clownfish help

[jpond83]

i have a 10g and a 26g both had clownfish in it, they all died within a month of having them, i also had a 6g and the clown died. my salinity is 24 and all of my water paremeters are fine. theres plenty of flow in both tank. i dont know why i can keep clownfish. i have killed about 6 of them since i started this hobby. also my tanks have heaters and it stays at 78 degrees. no other fish i have ever had died but clownfish and its getting aggervating because i want clownfish. i dont know what to do. i should just paint a damsel orange and white

[Mr Cob]

...just don't use water colors.

[alton]

Here is my trick for what it is worth(not much these days) #1 When someone here on MAAST post one for sale jump on it. #2 Jeremy at B&B and Jason @ AD get the best colored ones, so what I do is stand there in front of the tank and watch each one to see which ones are busy bodies, the ones that are swimming around with a mission. If they are just flowing with the wind, hanging out, let them go.

[OrionN]

Wild caught clowns are prone to disease. They are not strong swimmer so will not do too well in high flow tanks. They mey be bother by their tank mate and stress out and get sick.
What are your other fishes? How big is your tank? Did you get tank raised clownfish?

[jpond83]

i always get my clowns from b&b, theres only a goby and a blenny in my 26g

[uriah]

I just bought a baby clown from Texas Tropical and within 24 hours he was dead :cry_smile: In taking the advice of the wise "slow and steady", I waited to add the clown. WELL.... I guess I just bought a bad fish because he didnt stand a chance.

-55g reef, 15g fuge, 65p lr, 45p ls, 8 bulb t5 fixture (Nova Extreme by Current) alternating light w fuge (10h display 14h fuge),amonia o, nitrate/trite o, ph 8.2-4, temp 76-78, and my other livestock is doing great (couple of damsels, mandarin dragonet and various inverts, small group of green star polyps)

[uriah]

Decided to add a sig so I dont have to keep typing what I have. Not that anyone cares! My tank is a baby compared to some of the users on this site! But im building up my arsenal.:innocent2:

[coraline79]

Had a ton of bad luck with clowns, but I finally got one from Petsrus a while back and it has been a survivor. I bought one from AD, B&B, AA, and Phenom, prior to being able have one live. This one I have had for about 10months, and I moved him to my new tank successfully last month.

[Texreefer]

Fish die for a reason, and I can tell you for sure that it was not just because you got a bad fish. there are bad collection techniques, there are bad fish stores and bad conditions that they go into.. I would never put a clown in a 6 gal.. clowns are hardy fish but need stable parameters.. we hear way too often that "all parameters are good",, but what does that mean? if you just test for salinity and temp and they are correct, does that mean all parameters are good? how long were each of these tanks set up and what other fish were in them. details like this will go a long way in helping determine where you are going wrong.. I own clowns and have raised clowns and can tell you that they are hardy fish but they need stable systems. I'm not trying to chastise anyone here, but when I hear things like "it was just a bad fish" that is the wrong approach to take,, from the collection to the fish shop to the final owner. someone did something wrong. buy captive whenever possible. and read and test your system.. tell us more about your systems and maybe we can help you with something you are missing

[OrionN]

Get captive raise clowns rather than wild collect clowns. The collection and shipping process really stress out the clowns and being house together, they got diseases spread like wild fire among them. If you are buying wild clowns, you really need quarantine and treatment tank.

[corkyGramma]

I don't believe it was a bad fish either. I mean it looked fine when you buy it right... it should have a better chance at home than in the store. Sometimes you should even question the test results. Some of those inexpensive kits won't indicate properly. There is a reason for every mysterious death...

[jpond83]

the fish was healthy when i got it, i get stuff from B&B all the time with no problems, so im sure its not the fish but what is it, all my coral and other fish are fine, i only have the problem with clownfish

[uriah]

we hear way too often that "all parameters are good",, but what does that mean? if you just test for salinity and temp and they are correct, does that mean all parameters are good? how long were each of these tanks set up and what other fish were in them. details like this will go a long way in helping determine where you are going wrong.. I own clowns and have raised clowns and can tell you that they are hardy fish but they need stable systems. I'm not trying to chastise anyone here, but when I hear things like "it was just a bad fish" that is the wrong approach to take,, from the collection to the fish shop to the final owner. someone did something wrong. buy captive whenever possible. and read and test your system.. tell us more about your systems and maybe we can help you with something you are missing[/quote]

Read what I wrote... Thought i outlined my paramiters in detail. Tanks been up for 3 months, tanks cycled and light bio load. Only test that i havent run are for calc mag or alk. Dont really see how that could hurt the fish either way. Doing reg monthly 20% h20 changes. Dont know if the fish was captive, but my tank is fine.

[uriah]

Sorry, ment to quote Texreefer.

The only thing i can think is the way i acclimated the fish. Floated for 20 min and did 50% h2o swap every 5 min for 15 min.

[dmweise]

What kind of clowns are you getting? I've always gotten aquacultured tomato clowns and have never had a problem.

[uriah]

I think its just a reg percula clown... Like I said before, I dont know if it was cultured or wild.

[uriah]

For everyone who said "I dont believe in bad fish", this is how you get a bad fish...

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48971

Same location I got my clown.

[hannahh78238]

I get my clowns from Alamo and they have done fine for several months now. Have you looked there yet?

[jpond83]

i realy dont think it is the fish, i got one somewhere else before too and it died. they were all perculas.

[CoryDude]

Don't think it's the lfs fault, but as everyone else is saying...tank raised clowns are much hardier than wild caught ones.

Pickup a copy "Clownfishes" by Joyce D Wilkerson. There's a good section with anatomy and disease info that could help you. It's helped me out a lot.

[jpond83]

thanks for the help i will make sure i ask before i buy next time. can seperating a pair make one of them die?