clown help!~

[gemini aquarius(t)]

ok so i got this clown on saterday at the san diego frag swap and i put him in my tank and he was fine but then the next morning he was only on the top on one side behind the powerhead like side ways! but he recovered and when i got another clown they basically paired up immediatly and were swimming around, but then again this morning he's vertical up in the corner with his head up breathing really heavy
the only things i could think of would be that the tank is only like 72 hours old and that before i added the 2nd clown i added alot of water(fresh) to put the salinity down from like 1.026 to 1.024

please help me!

 

[jjirsa78]

So you've got an uncycled tank and you changed the salinity (and likely pH, etc)?

What was the pH before, and what is it now? What about ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Are there only 2 fish in the tank?

 

[Yinger]

didn't u just setup the tank... so you didn't do a cycle first? and like jjirsa78 u changed the salinity way too quick. Check your water params

 

[NicoleC]

O2 levels and pH levels at night?

 

[Hunter_Cal]

adding on to all comments above, my clown likes to swim next to my powerhead at night for some reason...cant explain it

 

[bromion]

Questions to answer:
How big is the tank?
What kind of filtration is on it (just live rock or other methods)?
What are the levels of ammonia and nitrite?

You probably do have a tank cycling issue -- hence ammonia and nitrite hurting the fish, but you should confirm with tests. Consider using the products Cycle and Waste Control, both readily available. That could possibly get things going with the fish in there. What do others think of those products?

 

[jjirsa78]

I personally tend to use a bit of Kent's ammonia detox in a hurry and water changes if I have the time. Water changes tend to help remove (nitrates, various wastes) and introduce a known good level of other chemicals, which I find preferable to just neutralizing the ammonia...

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

well ammonia and nitrite are 0 and i dont have a test for nitrate,is there a test for o2? or how do i test it? should i add a air pump?

the tank info is in my info thing at the bottom of the post

ph is the same but falls alittle at night

 

[NicoleC]

Yes, there is an O2 test. But add air. With houses closed up for the hot weather, O2 is a problem right now.

Define: "pH is the same" and how FAR does it fall a "little at night."

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

8.3 but 8.2 at night