GCReef Onyx Clowns in the main display (day one, hour one)....

[Mr Cob]

Well, today I made a bold move because one of the clowns has been breathing heavily. I hate trying to maintain nano tanks, so I decided to risk it and add them to the main display.

I acclimated them slowly for 2 hours in the sump...here's some pics as I released them. The plastic container is there to provide some low flow/stagnant water in case they have trouble in the flow.

The one that was struggling in the nano seems to be doing better but keeps laying in the container as if he is weak. I'm staying hopeful though because I have had my fair share of fish casualties here recently and I'm not looking for any more deaths.

(pics taken with my phone)
http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceout.gif
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4327014856_1f3b1f4ae3.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4326998564_f8470ac0f9.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2692/4326260981_31d4916108.jpg

Here's the thread with pics of them in the temporary home:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56906&highlight=GCReef+onyx+clowns

[Europhyllia]

Tiny! Cute :) Fingers crossed for a quick recovery

[z28pwr]

Good Luck Rob, hopefully they will pull through.

[Third Coast Tropical]

Are they smaller than those slots that lead to the overflow in the back?....You may want to place some mesh over that if it is.

[Jarob]

im not that brave yet!!! What other fish are in there?

[Europhyllia]

How's the little guy this morning, Rob?

[Europhyllia]

Idea:
probably too late but what about keeping them in the fuge until they get bigger. Obviously they could go right through egg crate but you could get the grid thing that needle pointers call 'plastic canvas' to use over the egg crate in the fuge?
Hopefully they'll do just fine where they are. :)

[Mr Cob]

The little one is still the same as yesterday. The bigger one (healthy one) is doing fine.

The little one spends more time in the container and frequently lays down. The bigger one is spending most of "her" time in the BTA.

Jarob...I had to do it...my nano has been all over the place... didn't want to do it...but felt I needed to because things were looking worse.

Karin, thanks for asking about the little guy. Originally while I was acclimating I was planning to keep them in the fuge and I set up some live rock caves in there...BUT...I do not have my top off system set up at the moment because I'm working on swapping out my sump with a larger one...soooooo I'm dumping RO water in bulk daily.


FISH:
Purple Tang (4")
Yellow Tang (4")
Purple Firefish (3")
Cleaner Wrasse (3")
4 small Chromis (1.5")
Chrysiptera Springeri Damsel (1.5")
Yellow Watchman Goby (1.5")
pair of baby GCReef Onyx Clowns (1")

snails
no crabs except emeralds

....all are peaceful.

[Europhyllia]

Oh poor little guy. Maybe contact GC to see if they have some kind of GC clown resuscitation suggestion?

[bjgf15]

Just keep an eye on them if they wander too close to the overflow. I've had many clowns for whatever reason like to sleep right at the surface next to overflows before but since they're hosting in an anemone it shouldn't be an issue. Although, the suggestion about adding some screen over the intake teeth would put your your mind at ease ;)

[Mr Cob]

Yeah...I keep looking at it trying to access if they will fit through it or not....I guess if I have to ask then I should take action.

[ErikH]

Good luck buddy. :)

[Mr Cob]

Thanks.

[OrionN]

Good luck.
Here is my GCReef babies. They are just about 1 inch, in their new home.


http://maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5284&d=1265242664

[Mr Cob]

Nice Minh! Same generation? Yours have a lot of black!!!

One of mine is gone now....it was dead when I got home tonight......but the other looks great and I wish I would have moved them to the main display sooner....the one is finally eating like a champ!

[Jarob]

Minh what other fish do you have in with them? Im worried about adding mine to my 40g with a 3-4" blue tank, anthais, cleaner wrasse and mystery wrasse. Im most worried about my cleaner wrasse messing with them!

[Jarob]

SORRY TO HEAR ROB!!

