New clown gonna be ok? :(

[gemini9]

I brought home my first clownfish today. Percula... I duno if he's a false percula or a true percula... but anyway, since my tank conditions are way different than lfs, I acclimated him for several hours via driop method. Swapping water until the conditions in the bucket were similar to my tank. When I dipped him out and put him in my tank, he seemed extremely disoriented. He sunk straight to the bottom of the tank and stayed there for quite some time. Some time has passed and he's swimming around a little bit better now, but he still seems a little confused, stressed and disoriented. Seems rather sluggish. Since I'm not experienced at this acclimation and new fish introduction, I want to make sure everything is okay. Is it normal for a fish to be a little sluggish and disoriented when first placed in the aquarium? He's such a beautiful fish and i want to make sure he's going to be okay. :sad:

 

[gemini9]

Still watching him. He's off the bottom of the tank, but now he's clear over on the left hand side against the glass and he keeps swimming right up against the glass. He hasn't swam to the middle of the other side of the tank yet. Worried about his weird behavior.... is this normal?

 

[Pete polyp]

Mine stayed in one corner for two weeks when I first got her. She's still in the tank 23 months later

 

[gemini9]

Nervous! My girlfriend brought home a coral beauty a few weeks ago and it died the next day. I watched this clown in the lfs for 2 weeks before bringing him home. I don't wanna lose him like I did the coral beauty. He seems to be ok so far. haha he looooves swimming in straight towards my powerhead in the water flow. Put some food in the tank and he ate a few pieces but seemed to mostly just nip at most of the flakes. Ha ha it's so cute how he swims toward the powerhead. What a cute brightly colored little guy he is! He was listed as a Percula, but how do I know if he was a True Percula or a False Percula? Paid $40 for him.

 

[Pete polyp]

Sounds like its a healthy fish if its eating flake. Usually percula are more of a dingy orange and have more black than the ocellaris.

 

[fishroomlady]

if he's eating and swimming in the powerhead flow, I would say those are good signs.

 

[gemini9]

haha he's such a cute fish and he seems to be having fun in there! He is an extremely bright orange, much brighter than the clark ii they had in the other tank. He's got allot of black on his fins and very lively. I was looking up pics of false percula and true percula and they all look the same to me. But either way, he's still adorable and I think he'll be just fine! I was a little worried at first. And he is getting along well with my damsel, emerald crab, snails and hermits.

My only other question is, should I leave him in there by himself or get him a mate? I may go to lfs tomorrow... I am VERY tempred to buy the 2nd clown I was looking at. Is it a good idea to have 2 of them or would that cause problems?

 

[Pete polyp]

Two won't be a problem for you. What you want to make sure of is that you get a juvenile. Two females wont get along. It sounds like the one you have is good and healthy. If you post a picture we might be able to identify which one it is

 

[gemini9]

Posted a few pics of him in the Clown board to see if someone can identify him. He seems a little more sluggish today than he was yesterday. A little more worn out it seems. Since the Coral Beauty I had died in a few days, I can't help but worry about this clown as well. He's been in the tank since Friday night.

 

[fishroomlady]

I would get a mate - one of a smaller size or the same size (based on the pic you have on the other board - your current fish looks to be a juvenile) - that way they can "grow up" together and become a mated pair hopefully. Don't be surprised if your clown's behavior changes day to day or even within a day - clowns are very interesting in that they can demonstrate unusual behavior - they say it's clowns being clowns

 

[Pete polyp]

I think you need to keep an eye on ammonia. I'm familiar with your tank. I'm afraid the lack of feeding for the past several months may cause you to have an ammonia spike. It would be a good idea to wait a couple weeks before adding another fish.

 

[gemini9]

I already got him. He's acclimating as we speak. I've been feeding. I have had a yellowtail damsel in there for about 3-4 weeks and have been light feeding her. Before that, I had some hermits and have been dropping shrimp pellet in there once in awhile for them. So it's not a sudden change in feeding habits. I have stepped it up to feeding twice a day now tho. Small portions. I checked ammonia friday night and looked ok. pH was about 8.0ish. nitrites were 0 and nitrates were about 40ppm... which as you probably remember, 40ppm is pretty daggon good compared to my history haha. It's getting better. I'm a happy guy. Salinity is a little low at 1.021 so I'll gradually start bringing that up a little bit. Temp is 78.

 

[gemini9]

The clown I picked up today was the other clown I have been watching for the past 2 weeks. He's not quite as colorful as the one I got friday, and he is slightly larger, but is still a young clown. They both were in the same tank so hey, they should be acquainted haha. I'm just glad the damsel is leaving them alone. Damsel seems rather shy.... but is also just a baby.

 

[Pete polyp]

Sounds like you're on the right track. I wouldn't worry about the salinity too much with fish only. I'm happy to see that you stuck with it and didn't give up

 

[gemini9]

Yeah I'm glad I stuck with it too. These two clowns are flippin adorable. They always seem to be swimming together. It's like they are a couple or something and it's pretty cute. Both seem to be doing very well. Pretty awesome. I'm going to order thos T5 lights so hopefully I can get them an anemone. I picked up a Blue/Red fiddler crab for a couple bucks and it's the most boring creature in the tank. He burrows in the sand under a rock and stays there. The emerald crab pops out every once in awhile. Every critter in here seems to have their own personality... pretty awesome. Well, everything except for the snails. The snails are just... there.... and since reefcleaners sent me 120 of them... they are everywhere lol