New aquarium with three clownfish

[renejuan]

We recently obtained an aquarium and also joined ARC. We have an aquarium (55 gallons) that have been cycled for almost a month. We originally added 40 pounds live sand and about 7 pounds live rock. Then 15 days later we added about 35 pounds of base rock and we decided to add 20 pounds of sand. We waited about 5 days we have been measuring all parameter. No nitrite, no nitrate, no ammonia, salinity was corrected to 1.022 (specific gravity), temperature ranges from 76-77 F and pH is 8.4 and alkalinity normal.

Yesterday we bought three clownfish. They seem perfectly fine as soon we put them in the new tank. We observed them for a few hours and were doing fine. This morning we noticed that one of the clownfish have been bitten up. We tried rescuing by taking it to a separate aquarium it but it didn't survive. I and my girlfriend have read about aggresion between clownfish but opinion seems to be divided. We called the LFS and they seem surprised. Another LFS told us it is normal for clownfish to attack other. One thing we noticed was that since we put the three fishes there were two swimming together and other left by itself (the one that died). Could we expect this type of behaviour toward other fishes? We are sad as it was the first time we put fish in the new aquarium.

The other two fishes seem to be swimming fine but they have not moved from a bottom corner of the tank close to the thermostat. The thermometer on the other side of the tank measure 76.8 F. We also noticed a spike in the ammonia now measuring 0.25. We are very concerned about it. It seems like the aquarium was not totally cycled. Is this normal? What steps should we take to avoid losing the two remaining clownfish?

Thanks!!!

renejuan and sa1sachica

 

[tonester_man]

Sounds like relationship competition...... "Thirdwheel"

 

[sweetpea]

Clowns are not schooling fish and can become very agressive towards outsiders. Two may bond and attack any others in their territory. As for them staying in one place, I don't think I'd worry too much about it as long as they are acting, swimming, and eating normally. I have a pair of true percs that "host" the top of a powerhead, lol! Goofy fish!

You could be seeing an ammonia spike from adding three fish at the same time. Keep testing & doing water changes to keep the levels down as far as possible. Using some Prime probably wouldn't hurt either. (

>http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/detailed_image.cfm?pCatId=4057&large=/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg_901187_FS20912D.jpg</a> )

HTH!

 

[stroid]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=282136">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=282136</a>
read over this should give you alot of really good information.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Adding three fish in a tank for 12 hours should not have amde a 0.25 rise in ammonia IMHO. Not even feeing of extra food (if you fed them yesterday which most first time fish owners do) should not have made a spike like that. On one side, the higher the PH the worst ammonia is for fish, but 0.25 ammoina is not too much to worry about. Are you sure you added the correct ammount of drops to test your ammonis (if doing a drip test) or are you sure your test strip is correct? FYI though, your ammount of live rock is pretty low for the tank. The 7 lbs you had was the only thing carrying in bacteria and you did not leave enough time for the base rock to make a difference and be colonized, this might be part of the problem. IMHO though, you are going to need to plan to have about twice as much live rock as you currently have. Think about 1.5lbs to 2.5lbs per gallon of you tank. My 55 gallon has about 110lbs in it and it still could use more in my opinion.

Yes, your behavior is pretty normal for clowns. The first LFS should not have sold you three of them. But as you will learn, most LFS are buyer beware. On top of all that, ([enter soapbox]) What did you do for your fish to make sure they were healthy before putting them in your system? Starting out is the best time to get into good habits and prevent headaches down the road. You really should think about looking in to QTing your fish before they go in your main tank. [/end soapbox]

At any rate, good luck enjoy the clowns, they are some of my favorite fish... Just do not rush out and get an anemone for them right away... Glad to have you on board!

 

[sweetpea]

oops... missed the "yesterday" cue. My apologies...

<ducks away, embarassed>

 

[renejuan]

Thanks to everybody for their advice and support. We know most questions do not have a straight answer and we appreaciate all the tips and opinions. We would like to know a little more about live rock. We started the aquarium with this little live rock (7 lbs) and 35lbs base rock because we did not anticipated adding much livestock right away. We didn't wanted to sacrifice quality but we didn't have lots of money to invest right away. We always hear you should have 2 lbs per gallon but we find this thumb of rule too generic. Do nitrification and denitrification occur in live rock? We have about 2-3 inches of sand. Would this be enough to have denitrification? Aside from having a rock "completely" cured. What steps should we consider when putting a live rock inside of a tank with livestock? Currently we have a Biowheel (Penguin 350) and a skimmer (AquaC Remora). Does this Biowheel do the work removing ammonia or not really? Again, thanks for all suggestions, opinions and comments.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ok lets see if I can answer some of this...

Yes, Denitrification does occure in the rock. The rock gives the bacteria surface area to attach to. All those nooks and crannies are awsome for that. Plus, Rock gives a place for sponge and feather dusters, etc to grow and filter the water and absorb that ammonia and nitrate that you do not want. So it serves double value. I can surely understand the cost of liverock and that being a problem. You are talking to the king of cheap when it comes to a reef tank! You might check around on the forsale threads and see if anyone is breaking down a tank that you can snag the LR from. It will run you around $2.50 to $3 a pound that way instead of $7. You can also by live rock off e-bay for about $3 including shipping. They are not the best pieces as far as shape, many look like "bubble gum" pieces that are good for base rocks. But they will get the job done. IMHO, it is best to get all your rock in from the start. Any live rock is going to have a small cycle in your tank. This is because you do not have alot of established rock in there to lessen the blow. If you order off of e-bay, that rock is either going to need to cycle inside your tank, or out of your tank in a different tub. If you get from another member locally, and you can keep the rock underwater, you should be fine adding it to an established tank. You are right though, the 2lbs per gal rule is very generic and it depends on alot of factors (what you are keeping, how high your bioload is, how often you want to maintain the system, what type of rock it is, etc.) But we have to have a number to tell you, so that is the one we use! Not to say it can not be done with less, but without any supporting devices, ie a sump and refugium, you will want much more rock then you have in the long run!

Now on to your sand bed... You either need to get rid of some sand or ad about twice as much. You want to either have less then 1 1/2" or more then 3 1/2" but not inbetween. It is hard to explain why (and I do not have too much time to type) but if you want some links that explain why, I should be able to dig them up. If you are going to add sand, do not add more then about 1/4" one MAYBE twice a week till you reach a good debth. But to answer your question, yes a sand bed of under 1 1/2" or over 3 1/2" does help with denitrification...

Ok now to your biowheel... You are going to want to take the wheel off that bad boy. It does little good for a tank and could do a lot of bad. If you were running a freshwater tank, that is something that you want the wheel for but not a reef tank. Just run the filter with the carbon in it and let it go on that. And no, it will not remove the ammonia. the only thing you can do right now for the ammonia is either a) do a 10-20% waterchange with RO water or b) get some ammonia chips and throw them in a small mesh bag in your filter to absorb the ammonia.

Have you thought about adding yourself a sump/refugium to your tank?!? In the long haul, it is the best thing you can do for your system if you want a reef tank.

Hope that helps.

 

[cameron]

Welcome to the club in case that got lost in there somewhere.