[OrionN]

Sorry to hear about your fish Rob. These were the same patch. Three from the first patch raise by GCReef. I got them when they were about 1/2 inch, just start to got on dry flakes. There were no black on them before, but they developed really fast by themselves in a 24 g Aquapod. I keep them in the office and fed them 4 plus times a day except weekend.
I just move them and the Magnifica to my newly set up 30X30X25 cube last weekend. The rock in the tank is about 5 years in aquarium, so nothing to cure. I have the large rock in the aquarium with all new water for 10 days before I added the three clowns and anemone.
The two clowns in my cube tank at GCReef was the very first patch raised by Third Coast Tropical

Jarob,
Up until now I keep the baby clowns by themselves. I will add other fish to the 100 g cube in the near future. I will bring the anemone from GCReef home and put them in this tank. The clowns there will go into another tank.

[Europhyllia]

Wow Rob. Sounds like you need a little vacation. You have had a tough few weeks as far as fish go. So sorry. :(

[Mr Cob]

Yep....don't get me started... I have lost more fish in the last month or two then when I was new to the hobby.

[kkiel02]

Dont let it weigh you down things will start perking up for you pretty soon I'm sure.

[Kristy]

Oh man!... I'm so sorry to hear it. Such cool little fishies!

[DrMark]

Very sorry you lost one....
It is amazing to me that as soon as they go somewhere as singles or pairs how fast the black develops vs. when that are still with the group...
mark

[Mr Cob]

Thanks everyone.

Dr Mark....within a week their black had dramatically increased...was very cool to watch. I'll definitely be getting another one from you to pair up with the one that is left. She seems to be doing very well now and is eating like a champ. I still have the plastic container in the display right next to the BTA...and she swims back and forth between it and the BTA.

I guess my nano is not the best place for them....maybe because I have too many hydroids and aiptasia in there....or because my parameters fluctuate....I'm not sure. Just wish I would have caught it before the little one starting showing bad signs.

[OrionN]

Just as Mark said, as soon as mine got put into a tank of their own, the color up drastically. My three Onyx does not leave the Magnifica at this time, not even 1.5 inches. food float by just float by unless it is within an inch or so of the anemone, then it got gobble up. Otherwise, the clowns just ignored it. The only three fish in this tank is the three clowns. All three of mine is very similar in marking and color. One have not completely form the second bar yet. They are all black from first to third bar.

[Third Coast Tropical]

Rob....I wouldnt lose too much faith in that small biocube. I have kept fish in 5 gallon systems in variable conditions, mainly high salinities, with only a heater and aeration....no filtration. Only water changes. And no loses at that size or bigger. Clowns are amazingly tough and able to handle quite a bit. Now, I know that doesn't explain your loss, but I don't think you should blame the system entirely. Lots of things could have been happening. I lost one of mine last week in a 29 gal system when everything appeared great. Still baffled about it.

I'll pass on what one of my mentors at UTMSI told me when I first started working there several years ago when I walked in and found a very nice, and very large red drum on the floor. I felt horrible. It wasn't my fault. I just happened to be the first one that walked in that morning, but after I told him about it,he told me, "Lindsay, fish die" That was it. Fish die. And he was right. Sometimes you can explain it, or figure it out, sometimes youre left in bewilderment. I have seen alot of fish die. No fun. Even had to euthanize some intentionally for research. No fun. I am sorry you lost your fish. There will be other fish though. So, with that said...good luck and dont lose faith in the small system....they are good for lots and the fish are capable of living in there until a larger size.

[Mr Cob]

Lindsay, thx for the comments....that encourages me, as you may know I also recently lost a large Kole tang and shortly after that a quad of Square Anthias all in my main display....the quad fought and they all died....go figure. The Kole I lost to Ich and now this clown. Starting to get a bit expensive.

Prior to this, I can't remember losing a fish in the last 2 years.

So...update: I'm embarrassed to say that the one clown that I thought was doing well is now showing the same signs as the last one. She was laying in the plastic container (in the main display) this evening....occasionally swimming.....Sooooo I did a large water change on the BioCube and then acclimated her back into it...otherwise I'm worried the flow will scoop her away in the MD. I'm sure I stressed her even more with switching back and forth and I'm kind of upset at myself for not having a clear game plan and sticking to it. Seems I keep reacting to problems and my reactions are not proving to change anything but only bring the fish closer to death.

