New to the fishy world

[conofrad69]

Hello every one I am very new to the Hobby of salt water, I used to have an aggressive fresh water but i am learning that salt is much more in depth then fresh, any way i have many inverts and they are doin well, but i would like to know how to get my clown fish to eat i tried to buy tank bred but ended up getting wild caught, they dont seem to eat anything and like to spit most of the food out plus they stay in the rear of the aquarium, my next question is how do i get rid of the red slime on a few of my rocks
my aquarium is a 24 gallon Nanocube and no corals as of yet tryin to start slow and any help would be juswt fantastic
Thanks All

[Flipper62]

As for food, Try Cyclope-EEz...or Rods Food

[uscharalph]

How long has the clown been in the tank? What other fish do you have?

[kau_cinta_ku]

how long has the tank been setup?

btw [welcome]

[Lotus99]

Almost all fish will eat mysis shrimp. If they're picky, soak it with a piece of garlic before feeding. Very small clowns (less than 1.5 inches) might have problems with the size of whole mysis, so you may have to chop them.

Clowns aren't usually picky, though. Eventually they should eat pellet food with no problems. I've found flake food to be the least popular with my fish ... I don't think any of them will eat it.

[conofrad69]

The tank has been goin for about 2.5 months and the Clowns have been in for about a week now. One is yellow and about 2 inches and the other is orange and about 2.5 to 3 inches. I will try the cyclopes eez on my next order of food. At the moment i have formula 2, krill, and a few frozens. But the inverts seem to like the frozens more then the fish do, by the way is the single pump in the nano good enough for water flow or should i get a few more mini ones for behind the rocks and such

[conofrad69]

oh and there are only the clowns and several inverts. Like peppermint shrimp, emerald crabs, snails and many hermits
and thank you for the welcome all

[D to the P]

a week isn't that long of a time. especially for a wild caught clown. Give them some time, try to get some garlic guard or something similar to try and entice them to eat the food. worst case you can always try live brine. not that hard to hatch them and most fish go nuts for them. So, if you have two different colored clowns and I to believe that you have two different species of clowns? If so, that may cause problems in the future.

[D to the P]

Oh, and welcome. Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want. Everyone is here to help so just speak up if you have any doubts.

[conofrad69]

cool i am glad to find a group of folks that are willing to help. I am wondering what i should do about the water flow in the tank. the pump is rated at 240gph, is that enough and do i need a nano protiene skimmer to help with o2 in the tank. and i have a lot of purple and neon green forming on my rocks is this coraline alge that everyone speaks of.

[D to the P]

I would look into some more flow. You could check out the Koralia nano, or one. The nano's don't really do much so I'd get a one. The protein skimmer would help keep nutrients down in the tank, which in turn makes for less maintenance and less algae problems. Weekly 10% water changes with RO/DI water would also be very helpful. The purple and green could be coraline algae, but only if it is hard, or encrusted to the rock, not loose and soft and easy to remove, than it is another algae.

[conofrad69]

cool i will check into more flow for the tank. I do have bad news the clows developed something crazy over night and died in less then 24 hours. I didnt even have time to find out what it was, they had a white line running from the gills to about the mid of there bodies and white spots right on the lines i thought it was ich but i have never seen it kill that fast plus one of the clowns mouths swelled on its right side and the were gasping and going to the surface constenly. then there were circles on there bodies like they have excess mucus on there skin. man, new tanks are always a pain in the butt:( oh and there are little white sacks forming on my tank glass and back wall they look like egg sacks but am not sure

[D to the P]

Wow, that sounds intense. I'm not sure what that could have been. How long have they been in the tank?
Hopefully it was something from them being wild caught, and not something that was already living in your tank.
Reefing is a journey though.

