Urgent Need Help!

So it has been a little over 24 hours since I bought my clownfish and my 2 hermits as my first livestock purchase. I am very very worried about my clownfish though. My ammonia has stayed and is still at 0, my nitrite was at 0 but has now climbed to .5, and my nitrate has remained at 30+. He is not acting good as he is mostly swimming in circles around the tank and swimming against the glass. I have been trying so hard to feed him because every once in a while he will try to eat a floating piece of sand then spit it out. I have floated so much of his food next to him but he will not eat! Now I have alot of food sitting in the tank!!! It is Instant Ocean Brine Shrimp. It comes in little foil packets and it is in a non refrigerated gel form. Once it is in the tank it is almost impossible to get out, so I have to manually move my hermit crabs to eat the leftover food but there is still alot of chunks floating around! I really need some help on what to do. I am worried that I will loose my fish! I am starting to do 10% water changes about 2 times a day. I only do 10% because my bucket is only 2.5 gallons. My tank is a 20 gallon. Please help!

 

My advise to you is to stop doing anything!!Let the fish acclimate!!! Don't do anymore water changes for now and stop feeding it!!When it feels comfortable it will eat believe me and the fish is not going to starve.It is quite normal for the fish to be a little crazy(especially Clowns) when first introduced. The nitrites is scary though. How long ago did you cycle and how did you do it?

 

I would give the store you got the clown fish from, What they where feeding. Then go get that. It's possible it just does not recognize the food.

Clown fish do act kinda dumb. That swimming behaviour could be normal

 

I cycled for a little bit over a month. I put in a cocktail shrimp for about a week, then took it out. My ammonia went up to 5 then down, then my nitrite went up to 5, then down, When I saw my ammonia was at 0 and my nitrite was at 0, and my nitrate being at 40, a friend of mine told me it was time to do a water change then go get a fish! So that is what I did.

 

Got to agree, stop feeding and stop worrying, fish are not stupid and wnt starve themselves, leave it be for a while and let your clown settle.
When u bought it was it alone in the tank or was it "friends" with another clown ?

 

He had a different kind of fish in the tank with him but no clowns. What do you guys think about water changes? The water conditions aren't the best, but clownfish are hardy. Or should I just let him be for a day or so?

 

Haha my clown did the same thing when I bought the pair. For a week or so all they did was lab around the tank and swim up and down against the glass, they did not go anywhere near the rockwork or act normal. Remember it is a CLOWN fish they got the name for a reason just read through some people experiences with them.

As for eating, mine ate same day but I fed them the same exact food the store was feeding, NLS thera with garlic. Also ammonia is the big thing here if 0 thats all you really need to worry about. Nitrites and Nitrates are more of an issue with corals and inverts than with fish. Fish only tanks can run with nitrates around 40 or sometimes even higher with no issues, is it great for the fish prob not and it may cause longterm damage but shortterm it will be fine. Nitrites I get confused about in FW they are a real problem but everyone has told me in SW they are harmless to fish and our fear of them comes from FW enthusiasts.

What is your salinity and pH?
Maybe get a better CUC by the way nassarius snails are great at eating leftover food and would be a great addition along with some more hermits.

 

My plan is to go to Petco and purchase Ammonia and Nitrite eating bacteria. That way My nitrite will start to fall. I will then give him some extra time to acclimate, then slowly start to do water changes to get that nitrate down!!! Maybe a snail wouldn't hurt either... Thanks Guys

 

Keep in mind that snails are generally less tolerable of a decline in water conditions than fish.

Also member Renee@LionsFishLair recently contributed a very good thread on the topic and products said to introduce beneficial bacteria. I would surely reference that.


http://www.3reef.com/forums/lionfish-lair/bottled-bacteria-put-test-137146.html

 

From Petco I got Instant Ocean Natural Nitrate Reducer and mine was very high, I dosed it once and once at 0 it hasen't moved since, I won't say the additive did it all, but I think it helped to get things moving in the right direction.