New Reefer in SD

[silver8]

Hello,

I’m new to reefing and have been absorbing tons of info on this site. Thank you to all who share your experience for us newbies!

Unfortunately, I have had my tank for about 60 days and 1 of my clownfish is struggling and would appreciate any advice! Pictures attached. It’s the larger of the two clownfish that have been in the tank since I set it up 60 days ago. New corral was added about 18 days ago. Performed a 50% water change today. Water change about 15 days ago was also 50%.
I had recently began turning on light about 5 days ago pretty consistently in attempt to get everything used to the light but poor fella always rushed back into hiding which started to limit its feeding time.
I look forward to your advice!

 

[silver8]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The second soft dorsal fin of this fish shows some damage. Oddly, because with clownfish, it is usually the larger that damages the smaller ones. Still, the linear damage on this fish is from some bite damage, so it must be the smaller clown doing that. In some cases, there is another underlying problem that causes one fish to be weaker, and more susceptible to being attacked.

More information is needed to try and figure out what might be going on here. This post explains all that. In addition, a short video can really help us see what could be going on:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unusual that the smaller clown would be the aggressor but appears to be the case and fish will need to be isolated in order to offer best chance of recovery and healing ?

 

[Kasrift]

Hello,

I’m new to reefing and have been absorbing tons of info on this site. Thank you to all who share your experience for us newbies!

Unfortunately, I have had my tank for about 60 days and 1 of my clownfish is struggling and would appreciate any advice! Pictures attached. It’s the larger of the two clownfish that have been in the tank since I set it up 60 days ago. New corral was added about 18 days ago. Performed a 50% water change today. Water change about 15 days ago was also 50%.
I had recently began turning on light about 5 days ago pretty consistently in attempt to get everything used to the light but poor fella always rushed back into hiding which started to limit its feeding time.
I look forward to your advice!

Hey welcome, I'm also in San Diego. Do you have a picture of the other clown? Are they the same type, not like a lightning maroon clown and an ocellaris for example.

 

[silver8]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The second soft dorsal fin of this fish shows some damage. Oddly, because with clownfish, it is usually the larger that damages the smaller ones. Still, the linear damage on this fish is from some bite damage, so it must be the smaller clown doing that. In some cases, there is another underlying problem that causes one fish to be weaker, and more susceptible to being attacked.

More information is needed to try and figure out what might be going on here. This post explains all that. In addition, a short video can really help us see what could be going on:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thank you Jay! I will upload a video tomorrow but here is an image with my historical test results + notes and an image of the tank and second smaller healthy clownfish.

I have a 10 gallon tank with hang over filtration and two pump. The tank is about 60 days young and had gone through a nitrogen cycle. Corals were added 05Feb and although I began the tank with Red Sea Coral Pro, I began water changed using Red Sea Salt 08Feb.
I began turning on a broad spectrum coral light about 5-6 days ago and noticed the large clownfish not take it well and hide excessively. I believe he may have became malnourished due to infrequent eating.

 

[silver8]

Hey welcome, I'm also in San Diego. Do you have a picture of the other clown? Are they the same type, not like a lightning maroon clown and an ocellaris for example.

Yes same type. Picture in my reply to Jay’s post

 

[silver8]

Thank you Jay! I will upload a video tomorrow but here is an image with my historical test results + notes and an image of the tank and second smaller healthy clownfish.

I have a 10 gallon tank with hang over filtration and two pump. The tank is about 60 days young and had gone through a nitrogen cycle. Corals were added 05Feb and although I began the tank with Red Sea Coral Pro, I began water changed using Red Sea Salt 08Feb.
I began turning on a broad spectrum coral light about 5-6 days ago and noticed the large clownfish not take it well and hide excessively. I believe he may have became malnourished due to infrequent eating.

The tank is both fish and coral and no deaths for either.

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

In looking at the picture of the second clown, that reinforces the possibility that it is fighting with the first one. Clownfish often do not get along and when they do, they often have a "love/hate" relationsip. In some cases, the stop fighting and bond, in other cases, they have to be separated.

jay