True Perculas Turning Black?

[Saltwaterstart]

This is my first time on the anemone and clownfish forum, but hopefully it won't be my last.

I purchased two true percula clownfish about a month ago, and they were already in QT in the store, and given the correct treatments for brookynella and ich. This is what I hope, and is probably most likely, because it is the most respected LFS in my area!

Anywho...

One of the clowns is having a bit of a colour change...

The top half of his body is substantially darker than his lower half. He was a yellow to orange tinge in the first place, but now the top half of his body is almost a brown to black! She is still acting normal, and just to make sure, I dip my hand in the tank and she comes up and nips at my fingernails (I had a pair of ocellaris clowns who stopped doing this... and died 6 days later). She is eating regular feedings of high quality plankton, and even a little bit more than she used to be.

The other clown is doing perfectly fine, and has no signs of any stress!

Is this at all normal?

If it is not... What should I do?

[55semireef]

Is your Percula hosting any LPS corals? What kind of foods are you feeding your Percs?

I have seen some Percs have their black markings really fill in as they got older. Could just be a normal sign of aging. See what others have to say too.

Can you post a picture to reassure us with what you are describing here?

Thanks

[Saltwaterstart]

I am feeding daily doses of phytoplankton, and maybe a vitamin enriched flake food if I am out of the frozen stuff.

I'll post a pic as soon as I find my camera!

[Haddonisreef]

i know my picassos are getting there blk marking farily fast. I m no expert but i would have to sat that its a sign of ageing;)

[Saltwaterstart]

I don't know how old the perculas are, but they can't be that old.

Not many LFS's I know of sell a 6 year old fish. Even though clowns can live for 20+ years, I don't know of anyone who would sell one on the verge of death!

Here is my clown that is turning black. (And also my longnose hawk!)

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb193/saltwaterstart/IMG_0283-1.jpg

I am going on vacation for the next week, so I don't know if she will be okay or fall ill.

[Saltwaterstart]

And my cleaner shrimp jaques!:D

[OrionN]

The picture above is that of a A. ocellaris. There are a few spots on him that often due to coral stings (polyps)

BTW, I would not put my hand in my fish tank unless it is absolutely needed. Use glove if needed. The oils from your hand is detrimental to the coral and fish even if you try your best to wash the oil off.

[55semireef]

I agree with OrionN. That's a Ocellaris clownfish.

Use gloves too.

[phender]

It is normal for an ocellaris clown to get a little dark on the top when they are getting comfortable. Its not a problem.

If the clown is wild-caught (and yours looks like it may be), there is no way to tell the age of a clownfish just by looking. A 3/4" clown could be 20 years old and a 4" clown could be 2 years old. Their size about where they are in the heirarchy, not how old they are.

Maybe I mis-understood, but clownfish don't eat phytoplankton. They need something a little more substantial.

[coralnub]

I think clowns look cooler when they have that darker shade.

[Saltwaterstart]

Hey again...

I'm finally back from vacation, and everything is in good shape. I have a Cyano bloom, but the corals and fish are doing fine.

I don't know what species of clownfish I actually purchased, but I do remember the clowns being advertised as true percula clowns.

I definitely know the clowns are getting comfortable, because they recognize me still, and they have even established a pecking order and are doing good. Everything happens when I'm gone... that sucks.

When I came back, I noticed that both of the clowns have black spots about 1/8"-1/4" wide(Canadian... I use metric so I am not good at imperial) wide, but there is only 1 on each fish. I guess that is okay because they are acting healthier than I have ever seen them.

I used to feed the clowns high quality flake food, and they get a lot of protein enriched brine shrimp tablets because that is what I feed the shrimp. I just recently started to feed them the phytoplankton because the longnose hawkfish I have in my tank eats them, and I like to try to keep feeding and taking care of my fish as simple and easy as possible. I might mix in a bit of flake food for them, because that has a lot of fat and protein when you look at the label (Min-44% protein, Min-5% fat).


I'll give everyone a higher quality picture when I find out how to properly work my camera.

[ACBlinky]

Glad to hear they're doing well :)

I think you may mean something else when you say phytoplankton - phyto is unicellular floating algae ('green water'), and is basically the lowest rung on the food chain. A fish can't feed on phyto - even clownfish larvae eat rotifers, which are tiny critters that themselves feed on phytoplankton, which is tinier still.
Plankton, now that's a different thing all together. LFSs sell dried tiny shrimp labeled as plankton (though I believe the word plankton can actually refer to all sorts of different tiny organisms floating around in the ocean, not just little shrimp), and that might be the kind of thing your shrimp and clowns would happily munch on.

Your clown looks nice and healthy BTW, and the colour is perfectly normal for an occy. Hawk looks to be a bit thin, but that could just be the angle of the pic.

[Saltwaterstart]

After further inspecting the package... the food is plankton, and it has a high protein and fat supplement in it, which should be okay to feed the clowns.

ACBlinky, the hawk was incredibly skinny at the time of the picture, but now he is about a regular thickness for a fish. I was told to feed the tank as sparingly as possible, because that would cause waste, and the fish would still like to have their streamlining capabilities that they keep in the wild.;)

Either way... Thanks for the help everyone:thumbsup:

[ACBlinky]

I agree to a degree, you don't want to overfeed the tank, which will create unnecessary waste (as a result of uneaten food rotting in the tank), but I don't believe in starving fish to keep nitrates and phosphates under control. IMO that's what filter socks, water changes and refugium algaes are for. If your hawk is skinny, he needs to be fed high quality foods, preferably more than once a day, to get him filled out and healthy.

[Saltwaterstart]

How many times a day is appropriate for feeding?

[ACBlinky]

Depends on who you ask :)

I just bought a very skinny midas blenny, who is in quarantine right now. He's being fed three times a day, and it seems to be working as he's gradually starting to fill out. A few hours after breakfast he's begging for more food and the bulge in his tummy is gone, so I offer him another small meal, and do the same after lunch - he seems to only be able to digest a small amount, so he really needs multiple feedings if I expect him to put on weight. I'm lucky in a way right now - I'm not working, so I've been able to pay very close attention to the little guy and feed him lots. If you're not able to do three feedings, and the hawk is doing well, two will probably suffice - just remember, you're asking him to put on weight, so just like a person he needs to consume more calories than he's using up :)

[Saltwaterstart]

Thanks ACBlinky!

Just to let you know the hawk and clowns do a "feed me" dance whenever anyone approaches the tank. They all rush up to the top of the tank and beg. When the fish are hungry, they get active and follow me around the tank when I am cleaning it with the algae magnet.

I'm going to start feeding two times a day now, after I figure out if the food I feed is edible. It was left out overnight from 10:00 to 8:30. Would the food still be okay?

I'll post a picture later on today if the camera is working.