YWG and Clown collide... Melafix ok?

davenia7

New member
So, I was looking at my fish last night and I noticed that my Osc. clown female has literally BITES taken out of her you can see top and bottom jaw marks. I am dosing tonight with Melafix as I don't have a SW QT set up. Plus I don't wanna remove her and have my male turn female as they are at the point where that could still happen.
So, I was trying to figure out the culprit...
it's my 2 inch long YWG, Sam I Am. He's protecting his "cave" and she won't stop heckling him about it.
Why won't she leave him alone, if everytime she pesters him, he bites back?
I'm at my wits end.
I don't wanna get rid of the YWG, but I'm feeling that that may be my only choice as I want to keep my clowns.
So, what are my options? Do you think they will work it out? Or will someone need to be removed?
Will the Melafix hurt my tank?
I have the 5 gal. hex that I just broke down that I can set up if necessary... and i move both clowns in so that they don't change genders on me.
I just dunno if Melafix is safe intank or not in SW?

Params:
10 gal. AGA 7 lbs. live sand, 8 lbs. live rock
Aquatech 30-60 Refuge with Sanders Piccolo skimmer, Purigen, and Chaeto with 9 W light on same cycle as the tank.
Zoo-Med powerhead at 80gph
pH 8.0 (that's as high as I can get it)
Amm. 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates <5ppm
kH & gH hasn't been tested lately but is fine.

Stocking:
2 Young Osc. clownfish (female <2inches; male about 1.5 inch)
1 Young YWG (about 2 inches) - will be going to LFS if I don't solve the dilemma - going eventually anyways as he grows up.
1 Neon Goby (about 2 inches)
1 Green Clown Goby (1.5 inch)
2 peppermint shrimp
6-8 Nassarius snails
2 Astrea Snails
3 Nerite snails
 
YWG???
Yellow Watchman Goby

All the fish are still VERY young... and VERY small
The YWG was purchased when I didn't know better.
I'm thinking his days in my tank are numbered.
Oh, and with the fuge... it's really about 10.5 gals. after you account for the displacement of the LR and LS.
 
No offense intended but a ten gallon tank is good for temporarily QTing one or two small fish ... not keeping 5 fish full time. You need to upgrade the tank or get rid of most of your fish. For comparison many would consider a 55 gallon SW tank fully stocked with 5 fish.

Melafix is an "herbal remedy" .. just tea tree extract that has some nominal benefit but not in the same league as a bonafide antbiotic. Most fish will recover from minor injuries without having to medicate .. but thats often based on their overall health which is influenced by stocking levels and water quality.

Good luck.
 
Combination of PimaFix and Melafix will work for sure, it is a steroid for fish basically. But like others have stated its not very smart to have them fish in there, it is well over stocked for sure.
 
Back
Top