest at home). My corals in my tank are super happy but my clown and inverts are not doing well. The clown has zero signs of parasite or fungus. I had a light and magnifying glass up to his mouth and everything looks fine. The mystery continues!

Whats your acclimation? Try getting fish from a different store

 

[Sashaka]

Update 12-26
** It has been 6 days now and my clown fish still has not eaten. Every time I feed him he seems to react but not eat. Also my inverts have not moved an inch since i added them last week. I did a 50% water change and re checked my parameters. Everything is on point with my water parameters. The only thing i can think of is that i am using different salt than what we use here at the shop. (we use instant ocean and i am using Aqua Forest at home). My corals in my tank are super happy but my clown and inverts are not doing well. The clown has zero signs of parasite or fungus. I had a light and magnifying glass up to his mouth and everything looks fine. The mystery continues!

Did you try the foods @Gareth elliott suggested (reposted below)? Good advice there.

Try some frozen foods or live foods. Live Brineshrimp is a good appetite enhancer.
if wish to switch over to pellets later. Slowly add more pellets to your frozen slurry over a few weeks.
you can also try selcon(omega fatty acids) or entice(banana flavoring) to try to get more interested.

Small Frozen mysis soaked in a drop of garlic and/or live brine work for me to get a stressed fish eating; however, a sick fish needs medication. They usually don't eat until the underlying problem has been dealt with. I have to disagree with your source for information about freshwater dips. A freshwater dip WILL NOT kill all pathogens on a fish. To clarify, a freshwater dip is best used to provide relief for a fish suffering from flukes, lice, and/or other unknown pathogens lodged in the gills. In other words, it will confirm 'some' types of bugs feasting on a fish, but treatment is still needed to eradicate the nasties, and a second treatment is needed to get any hatching eggs. Keep us posted.

 

[Superman_Reefer]

Thank you all for the advice! So last night a brought home another clown fish and introduced him to my clown that has not been eating. Well wouldnt ya know it they paired up almost instantly and both of them ate last night. I woke up this morning to both fish swimming around happily. Looks as if my clown was just lonely! I will keep posted as the days go by lets hope that he is not sick!

 

[Superman_Reefer]

Update on Clown fish wont eat!

So today i brought my two clown fish back to our showroom. This morning i woke up to one of the fish on the bottom of the tank not looking so well. He had not eaten in 12 days. I brought him and the other clown fish (also not eating) back to my display tank in our office. After a few minutes (after acclimation) he was swimming with strength and ate some frozen brine shrimp (all of this was around 8am). At about 5 pm I fed them both again with a mix of frozen shrimps and loaded foods. They both ate as if it was thanksgiving day lol. Also the hermit crabs that seemed lifeless in my tank at home were brought back to the display tank at the office. Those hermit crabs have been running around the tank (scarlet crabs) like they should. Here are both tanks and their current water parameters and time running. They are both very similar and were started at the same time using the same cycle process. I can't seem to figure out what is going on with my tank at home but for now the plan is to leave it alone for 2-4 weeks with carbon in both filter socks. There are no fish in that tank but i am keeping the corals (listed below) due to the fact that they seem to be thriving (very strange since the fish and inverts are barely alive in this tank). Much appreciate all the education and advice from everyone here and in person. Love that this hobby and industry is full of passion and willingness to educate people new to it.


Home Tank:
18 Gallon C-Vue AIO
2 filter socks (carbon in each sock)
Bio balls
Live Rock (cycled at our showroom)
Carib Sea Hawaiian black sand
Aqua Forest Salt (non probiotic)
Kessil A360X (controlled with dongle)(running on 20% max intensity during peak hours)
Cobalt 100watt heater
Cobalt Return pump
Hydra 425 gph power head

Livestock:
Corals:
1 hammer head
2 torch
1 acan
5 zoas (1-3 heads each)


Parameters:
Salinity: 1.024
Temperature: 78-79 F
PH: 8.0-8.4
Alk: 200-250
Nitrate: 1-5
Nitrite: 0