So...with the update now out there...

"Fish Die"

[aquasport24]

How are other fishes doing in the big tank?

[Europhyllia]

Poor Rob. Poor little clown :(

Maybe for the time being suspend your routine of thawing and refreezing your frozen food so that more of the nutrients are preserved and are available to assist the fish in getting better?

This must be devastating. I hope the little clown pulls through!

[Mr Cob]

Giau the other fish are perfect and fat and healthy.....they have all been with me from 1-3 years. I have only had random problems with the new fish.

-Large Kole Tang (did great for about 3 months then the Yellow Tang and Purple Tang of equal size started challenging her)
-Anthias Quad (did horrible from the beginning, I had a female challenge the male and he did not give in so they fought and fought...split into two pairs and then all of them died in the first week)
-Onyx Clowns (did great the first week, eating and everything, then I lost the first one a day ago and now the other one is on the way out...I have no idea on these guys....they both have been eating Mini Mysis regularly)

....I can only chalk it up as being bad luck. Perhaps I could have prevented the 2nd clown that is showing bad signs by never trying to add her to the MD in the first place as she was fine in the BioCube, but I freaked when the first one died. Dumb move on my part.

[Mr Cob]

Poor Rob. Poor little clown :(

Maybe for the time being suspend your routine of thawing and refreezing your frozen food so that more of the nutrients are preserved and are available to assist the fish in getting better?

This must be devastating. I hope the little clown pulls through!

Thanks, Karin. I kind of like where you are going with this. I had not thought of the possibility that the nutrients are being filtered out a bit through this process.

Am I understanding you correctly?

Interesting.

The clowns have been getting Mini Mysis and they tear into it unlike my refreeze stuff. Perhaps I should have only been feeding this the entire time.

[aquasport24]

Did you use some water from the big tank to do WC for the biocube? after the quad incident?

[saabtech]

it can be stressful and most bad decisions are made in a hurry.... wish you the best but im sorry for the loss.

[aquasport24]

The reason am asking is to see if they related to the quad's death. B/C i lost 8 fishes after my Anthias gone. Fishes just started to drop one after another,somtimes two, even my 2yrs old blond naso is gone too.

[Mr Cob]

Did you use some water from the big tank to do WC for the biocube? after the quad incident?

No. That is one thing I have made sure not to do...especially after my tangs had ich in the MD. In fact the BioCube has been running fish-less for over 6 months....I was letting the pod life develop in order to add dwarf seahorses in the future....seemed like the perfect place for the baby clowns for obvious reasons....


it can be stressful and most bad decisions are made in a hurry.... wish you the best but im sorry for the loss.

Thanks...yes this has been proven true. I'm normally the sit it out and wait kind of hobbyist.... definitely not lately though...kind of been on TILT I guess.

[Mr Cob]

The reason am asking is to see if they related to the quad's death. B/C i lost 8 fishes after my Anthias gone. Fishes just started to drop one after another,somtimes two, even my 2yrs old blond naso is gone too.

MAN! Sorry to hear about that Giau. Dude...I have no idea...I'm tired of trying to figure what's going on because nothing is consitent with anything.

Your issue seems to be a little more isolated though.

[Gseclipse02]

thats crazy rob


for a while i went threw 3 or 4 different types of tangs all with the same result death .... all i did was stop buying tangs from stores and buying them from people since than all have made it

[Europhyllia]

I am with Giau (sorry for all the losses). I'd still be looking for some kind of connection. Maybe the in the system existing ich is attacking the the stressed fish (being new as being the factor for being stressed) or something. I have no clue.
I am just worried if there is a connection it may affect any other future new additions.

About the food. Thawing and refreezing damages the cell walls which leads to nutrient loss. Surely not a cause of death but perhaps not helping with recovery either if the food has a lower nutrientional value than it normally wood?