How to acclimate a pair?

[riley290]

Tomorrow I will recieve my two picasso clownfish and was wondering how I should perform this acclimation.

They will obviously come in separate bags so should I add both into the same container when I start my drip line? and if so should I separate them with a clear partition?

Once they are done acclimating they will both go into a quarantine tank for 30 days.

 

[riley290]

really? I've seen tons of pair pics here and nobody has an answer?

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

You first need to find out if they came from the same tank (water conditions) before you decide to acclimate them together. If so, yes you can combine them and acclimate them together. I have never used a partition of any sort while acclimating my new clowns. I try to keep them together as much as possible. Even if they are not a pair, they will have a set pecking order if they were held in the same tank. Once they have been split up, IMO it is best to get them back together as fast as possible.

 

[riley290]

awesome, thank you for the answer. I'm guessing these have been in the same tank as they come from ORA.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

No problem

Rule #1

As soon as you get them, post pictures!

 

[riley290]

can do. I'm excited and both nervous as these I hope are going to be my main attraction in my tank and I'm new so I'm nervous about the freshwater dip before being placed into quarantine.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

If I were you, I would skip the FW dip entirely. It has always just stressed fish out more IME.

 

[riley290]

really? according to Bob Fenner (I know, we really shouldn't proclaim anyone "god" in this hobby but he seems to have quite a bit of info stored in that head of his) he said a FW/methylene blue dip isn't very bad and will greatly help to fight off any occurence of brook. I'm still up in the air, but I don't like the idea of spending $100/fish on my showpieces and harm them due to inexperience.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

I would just place them into quarantine myself. I myself am not a fan of dips and such unless clowns are obviously sick. I am not saying not to do anything though because of my opinion. If you believe that you can do it correctly, by all means go right ahead.

 

[riley290]

ok, so the little guys came in fine condition and all went well with the acclimation. I performed what was probably the weakest FW/methylene blue dip in the history of man, but hey I'm new at this and was a little scared for their well-being.

So far the smaller of the two has eaten brine and a bit of flake, the other refuses to be interested in any food that is brought to the tank.

This morning when I woke up one was hanging out on the bottom of the tank, moving around just fine but kinda scared me that he was just sitting on the bottom. Work is going to be hard today as I feel I need to watch over them 24hrs/day right now, haha!

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

I watch mine like a hawk too, luckily I am a stay at home mom so I can My occelaris female that is still in quarantine sleeps on the bottom of the tank. You would think she was dead but once the lights come one, she is up and at em begging at the surface for food anytime she sees someone.

Good luck with the new fellas and I can't ait to see pictures

 

[riley290]

well now that I know you'll be around the comp during the day I'll try to suck as much info as I can out of you.

How long should I wait until I go into emergency feeding mode? The smaller one will eat brine, blood worms, a little flake. But the larger one isn't taking anything. I know they've been in the qt for less than 24hrs so I shouldn't expect anything yet, but I was wondering how long until I try to culture some live food? 4 days? 1 week? 2 weeks?

The only other SW fish I've purchased were a pair of gobies that ate immediately and now that they're in the tank they are ignoring my food as I suspect they pick off a bunch of pods during the day as they both have fat bellies. Just a little concerned as to the time frame of when they should begin to feed.

I feel like they should be used to flake or pellet since they are ORA raised picassos so I'm assuming the big one is just waiting to feel more comfortable.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

I would not worry about it for a while. Some of my fish have taken up to two weeks to eat and that includes tank raised and wild caught. Just give them plenty of time to settle in and get used to the new home. After a week or so, you can try to entice them with some baby brine shrimp which will hatch out overnight. They are not very good once they molt after 12 hours so as soon as they hatch, give them some selcon and the feed a few hours later. Also, I like to use Garlic Guard or Entice but use them sparingly as they will leave a coating on the surface of the water which inhibits gas exchange (lowers oxygen levels) which can be deadly in a quarantine tank.

 

[riley290]

Uh-oh. So the one that hasn't eaten had some stringy white poop today when I got home. Sounds like an internal parasite. So what should my course of action be?

I think i'll search through wetwebmedia for a while

 

[Slakker]

I wouldn't panic just yet if there are no signs of any other symptoms. Sometimes clowns that haven't eaten for a while can have stringy white excrement.

I would seriously encourage you to get some quality frozen foods, especially if you've got a clown that isn't eating. Frozen Cyclopeeze is rarely turned down by a clownfish. Even if it does start eating, you should incorporate a good amount of frozen into their diet anyways, it's got more nutritional value than the processed and dried stuff.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

I wouldn't worry either. Here is what I mix for my clowns: two types of frozen cyclopeeze, mysis, formula one, plankton, brine, daphnia, and Selcon with 2 ml of selcon and keep it in the fridge. I feed a bit every day along with some formula one pellets.

 

[riley290]

interesting happenings. The larger fish (with stringy white poop) is swimming around fine but the smaller of the two is hanging out on the bottom breathing very rapidly. I offered food and nobody was interested this time. I attempted to feed frozen brine, frozen formula one, flake cyclopeeze all soaked in selcon.

I'm worried that there is a parasite bothering them but am waiting to do anything.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

OK for starters, stop feeding them. You are polluting the water in the tank. Check for ammonia and nitrites. If any are present, perform a 30% water change and dose with Prime or Amquel.

 

[riley290]

I siphon all uneaten food 5 minutes after feeding and do 15% water changes daily while in quarantine.
All water parameters checked out as:
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 2.5
alk 2.9
pH 8.3
temp 78.4
sg 1.024

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

How is the alk measured? Mg/l?