Am I okay?

[mheiden]

I started a fish/live rock aquarium a while ago. It is a 12 gal Eclipse with coral substrate and around 10 pounds of live rock. I have bio-stars on top of the carbon filter pack. I have a 13 W 50/50 combo light installed and a retro-fit upgrade (32 W) on the way. I have a turbo snail and a coral banded shrimp in it. I just added two clownfish (one seemed to be a false percula because it doesn't have a thick black border along the white, and one seemed to be a true percula because it did) and a mimic yellow tang. I think the tang is a mimic. It is a small fish, a very pretty yellow, blue-rimmed eyes, and what seems like a blue edge to the top and bottom fins. Everything seemed fine, but then I found the true percula clownfish dead. It must have died overnight. It's back fin had been slightly chewed, but other than that, it was intact. I don't know whether the chewing happened before or after it died. The other clownfish and the tang seem fine.

All my chemicals are fine. My pH has been at 8.0. I haven't been able to raise it easily. My temp is a very steady 79 F and my SG is 1.023.

Have I made a mistake with the tang (whatever type it is)? Is there anything I should be doing different? Even with the three fish inside, they seemed to have plenty of swimming and hiding room. Now with two, there seems to be more than enough. .

Thanks for your help. .

Mark

[bmb527]

I would say that the tang, while beautiful, should be returned to your LFS ASAP! I'm sorry to say, but a tang, any tang, is not a fish for such a small tank. They just need too much room. If you want a tang, better look into a tank in the 55 gal or more range. Sorry to be the one to say it but someone else would sooner or later.
By the way...Welcome to Reef Lounge!!!
Bill

[mheiden]

Would they take it back? It seems to be in good shape. . .

Would you then recommend buying another false percula clown to make a pair?

[bmb527]

Most reputable stores will take it back and give you a store credit. I would say that you should be able to get another false percula, I personally have had good luck adding a second one, but they are an unpredictible little fish. Others may post to tell of more safe ways to introduce the new one, I've heard that the new one should be bigger than the "senior" clown in the tank, along with other methods. Too bad the tang is too big for your tank, as he sounds beautiful! Well good luck!
Bill

[joanadam]

Not to be contradictive, but I have always heard the other way around. As well as from my experience, to add a smaller clown than the one that is already in the tank.
Generally the bigger clown is the female and of course...the dominant of the species.
Because of this. The one that is already in the tank should be bigger because it already has established its territory and generally clowns wont give that up very easily.
If a newly introduced bigger clown is introduced, of course it would be female and try to take over the territory. Well, then ITS ON.
Fight to the death probably.
So, a smaller one will not try to take dominance on the already established fishes territory and should take on the male, inferior role of the species just as it should be.
The larger female will not see him as a threat and probably ignore him until she finds a use for him, like taking the garbage out of the anemone, or those sort of things.
Of course sometimes she won't find a use for him other than hunting him down relentlessly until ... well...its a 50/50 chance anyway.

Well thats just my opinion. I've only mated maroons.

[bmb527]

Actually I believe you are correct. I just re-read my post and I had it backwards. A couple of Singletracks and I don't know which way is up, ha ha! I guess we are lucky that it was late enough that LFS are closed. You seem to have it straight!
Later, from the land of micro brews, Bill

[mheiden]

I returned the tang for a store credit. The person there was a different person than who sold me the fish. She said it was a type of blue tang because of the blue eyes and the bluish tints on the fins. I got a smaller clownfish and I am introducing it now. It is still in the bag. The bigger one is interested in it and has seemed to snap a bit at it. I hope when I release the smaller one, that it has a chance! They are both false perculas. I will keep you updated.

[joanadam]

Good luck.

[mheiden]

As of this morn, both Clownfish seem to be fine and have no nips or bites out of their fins. I do see the bigger one occasionally move towards and seem to bite at the smaller one, but the smaller one shows no sign of and damage. Sometimes the smaller one then half-nips back and sometimes shakes a bit. Is this normal?

Anyway, so far so good.

One other question: I have some debris on the bottom of my tank. A little of it is old bloodworms, some is the veggie food fo the now-gone tang, and some are the droppings from the turbo snail. I can't seem to get to these with my gravel cleaner, will the shrimp eventually get these? Is there something else I can put in the tank to clean this up? I already have a coral banded shrimp and a turbo snail. I will be very careful not to overfeed from here on out. . .

Thanks. .

[cafetao]

Sounds like your clowns are doing great. Don't worry about the nipping and shaking thats normal for clowns.
The shrimp might get them, but I would get some snails or crabs that specifically eat detrius.

[bmb527]

Cafetao,
Where do you get your stuff in American Fork? I lived in Sandy for three years and got to know Utah pretty well! My wife is born and raised Sandy girl. Her relatives are from American Fork, or at least some of them.
Bill