LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Hello everyone, I am a new member, and I have a problem with a piggy clownfish. In my 11 gallon Via aqua, I have a farm-raised clownfish and a purple firefish (and a sailfin blenny still in quarantine). Every time I feed my fish, the clownfish stuffs himself to the point where he's eaten all of the food I can put in and the firefish gets nothing. Now, my firefish looks emmaciated, and my clownfish looks like Fat Albert after Thanksgiving dinner. I am starting to think that I should move the clown into the refugium I plan on setting up this week. If anyone has a suggestion I am very open to hearing it. Recently, I tried to feed the clownfish as much as he could eat so the firefish could have some too, but it backfired and the pig wouldn't stop eating. I think he regurgitated it, because my nitrates are up to 10, from 0. I refuse to over feed my tank, but my beloved firefish is wasting away.:*( Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Welcome to Nano-Reef.com! Puting the clwon fish in a refugium would kind of defeat the purpose of having a refugium. If you're feeding small amounts every 30 seconds or so, you should just put in all the food at one time. There's no way the clown could get to all of it before the firefish. Also try feeding twice a day. Link to comment
LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 That is very true. The main problem is that the firefish is very timid, and won't go near the clown during feeding. I usually put the food in at one time. By feeding once a day, won't my nitrate levels go even higher? I run a CPR bak-pak at night, and I change 1 gallon of water every other week and 3 gallons every month. Link to comment
Bucket o Chum Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 You should try feeding live food like brine shrimp. The shrimp will swim everywhere so the food will be at many places at the same time. So your firefish won't have to get near your clown to get something to eat. Hope things go well! Link to comment
LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Ingenious! Is it profitable to grow your own? Link to comment
Bucket o Chum Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I've grown brine shrimp once as a little experiment a few months past. I fed them unicellular algae and they did grow but not very fast since i didn't give them any vitamin supplements. So i would suggest giving them vitamins to speed up growth. They matured and began to reproduce after about 6 to 8 weeks. All you'll need is salt water, a fish bowl, and some type of food. I didn't do any water changes. I'm not sure if its profitable to grow small quantities but some people grow very large quantities in big tanks or shallow wading pools under bright light so the unicellular algae will grow. Some form of fertiler is also helpful for algae growth. Link to comment
stonepran Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 I have a suggestion, Your high nit *could* be caused by your skimmer turning off and on every day. As my understanding, its best not to turn your skimmer off/on like you would with a tv. You need to leave it running, mainly because with shutting it down the skimmer needs to resync. Maybe, this could be your problem , don't mark my words! :x Link to comment
LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 That could be possible, but my nitrate levels have been zero until a few days ago. I think the source of the trate is a dying sponge that came in on live rock. The other day it was dirty looking, yesterday it was pale and today it seems to be falling apart. How should I handle this? Cut it off of the rock, or let it be? As soon as this problem is solved I think I'll test the water before and after the skimmer turns on. Thanks for the info Stonepran! Link to comment
freakaccident Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I have a goby in the same situation as your firefish. I feed flakes mostly and I rub them between my fingers so they are broken up into very small pieces. I let the flakes go in front of the power head and they get circulated all over the tank quickly. The goby pops his head out when some drifts my him. He also grazes over the rock for any bits the clown didn't or couldn't get at. Link to comment
LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 I haven't tried flakes, but I've fed them pellets. The firefish gets 1 for every 6 that the pig clown gets. What type of flakes do you use? Link to comment
freakaccident Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 HBH Flake frenzy. I feed frozen foods too. If you take a frozen food cube and defrost it in a bowl of tank water you can stir it up in the tank and it will act the same as flakes going all over the place. Link to comment
LITTLEFISHEE Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 I bought some live brine shrimp yesterday, and the firefish loved them. Bucket O Chum was right on with that suggestion. Link to comment
skierajs Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 I have the same problem when I feed floating foods - my female clownfish keeps all the food and won't let anything else touch it. Last week I started feeding frozen mysis shrimp every day instead of flakes and it works much better. I just fill a shot glass with tank water, then put a quarter cube of frozen mysis in there, stir it up till the shrimps are thawed out and then dump it in the tank right in front of the powerhead. The dead little shimp go everywhere and all my tank inhabitants eat well. Link to comment
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