How long can a clown be alone?

[Zimmer]

I bought a pair of juvenile perculas from the LFS yesterday and one of them died overnight. How long can the remaining clown be alone before it turns female? Is it going to get territorial and be a butthead if I wait too long before adding a new partner?

If I do end up having to wait awhile before adding another clown, should I just go with a tiny juvi to ensure that it's not another female?

 

[monkeypie102]

I don't know how long but I do know if you wait to long always try to get a clown of the same size as the one in your tank... The smaller one would be killed to easily...

 

[Jeff000]

Why did it die is the better question.

If it's still a juvenile you have a while. Although the sooner the better. Make sure the new one is smaller by a tiny amount.

 

[Zimmer]

I'm not sure why it died. It looked skinny, but otherwise was acting fine at the LFS. It didn't eat last night but I figured that was fine I don't usually worry until its been a few days without food. It was really young only about 1" long. This morning it was kinda pathetic looking and laying on the bottom of the tank, and a couple hours ago he died. The other one seems to be fine for now, but still isn't interested in food. We shall see.

 

[NYCBOB]

clownfish r very hardy. maybe its sick if it isn't eating.

 

[Jeff000]

Never buy fish that aren't eating.

Especially clown fish, odds are they were captive breeding, so to not be eating is bad.

How new is your tank?

 

[Zimmer]

I watched them eat at the LFS....There were like 6-7 little clowns in the tank and everyone looked like they had a good feeding response, but the ones I took home were the first 2 to land in the net so who knows if those ones actually ate or not?

The one that's still alive is still not eating, but it looks way more alert today. Yesterday she was hovering in a corner, this morning she has decided to try to get my leather coral to host her and she's just loving on it and sitting there being cute. So I'm hoping I can get her to start eating soon!

Tank is about 7 months old, ammonia/nitrite at 0 and nitrates at <5. I drip acclimated over about 45 minutes. I'm thinking the one that passed away was just too small, too young, too stressed by shipping, etc. That's my hope anyway.

 

[sjwitt]

My experience has been this. I had a cinnamon clown for more than a year ... by itself and it got very large >3 inches. Had 4 RBTAs to itself. I wanted a partner for it and assumed it was female because it was so large so, I got a very, very small cinnamon to make sure it was NOT female. I put him in the tank after Quarantine and he quickly found his way to the anemones. The female had no issue with him at all and now they have bonded... he's growing fast and apparently she's happy because I found the first clutch of eggs this week.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Once the female dies or is removed from the tank, the male can begin to turn in as little as 9 days.

 

[Zimmer]

9 days! Wow. She will really be a she by the time I get another fish in there. It sounds like getting a slightly smaller juvi is what the plan will be once this one gets settled in.

She's still not eating I'm gonna go pick up some cyclopeeze I hear that's the thing to try. Otherwise she seems to be doing well. I think she gave up on the leather coral and is now going all over the place exploring the tank and teasing my goby. She looks excited and follows food when I feed, but then won't even try a bite. But it looks like she's eating pods or algae off the rocks and glass..... Do they do that?

This is my first clownfish and some of the things she was doing that I first thought were signs of disease or distress, I'm discovering are just weird things that clownfish do. So I'm kind of at a loss LOL

 

[FTDelta]

Did you QT?

 

[leveldrummer]

Is there an issue with keeping a clown alone in a tank?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

9 days! Wow. She will really be a she by the time I get another fish in there. It sounds like getting a slightly smaller juvi is what the plan will be once this one gets settled in.

Not necessarily, but from my research and speaking with a few experts, it can start in as little as 9 days. I called and spoke to about 4 or 5 breeders, some of the largest in the industry, when I lost my female clown. I decided that if I were going to do anything, it would be to wait a few months and allow my current male to become female. If I chose to add another clown, the now female clown would be removed from the DT and placed in QT with a new clown. From talking to the breeders, that's the only sure fire way to ensure you don't end up with 2 females by the end of the 4-6 week QT period.

She's still not eating I'm gonna go pick up some cyclopeeze I hear that's the thing to try. Otherwise she seems to be doing well. I think she gave up on the leather coral and is now going all over the place exploring the tank and teasing my goby. She looks excited and follows food when I feed, but then won't even try a bite. But it looks like she's eating pods or algae off the rocks and glass..... Do they do that?

What all have you tried? I would try some brine shrimp soaked in something like Selcon, or even garlic. It's not going to be too nutritious, but it might induce the feeding response.

Nice never picked at anything until I lost the female and my remaining clown decided to become best friends with my Bristletooth tang. Since then, the clown has decided he wants to try and eat algae off the rocks, sand and glass. I really don't think he is getting any food, but is just emulating the tang's behavior.

He does eat Nori now though.

This is my first clownfish and some of the things she was doing that I first thought were signs of disease or distress, I'm discovering are just weird things that clownfish do. So I'm kind of at a loss LOL

They are a little funny sometimes. Mine sleeps in the corner of the tank, next to the overflow facing the sand. It caught me off guard the first time I saw that happen.

 

[Arc Drafter]

Were they really a pair, or were they just 2 clowns from the same tank? My point is how do you know it was the female that died? If you only had them for a day there was no way you could have monitored their behavior to be certain one was male and one was female. Have you tried adding garlic to your food?

I had a clown die once and I went and bought another clown from my lfs about a month later and added it. There was some initial aggression until one decided to back down then all was cool.

 

[Zimmer]

No they weren't a mated pair it was 2 juveniles as I stated originally. I meant pair as in 2 fish that I hoped would one day pair up when they grow up. They were only little guys I just referred to the smaller one as "he" and the bigger one as "she' for simplicity. It doesn't matter whether it's female or not now, it probably will be by the time I add another fish. That's what I wanted to know.

I got some garlic and tried that with the cyclopeeze and she ate really good!!! So that's promising I guess.

No QT tank.

 

[Jeff000]

Why is it going to take you a while to get another one?

If they are that small you still have. While before they sex. I'd go back and say thy gave you a gimp clown and want a replacement. If they don't just buy another one.

 

[Zimmer]

Well for one thing, because I didn't QT, I want to make sure this fish is going to be OK before adding any more. Also I still don't know for sure why the first one died, want to be able to monitor for any signs of disease or parasites for awhile before adding another fish. And I got store credit returned to me for the dead one but it will probably be awhile before they get more fish in its not a very high volume store they probably won't do a new order for awhile.

 

[xrayjeeper83]

I got a clown from a friend that was alone for over a year. I went and got a very small clown from the LFS. I dripped it then floated it for a bit to see if there would be any aggression, the female completely ignored it. When I added it the new male went straight over to the female and she excepted him right away and they are always side by side now.

Only problem I had was my puffer went after the little one, but then the female stepped in and ran the puffer off. Have since moved the puffer and the male has fully healed

 

[Arc Drafter]

I am glad you are able to get the fish to eat. It is a stressful time when a fish isn't eating. I like your idea of holding off for a bit while you monitor your tank. To answer your question you will be fine adding a clown later on. I would just make sure one is smaller than the other one and maybe even introduce it at night. I don't know if this works w/ clowns but it worked has worked with other fish I have added.