one clown died :(

[jon1985]

ok so I got 2 clowns from a friend, false percs. He said they where between 5-8 years old. I have had them since february. Well last night he bigger one died. She looked fine when I went to bed, ate as usual, swam around like normal. But when I woke up she was barely alive and stuck to a power head. After I released her from the power head she swam for a few minutes then layed down and died.
I want to add another clown to the tank obviously a false perc but maybe a black one instead of another orange. Anyways I just want to know if I should get another smaller clown asap or if I could add it whenever.
Any thoughts?

 

[patriots81]

I think that you mught actually want to add a bigger one than the one u have now because the one you have now will be territorial to the other one and will probably kill it if you get a smaller clown.

 

[Arati]

everything from here down is a wild guess and not based on anything fatcual.

In my experiance it would be best to wait. The fish you have now is a male and will see any male (smaller) fish as a threat. If they really are8years old then you are going to have a verry hard time finding a replacement female big enough.

You one have a short time before them cureent fish will begin to become a female. IME as little as 3 weeks, I would guess a fish that old would change verry rapidly.

During the trasformation the fish is not going to accept either sex since it is sort of both sex's for abit. I know it vaguery but I belive its kind of a grey area on how long it takes and how soon it beings.

anyways I would give it a few months let the fish become a female and then try to introduce a new male. thats a whole other ball of wax of coarse . it may take a few little guys until she accepts one. just be ready to save the little guiys if she gets to rough.

Good luck,
Chris

 

[jon1985]

yea thats what I was thinking. Wait a few months then get the smallest guy I can find. Whats great is that the LFS around here will let you bring fish back if they dont work out for any reason.

 

[jon1985]

It may take some work to convince the fiancee that our lone clown is better off alone for now. Last night she was watching the tank and kept saying how lonely it looked "he just keeps swimming in circles like hes lost". Maybe Ill let her get that coral beauty shes been asking about in the mean time.