Office Tank:
40 Gallon C-Vue AIO
2 filter socks
Bio balls
Live Rock (cycled at our showroom)
Carib Sea Fiji Pink Sand
Instant Ocean Marine Salt
2 Hydra 26 lights (running on 40% each max intensity during peak ours)
Cobalt 300watt heater
2 Cobalt return pumps (I believe around 240 gph each)

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.024
Temperature: 78-79 F
PH: 8.0-8.4
Alk: 200-250
Nitrate:1-5
Nitrite: 0

Livestock:

Fish:
1 Fire Goby
1 Saphire Damsel
1 Black Cap Damsel
1 Royal Gramma
1 Ocellaris clown (from my home tank)
1 Black Ice snowflake Clown (from my home tank)

Inverts:
1 Fire Shrimp
7-9 Scarlet hermit crabs (3 from my home tank)
6-8 snails (turbo and astraea snails)

Corals:
1 Red Cap Monti
3 Hammer Head
2 Green mushroom


If I missed anything or you want more information let me know! Happy New Year everyone!

 

[jimmypencil]

Update on Clown fish wont eat!

So today i brought my two clown fish back to our showroom. This morning i woke up to one of the fish on the bottom of the tank not looking so well. He had not eaten in 12 days. I brought him and the other clown fish (also not eating) back to my display tank in our office. After a few minutes (after acclimation) he was swimming with strength and ate some frozen brine shrimp (all of this was around 8am). At about 5 pm I fed them both again with a mix of frozen shrimps and loaded foods. They both ate as if it was thanksgiving day lol. Also the hermit crabs that seemed lifeless in my tank at home were brought back to the display tank at the office. Those hermit crabs have been running around the tank (scarlet crabs) like they should. Here are both tanks and their current water parameters and time running. They are both very similar and were started at the same time using the same cycle process. I can't seem to figure out what is going on with my tank at home but for now the plan is to leave it alone for 2-4 weeks with carbon in both filter socks. There are no fish in that tank but i am keeping the corals (listed below) due to the fact that they seem to be thriving (very strange since the fish and inverts are barely alive in this tank). Much appreciate all the education and advice from everyone here and in person. Love that this hobby and industry is full of passion and willingness to educate people new to it.


Home Tank:
18 Gallon C-Vue AIO
2 filter socks (carbon in each sock)
Bio balls
Live Rock (cycled at our showroom)
Carib Sea Hawaiian black sand
Aqua Forest Salt (non probiotic)
Kessil A360X (controlled with dongle)(running on 20% max intensity during peak hours)
Cobalt 100watt heater
Cobalt Return pump
Hydra 425 gph power head

Livestock:
Corals:
1 hammer head
2 torch
1 acan
5 zoas (1-3 heads each)


Parameters:
Salinity: 1.024
Temperature: 78-79 F
PH: 8.0-8.4
Alk: 200-250
Nitrate: 1-5
Nitrite: 0


Office Tank:
40 Gallon C-Vue AIO
2 filter socks
Bio balls
Live Rock (cycled at our showroom)
Carib Sea Fiji Pink Sand
Instant Ocean Marine Salt
2 Hydra 26 lights (running on 40% each max intensity during peak ours)
Cobalt 300watt heater
2 Cobalt return pumps (I believe around 240 gph each)

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.024
Temperature: 78-79 F
PH: 8.0-8.4
Alk: 200-250
Nitrate:1-5
Nitrite: 0

Livestock:

Fish:
1 Fire Goby
1 Saphire Damsel
1 Black Cap Damsel
1 Royal Gramma
1 Ocellaris clown (from my home tank)
1 Black Ice snowflake Clown (from my home tank)

Inverts:
1 Fire Shrimp
7-9 Scarlet hermit crabs (3 from my home tank)
6-8 snails (turbo and astraea snails)

Corals:
1 Red Cap Monti
3 Hammer Head
2 Green mushroom


If I missed anything or you want more information let me know! Happy New Year everyone!

Did you ever figure it out?