new clown trigger

[lordmbsa]

hey i have a clown trigger but the bottom of its bodie is turning white would u know why it is doing this

[Andrew]

How did you acclimate him and how long have you had him? What are your tank levels?

[mitzel]

How is he acting ? is he rubbing on rocks? is he feeding?
tell us as much as possible about your tank . size ,temp,sg,?#lr,?#LS. other tank inhabitants ?

[lordmbsa]

well he isnt rubbing on the rock and he deff. is eating and i have him about two or three weeks and i acclaimated him liek evey other fish put sum of my water in waight alittle and took sum out then put more in etc. hes a juvenile and hes in a 56g and there is another trigger in there but he is doing fine im just worried about the little guy

[XtrmCHoPZ]

describe what you mean by white. is he getting patchy white or white overall. Clown trigs will sometimes turn pale-white and loose color from time to time which is normal. Mine does it occassionally.

[Cord]

They can often display their stress colors. That may be all he is doing. Especially if he darkens up later in the day. Keep the water quality good with water changes, and efficient skimming, feed good food, and I'll bet he does just fine.

[Mad Scientist]

Do a water change, feed him.

It sounds like (from you tank description) that you are trying to the 'big fish that need tons of room' thing is small tank - in general this is not a good idea.

Baby CT's need frequent feedings. Big boys are pretty tough, but still need clean water and a nice established tank that can handle their bioload

[thor32766]

any updates on him, CT's are usually very hardy fish.

[LRS078]

Also remember salinity plays a part in coloring.... Most LFS keep salinity low (like .014-.017) and many home systems are much higher. CT's are tough but it can still be a shock to the system. That said, usually fish color up more when in proper (vs low) salinity but if he is stressed or getting a less complete diet they can also de-color some. When CT's are small they need almost constant food availability. I would recommend getting a few clams/mussels at a local fresh market type store and dropping a half in 2x a day. If he doesn't have to compete massively for food he can nibble at those (which are great for him BTW) and you don't have to deal with lost food rotting in your tank. Anything uneaten after 12 hours just take the shell out and toss it.

HOpe this helps...

[Monkeyfish]

Baby clowns do grow fast and need several meals a day. The clam idea is pretty good if the other fish don't beat him to the meal; just keep in mind that the clams may cause your skimmer to go nuts. Every time I feed my 75 a couple of cherrystones the skimmer cup fills up in less than an hour.

[LRS078]

Hmm...that is weird (cherrystones/skimmer nuts). My skimmer (s)never seems to mind one way or the other. I've got an ASM, a Coralife 220, and a Seaclone 150 (yeah yeah I know but this one works fine for me with some tweaking).

I take them from the freezer (cherrystones), thaw in water, slice 50/50, give a final rinse in brita/pur filtered tap water and drop in the tank. Inside of 10 mins the clams are picked so clean they are shiney.

Never heard of the skimmer going nuts from them...weird. Usually for the skimmer to go that nuts means there is a chemical in the water that foams easily (such as a medication like Melafix/teatree oil) or similar. That can make a "foam party" out of most skimmers.

[bluerug]

Not to mention salmon that will also make a skimmer go nuts.

[hrdneglcry]

What kind of fish are his tank mates? I have groups of Niger Triggers that are running Clowns, and Picassos right out of the tank. The Niger's stick together. If you really want to keep him I suggest putting him in check with fish that will not hurt what you care about, but together can keep the Clown Trigger "honest"...