Amount a clown eats

Scubareefman

Scubareefman

New member
:fish2:I have two baby clowns in my QT that were born in Dec. Both are eating but very little. They are super active, seem to find the steepest current in the tank and battle the water flow lol. I have been feeding very small marine fish slow sinking pellets. They eat one, and let the other few pass by, if I drop a bit more they will do this again but only take a total of 3 pellets twice a day. they are both about 1/2 inch in size so I am thinking that's enough to get their little bellies full but just want to make sure.

I'm spawning some brine just incase, let me know if I am under feeding.

FYI, I have tried frozen brine, krill, misi, and flake with zero eaten.
 
Welcome to the club.

I have 4 pairs of wild percula and their food preferences vary vastly
Pair 1 prefers Hikkari Marine S pellets, live tigger pods, R.O.E. and Cyclops. They also take some Spirulina Brine Shrimp and SFB Mysis. They don't like Hikkari Mysis and overall rather eat not much. The female never really shows a belly.
Pair 2 eats all frozen foods but prefers Cyclops and Brine Shrimp. They don't like any dry foods so far.
Pair 3 eats Cyclops, Brine Shrimp and Mysis but never eat a lot. They don't take dry food.
Pair 4 eats everything I throw at them until they have round bellies. These guys are like I knew clownfish in the past - little Pac-Mans

In the past all my clowns were like pair 4 - they would eat everything from flakes over frozen to even boiled peas. And they would stuff themselves to the gills - until nothing more would go in.


For your babies you may want to try frozen Cyclops before going to larger foods. Freshly hatched brine shrimp are not the most nutritious so you may want to look into growing them a bit and enriching them.

You may also want to give your little clowns a ceramic flowerpot as anemone replacement. It will help keeping them out of the corners and give them a home.
 
ThRoewer said:
Welcome to the club.

I have 4 pairs of wild percula and their food preferences vary vastly
Pair 1 prefers Hikkari Marine S pellets, live tigger pods, R.O.E. and Cyclops. They also take some Spirulina Brine Shrimp and SFB Mysis. They don't like Hikkari Mysis and overall rather eat not much. The female never really shows a belly.
Pair 2 eats all frozen foods but prefers Cyclops and Brine Shrimp. They don't like any dry foods so far.
Pair 3 eats Cyclops, Brine Shrimp and Mysis but never eat a lot. They don't take dry food.
Pair 4 eats everything I throw at them until they have round bellies. These guys are like I knew clownfish in the past - little Pac-Mans

In the past all my clowns were like pair 4 - they would eat everything from flakes over frozen to even boiled peas. And they would stuff themselves to the gills - until nothing more would go in.


For your babies you may want to try frozen Cyclops before going to larger foods. Freshly hatched brine shrimp are not the most nutritious so you may want to look into growing them a bit and enriching them.

You may also want to give your little clowns a ceramic flowerpot as anemone replacement. It will help keeping them out of the corners and give them a home.
Click to expand...

great advice thank you.
I'll pick up a small flower pot tomorrow. I will have to shop around for Cyclops my LFS dos not have anything smaller then larger frozen brine shrimp.
Thanks for the help!

:D
Tom
 
The pair is showing signs of stress now. I have tried every food sold within a 50 mile radius. 9 total. They try it. Spit it out and then ignore it. Flake, frozen, pellet. The only thing I have gotten them to eat is pods. I can not afford pods for every meal. Local it's $16 a bottle and it's just not effective.
They hide from my lights. I have had to shut down all but 1 150w kessil. They hide from my power heads. I have had to shut all down but 1 mp10 set on 3 on wave crest.
I am lost as to why this pair of tank bred clowns is this peculiar and skidish.

Any thoughts?
 
The larger one, 3/4 of a inch is not looking like he will make it through the night. He is swimming in spirals and eyes seem faded. I have tried everything I can, I hope he makes it through the night. The little one is not much better. They both still refuse to eat. Water prams are normal, temp is 78. I did three small water changes just in case. These will be my first fish losses in years, I feel like I let them down.
 
I'm sorry to hear about what you are going through. Where did you purchase these little guys?

I'd keep them lights out to reduce stress and keep trying different foods. Have you tried adding garlic to their food? It helps a lot in increasing the appetite and I use it on a fairly regular basis as it helps with many other things. Kent has great garlic products and I use the liquid. Many others agree with using garlic while some don't.. at this point you don't have anything to lose by trying it.
 
Where did you get them from and what did the breeder fed them?

Tank raised baby clowns that don't eat are a strange thing. Normally baby clowns are pure eating machines.
When I was breeding them I could throw in whatever I wanted and they would eat it (or at least try very hard). At times I had several thousand and went through a kilo of frozen brine shrimp each week. And that's not counting in the dry food.

Your two sound like they are sick.
Do you have a few pictures?
 
Last edited:
I'll get pictures later today. They both made it through the night, but still not eating and both are turning chalk white. Tested my water and temp. Both are solid. I have a pair of sexy shrimp in the same tank and they are both doing fine and eating like they are crazy, and are active.
I'm setting my QT tank back up this afternoon and will transfer them into it, but I don't want to add even more stress.
I got them from a fellow in my reef club. They came from a healthy spawn from what I could see. About 30 healthy little fish. He feeds a very high end three stage fry food from Japan. At this point I have tapped out all my local resources, I will be going to the market and getting anything fresh they have, I am in MO so fresh seafood is......not really fresh.

The live brine should be hatching later today, I'll spike with spiralina and try and feed them.

I would attempt to get some food from the breeder, but that's a three hour drive for me.


Thanks for all the help
Tom
 
Last edited:
Picked up the closest thing to fresh seafood near me....raw baby shrimp frozen in water with no additives. Going to thaw one and attempt to get them to feed....I have garlic and will soak if they don't take it without. This is the last thing I can afford atm, I am pushing $160 trying to feed these little guys with no luck. If this does not work I will find them a home if at all possible.
 
Ok, they didn't eat the shrimp. tried it and spit it out now ignoring it. I give the @#$% up. I will feed a small bit twice a day and if they eat they eat I have truly made the effort and gone the mile. I have never had a more frustrating pair of clown fish. They are now hiding under the edge of the live rock in the back of the tank. If I turn a power head or light on the hide and don't come out.

The inverts in the tank are all happy and healthy, the marcoalgae is growing and vibrant. Prams are stable, no voltage in water, temp is 78 stable, I truly have no clue.

They are the only fish in the tank.
 
Not eating and turning white could be an indicator of disease (Brooklynella, Trichodina or bacterial) - and if you think they shouldn't be sick because they are tank bred - think again. The sickest clowns, right out of the shipping bag, I've seen were ORA tank raised.
 
ThRoewer said:
Not eating and turning white could be an indicator of disease (Brooklynella, Trichodina or bacterial) - and if you think they shouldn't be sick because they are tank bred - think again. The sickest clowns, right out of the shipping bag, I've seen were ORA tank raised.
Click to expand...

yeah, I'm just sad and frustrated. I hate losing fish. I'm not giving up on them but its not looking good.
 
Try giving them a formalin dip. I use 20 drops of 37% formalin on a gallon of saltwater for 30 to 45 minutes. Good aeration is required.
With these guys being tiny you may stop earlier if they show any distress.
The other option would be Chloroquine Phosphate in the tank.
You can actually do both.
 
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