New clownfish need help!

Jessie2011

New member
Hello,
so i use to have a reef tank 5 years ago (120 gallon), but since moving I gave it up. I decided to start again and get a 29 gallon biocube.
I have been going to my local aquarium store and testing my water for the cycling process (i cycled with live sand, live rock, and stability). They told me my levels were perfect after 2 weeks. I added a cleanup crew and coral, it was doing beautiful. I then decided I would order a mated pair of black ice clown fish. They had to be shipped, they arrived this morning and I drip acclimated them to their new tank (took about 40 minutes). The female is doing great, exploring the tank and swimming around. The male is laying on the bottom of the tank (not on his side just on his belly). I am worried that he got too stressed out. Is he going to be okay? Any suggestions on what to do in order to help him?
 
How is the flow and the ammonia levels?

Sometime they are stressed and coming out of a bag in a box, to a large open tank, and can be a shock. He might be sitting there taking in and not moving as much to NOT be a target for any predators. It is not as if you walked it around and introduced it to the entire tank.
 
I would recommended just watching him closely for the first couple of days. The stress of being shipped is probably playing a factor along with the shell shock of being in a new environment. Some fish do not open up and explore for a week or so when you get them in your tank.
 
I just saw a black ice clown at a LFS that was doing the same thing. Belly on the sand, making occasional swimming motions, but not really going anywhere. It didn't look like any stress reaction I had ever seen. To me it looked like a defect in the fish.
I would let the person you bought them from know immediately. I hope I am wrong, but I think they may have sent you a fish with a permanent problem.
 
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