Help with Ocellaris .

[sinenomine]

I filled my 29g nano on 11/17 cycled and added CUC 11/29. I picked up a nice little pair of juvenile ocelllaris and at my LFS on Sunday 12/4. They were very active and vibrant and I saw them eat brine before I chose them. I acclimated them 2 days ago and have noticed that one of them seems a bit off. One is really active and has eaten frozen brine Ikari pellets and a little blood worm. The other seems tired and wobbly and will swim up to food and then seems to spook or lose it. She has definitely eaten a few nips, but she just doesn't seem right (especially compared to the other one). They are definitely interacting with each other and the quick one seems to constantly check back in with the slow one. These are my first SW fish and (snort if you will) they are sort of my "dream come true" (mated pair is ultimate goal). My water is dialed in (as far as I can tell with an API Marine Master and refractometer anyway) and my CUC didn't lose one member oh and I have a small frogspawn and 10 polyp zoa frag that have been doing great since 12/2. The fish in question rarely extends her pelvic fins and there seems to be a slight concave dip just behind. She basicall keeps the whole lower half of her body flat and rigid. She can burst with no problem but settles tail down and sinks. The netting and transition into my tank seemed very gentle.
Is there anything I can do but wait?
Should I go ahead and get another from this batch anticipating a problem? If I lose the slowpoke, will I be able to bond another to the remaining one? Should I try to take it back to the shop or is that just further torment? Is this possibly just a personality difference (hoping)?
BTW, this morning the troubled fish was basically sitting on the bottom while the other hovered around her (I didn't think clownfish ever really stopped). Anything that I can do, I will.

[hollister]

Do you have a lid and whats used for water flow?

[sinenomine]

JBJ 89w LED (ADV). 2 stock lifter pumps and 1 hydor korilina 240gph power head.

[Sisterlimonpot]

They sound tank raised. I have a male clown that lays on the sand like it's resting, I found it odd at first but came to realize that it is his personality.

Clowns are very hardy fish and it takes a lot to kill them... even if parameters are off.

Umm, it could be that this one is destine to die for no apparent reason or you're witnessing his/her mannerisms. either way I would hold off on getting another clown until this ones fate is apparent. clowns are easy to pair up, as long as the new clown is a juvenile, allowing the one in the tank to become the female.

Hang in there, and
[welcome]

[sinenomine]

They sound tank raised. I have a male clown that lays on the sand like it's resting, I found it odd at first but came to realize that it is his personality.

Clowns are very hardy fish and it takes a lot to kill them... even if parameters are off.

Umm, it could be that this one is destine to die for no apparent reason or you're witnessing his/her mannerisms. either way I would hold off on getting another clown until this ones fate is apparent. clowns are easy to pair up, as long as the new clown is a juvenile, allowing the one in the tank to become the female.

Hang in there, and
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Thanks. The little bugger made it another night. Perhaps Thelma and Louise will have a chance to become Thelma and Lou after all. Fingers crossed.. Thanks.

[WetShepherd]

Definitely wait to add any more fish. Your time to cycle was extremely short (not impossibly though) so you'll want to continue to keep an eye on your parameters.

Two things you could try that won't do any damage, is increasing your surface agitation (point that power head up so it moves the surface) to generate a little more oxygen in the tank. The other would be to try some different foods. My Ocellaris goes absolutely nuts for freeze-dried brine shrimp. It's very junky as food goes so I rarely feed it (save it mostly for traps), but it's better than nothing if the fish isn't eating. You could try flakes too - mine eats the flakes out of my hand.

[sinenomine]

I hadn't thought about the air. Right now I have one of the two outflow pointed up, but that alternates with the wave maker. I will point the power head up and the rear returns down. Thanks for the idea.

[NatureNerd]

Others have already said this but let me reinforce the thought, one of my clowns acted like yours for about a week and a half when I first got him. That was about 16 years ago. He became a she a long time ago and is still in my tank and breeding routinely. Sometime they just act weird for a while. Try a few different foods and watch if he is eating. If he is, he probably will recover. My pair love Formula Two flake food.

[sinenomine]

Thanks for the help.

[sinenomine]

The fish had a long sting of poop on her all night last night asnd was laying on the tak floor on her side gasping when I left for work. Got home from work and they were both begging. She took over 4 ikari pellets, but still wasn't interested in brine shrimp. Very relieved to see her spunky.

[WetShepherd]

That sounds like good news - congrats ;)
I'm suprised she wasn't into the brine, but clowns can be such pigs - my bet is once she's in with others and seeing them eat it, she'll claim her share. That's how mine got onto the pellets. Glad to hear things are working out.

[Infiltrator]

Hope it continues! Good luck.

[sinenomine]

Ova did it. I happened to win some and tried it and the loligagger went nuts for it. Been eating that for 24 hours and is starting to take other things. Thanks for the support. What an odd hobby.

[BoilerMaker11]

Newbie question: I just bought two Ocellaris last week too and am a first-timer, how do you know if they are begging for food? I have been feeding them just 4-6 new spectrum pellets twice a day so far, do you think this is enough?

[WetShepherd]

It's hard to say without knowing their size, but my experience with them is that they can be pigs lol. I take begging to mean that they come to where you are standing at the glass and stay there until fed.

With NLS pellets, I feed my guys just a few at a time, by placing them under the surface of the water so that they sink, and if one or two hit the bottom, I'm done feeding. It may be worth noting though that I only feed pellets once or twice a week - the other days they get flakes or thawed-out frozen food so if my pellet feeding is light it's not that big a deal.

[GPB]

Mine will eat until it explodes. They are pigs.