[conofrad69]

yes it was intense. and very expensive to start. the fish were only there for 5 days and died fast. i am thinking that it was something they were carrying and when stressed it just opened up and took the cake. I found out what the sacks are, egg sacks from the snails in the tank. i dont think that it was something in the tank that killed them because all the inverts are fine and apperently the snails are breeding lol. we are gona get some more live rock and just one tank bred clown to start. oh and i dont think it was something in my tank cause my pom pom crab is fine and his anenomies are in great health. oh and the wife wont let me get an RO/DI unit yet so its still me and the additives for now

[D to the P]

I wouldn't worry about buying an RO/DI. I know a lot of grocery stores will have dispensers for it, and even Wal-Mart. Usually it's only 35 cents a gallon, so a five gallon bucket is only a buck fifty. Half the bucket is a 10% water change. The rest of the water will help with evaporation. $1.50 a week or so isn't bad at all. That's what I do because all my tanks are small. Hopefully Wyoming has such a situation for you.

[conofrad69]

Never thought about that i will go and get 4 of them just incase i want to do a larger water change. it sould help with my cemistry in the water thanks for the advice i will get an RO unit after a while but for now i will use the filter water from walmart or my local store. oh and i now have copepods in the tank so i take it everything is well from what i have read. :thumbsup:
tanks for all the help, i check this every night so if u or anyone has some advice for me. I will glady take it

[D to the P]

No problem. We are all here to help, so just ask away.

[conofrad69]

Well i found a dead scarlet hermit in my tank but all the others seem fine. I was wondering is it ok to hand feed my peppermint shrimp. Its kinda fun and they crawl all over my hands and arms when i feed them. the only thing i see wrong with it is that my emerald crabs run up and pinch me its kinda a pain but it realy doesnt hurt.:thumbsup:

[D to the P]

just make sure that your hands are clean. And when I say clean, I don't mean use a hand sanitizer. On the contrary those will actually be detrimental to the tank. You should just rinse your hands well under the sink with warm water to try and get all the toxins and oils and such that build up on our hands from handling many different things. Then it is safe to hand feed your fish and your other inhabitants. Just make sure to watch doing it when you put a new fish into the tank. For a fish that isn't used to a giant hand reaching in the tank, it can be a very stressful moment. I know a lot of people say tanks are healthier when we leave our hands out of them, but I do not think some time spent feeding them is all bad. Just my opinion though.

[jthao]

I think that your fish died from brook. I don't know how to spell the whole scientific name, but that's basically what we call it. I've lost a couple of clowns with the same illness, and they died fast too (within 24-48 hours.) sounds like your starting out alright, post some pics!!!

[petoonia]

There is a good chance that you found a molt from your hermit crab, and not a dead body. Hermits will molt their exo skeleton as they grow. Be sure to have a variety of different empty shells for them to move into as they grow.

If you want to keep a pair of clowns in your tank you are better off buying two of the same type that are juveniles. They should be added to teh tank at teh same time. Perculas or occelaris would probably be your best bet.

Also have you been testing your water regularly?

[conofrad69]

yeah, the clowns did die from brook. The hermit was dead cause it was still in its shell and all my snails were crawling around it. when i pulled it out. its was a whole body and man are they ugly. i called Dr foster and smith they said my order was to occelaris just the colors were a little different cause one was younger then the other. i am going to try tank bread next time. i am also worred about my tank i am not sure it is healthy. lots of white stuff floating around. but i do have copepods so i guess that is a good sign. i just cant seem to get the chemistry to even out but it will happen eventualy, i still fill i shoud have started my 150g tank instead of this little 24g nano.

[JEFFR259]

To help with the feeding issue, prior to purchase at your LFS, ask them to feed the fish your interested in buying. This will help gauge whether the fish will be a good eater prior to adding to your tank.

Granted, there's alot of other issues in YOUR tank that could affect appetite, but atleast this way you've eliminated the fact that the particular fish is just plain fussy prior to acclimation to your tank :) :bum:

[conofrad69]

that is a good idea about buyin fish but i have no local fish store i have to order online to get my fish. but if any of u have a better place to order form then Dr. foster and smith please let me know.

