tomato clown help

[bwoerner]

Hi.
I have a RR 180 with 4"DSB,skimmer,etc.
Tank was set up 12/4. I added damsels(I know noone likes them) and never saw increases ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc. I did have the brown algae, which has since almost completely disappeared.
All tested levels are pertect, 0 for all, 1.020, 79degrees.

Saturday I added two tomato clowns and 2 condo aneomes.
All doing fine, except yesterday 1 clown displays short bursts then acts normal. He continues this for as long as I watched him.
Is he dying?? Do I change anything??
When do I do my first water change?? How much 35Gal??
The clowns seem to be eating the flake food fine with the rest of the fish.

Thanks for your advice.
Bill

[MalHavoc]

Define "bursts". My tomato clown spends most of his time just floating in my bubble tipped anemone. The ony time he gets agitated is when another fish gets close to his home.

Clownfish appreciate meaty foods, by the way. I feed mine pieces of shrimp, and also chopped up fresh seafood when I get a chance to spend some money at the fish market here in town.

You should be doing water changes every couple of weeks, maybe 5 to 10% each time. Large water changes can be quite shocking to fish and corals, unless you exactly match the water temperature and salinity.

Personally, I find your salinity quite low, even for a "fish only" tank. If you want your anemones to last, or if you ever plan on adding corals, you should raise it to 1.025 to 1.027.

[bwoerner]

Thanks Jason
Bursts similar to a damsel chasing another away from its territory, but the bursts are not toward anything. They're in open water and the other one doesn't seem to exhibit any of these tendencies.
I was recommended to have low salinity to prohibit parasite diseases.
Are there disadvantages of having higher salinity??

[bwoerner]

Thanks Jason
Bursts similar to a damsel chasing another away from its territory, but the bursts are not toward anything. They're in open water and the other one doesn't seem to exhibit any of these tendencies.
I was recommended to have low salinity to prohibit parasite diseases.
Are there disadvantages of having higher salinity??
Also, has my tank cycled?? When do you suggest I try additional fish??

[MalHavoc]

Well, natural sea water has a salinity of about 36 ppt, which is about 1.025-1.027, depending on temperature. The only negative effect I can think of is that parasites won't die. But, if your fish are healthy, they shouldn't be picking up parasites anyway. Stressed fish are sick fish. Happy, healthy fish are not.

[bwoerner]

Thanks. How about the next question about it being cycled??
When do I add fish?
I initially added 60 LBS of live sand, 60LBS CC.
Also, I was in Halifax for the Tall ship festival. Awesome place. Even golfed at Hartlen Point.
Bill

[MalHavoc]

IF everything continually measures zero (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate), it's probably cycled. I worry that your tank isn't mature enough for anemones, but that's a different topic.

How many fish in your tank now? what do you eventually want to keep?

Thanks for the comments about Halifax. Great place to live, but thank God for mail order :)

[bwoerner]

Jason
Thanks for your reply.
I will probably lean towards a puffer,few tangs, and some colorful fish. Not too particular.
Suggestions??
Will a chocolate chip starfish survive??
Should I wait for add'l ameome's?? I don't have MH lights, so I know I'm limited as to the type I can have.
Bill

[Vert20]

By "short bursts" do you mean he shimmies like he has been shocked? If that is what you are talking about he is probably nose up or nose down when he does it. That is normal and is showing off for his (or her) tank mate.

My false percs did that all the time, was fun to watch and the wife called it the "electric mating dance"

HTH
-V-

[bwoerner]

Thanks. I checked yesterday and he seems fine. Perhaps he was showing off.

[MalHavoc]

I would probably wait on an anemone until the tank was at least 6 months old and you've stablized your water chemistry and salinity and all that stuff. The good news is, a tomato clown happily accepts a bubble tip anemone as a host (as mine did), and BTAs can be kept under lighting other than MH. My BTA has gone two inches to almost a foot in diameter, under normal output fluorescent lighting. I feed him an awful lot, though. They would probably do quite well under very bright PC lighting.

[bwoerner]

J
How often and how much do you feed your BTA?
When should I consider additional fish??
Thanks, Bill

[MalHavoc]

Balance out your water salinity first, and then you can probably start adding fish.

Do some serious research before you add the puffer. Most puffers are not reef safe. Some eat invertibrates (like that starfish you want to add). Most need to be fed a lot, like several times a day. Some of them, like the Map Puffer, will even eat coralline algae.

I suggest picking up a copy of Marine Fishes, by Scott Michael, or at least borrowing a copy for visits to the LFS.

I feed my BTA two to three times a week, mostly with ripped up pieces of shrimp. It's gotten quite easy to feed him now, as my clown will take food down to him, deposit it in his tentacles, and then wait for him to digest it. Quite cool to watch.

I actually filmed this. There's a movie on my website (http://malhavoc.homeunix.com/personal/reeftank.html)
that you may want to watch.

[bwoerner]

Great videos. I'll get the book as well. I appreciate you helping a novice out.
Bill