[conofrad69]

well from all i read on RC and other places it seems that i am doing good keeping the tank goin but i feel that there is something wrong with my tank since my clowns died so fast but i think i should be ready to have he clowns now cause my water parameters are good just a few fluctuations in the ALK, and Calcum all others are good no ammonia no nitrites, or nitrates i am still looking at getting more water flow but all my inverts are happy. any way once i figure out how to get my pics resized i will post some

[ILoveReefer]

All tanks fluctuate, new tanks more so than old ones. It's sounds to me that your off to a good start. I would hold off a while on buying a new fish. Just in case whatever disease that killed the clowns is still present in the water.

[conofrad69]

cool will do. the water in the tank is pretty clear but i was wondering if any of u know what colors the coraline algae can be i have a few blue and green patches in some of my rock and some turquose as well. plus alot of pinks and purples and reds. i am gona wait another month befor i put any fish in thanks for the advise

[ILoveReefer]

Coraline is most often pink, purple, and red. Coraline is hard to the touch and is calcium based. The blue green patches and sometimes red, are they soft, slimy, and breaks apart real easily when touched? If so thats cyano bacteria and thats bad. Lets us know either way.

[conofrad69]

i have that bacteria in the tank but the others are hard to the touch, including the blue and turquose i am tryin to rid my tank of the red filmy bactiria but i remove it and it comes back almost over night in the same spot and now my sadbed is getting a redness to it. around the class layer were the sand meets the glass. but i will continue to remove it and ajust my feeding as needed until i get to a point were the red is no longer there:)

[ILoveReefer]

Another thing you can do to aid in the removal of cyano aka red slime is adding a little flow to the areas affected by the slime. red slime usual starts in dead spots of the tank. Areas of low to no flow.

[conofrad69]

I am looking at getting a few small jets to add some flow without taking away from the appeal of the thank. they make them for nano tanks but they are a little expensive. anyway i will let you all know what happens.

[conofrad69]

wow its been a while since my last post but i am happy to say i have 3 koralia power heads in my tank and no signs of bactiria. finaly have a lot of purple/pink coraline algae. if anyone can tell me the colors that this stuff comes in it would be great. i have a green skeletal lookin stuff on a bunch of rocks including the ones with the coraline on it. oh yeah i am going to try fish again and hopefuly they live. the tank has now been up a total of 3 months and seems to be doin well.:thumbsup:

[JLAURIA751]

From what iv been reading and what has worked for me. I would slowly get rid of the bio balls replace them with small pourous pieces of live rock.Only A little at a time you dont want another cycle to start in the tank. also get rid of the ceramic media and repace with pieces of live rock. when you do the 10-20% weekly water change rinse the sponge in saltwater thourghly. Test your water daily, dont put any fish until your nitrites drop to zero and nitrates less than 30ppm. the clown fish I got love the formula one flakes and, frozen brine shrimp. I would go to your local fish store (LFS) and purchase your fish if thats possible. Make sure your going to one that gives you good advice, alot will just try to sell you something. coraline is green, red, pink, purple, and white. Your live rock should have had alot of it on their if it was good quality, and the coraline will be hard you shouldent be able to scrape it off. if its soft to the touch it might be sponges that were on the rock that will die off and cause your amnonia nitrites and phosphates to be high which could be a reason why your fish won't eat. If thats the case it might take up to 6 months to cycle your tank properly. all i can say is be patient take things slowly, good things take time but disasters happen quick. you can never know too much about saltwater keep researching read through 200- 300 threads and when you think youv'e learned all you can read 2-300 more.

[ILoveReefer]

It's good to hear all is well in your tank. Coraline comes in a variety of colors purple, pink, and red are the most common colors. They do sometimes come in green and possibly other colors. Coraline is calcium based so you can usually identify it just by touch "it's hard."
What kind of fish are you thinking of trying next?

[conofrad69]

we are gona try a damsil or 2 and 2 more clowns but this time we are going with tank bred clown. I moved the rocks around a bit to help with better water flow, and i also have the coraline growing on the back of my tank so hopefuly it will spread nicely back there and give me a good background. almost everyday i am finding a new spot of coraline on the back of my tank and on the rocks, this stuff grows fast.

[conofrad69]

i was just couriuos to find out that now i have a bunch of water movement will the constent flow of the jets affect the fish in my tank i dont want to kill them from exaustion.