Anyone Kept Clown Surgeon ????

[Regal]

Always want to keep this Clown Surgeon, IMO its quite difficult ????

[hotsoup]

The chances of them staying alive in captive environment is slim. Well, I tried that b4. So best to leave them alone where they belong.

[DeepBlue]

try sohal instead...hardy and dashing

almost had success with a clown....but kana wipe out with the others when my first anemone komatos...

[Dispar_Anthias]

try sohal instead...hardy and dashing

almost had success with a clown....but kana wipe out with the others when my first anemone komatos...

Yeah sohal are rather hardy and do well once established, the only down side is that this fish get to be too aggressive and should be the last fish tobe added............

Hey Clown surgeon have very poor survival record in aquarium thus i believe they are more suitable for advanced aquarist with enough knowledge to keep them happily.......... And btw this tang are very aggressive way more pesky and irritating than sohal so try not to keep them

[IcecruncherZ]

Hi all... does anyone know what leads to the demise of the Clown Surgeon? As in they starve to death from not eating or they die due to nutritional deficiencies? Or any other reason?

Cos I've never actually read of the cause of death anywhere b4...

:thanx

[Dispar_Anthias]

Hi all... does anyone know what leads to the demise of the Clown Surgeon? As in they starve to death from not eating or they die due to nutritional deficiencies? Or any other reason?

Cos I've never actually read of the cause of death anywhere b4...

:thanx

IMO clown sugeons have very sensitive skin thus very prone to skin infection such as ich and the disease that affect reef_lover morish idol(most common), thus IMo i believe that this is the problem that clead to the demise of clown surgeon

[acanthurus]

Hi all... does anyone know what leads to the demise of the Clown Surgeon?  As in they starve to death from not eating or they die due to nutritional deficiencies?  Or any other reason? 

Cos I've never actually read of the cause of death anywhere b4...

:thanx

Hi,

I think the main reason for difficulty in keeping this species are:

1)It is difficult to acclimatize to aquarium life and diet;

2)As stated above and elsewhere it is disease-prone(many tangs are prone to disease but this,as well as others like Achilles,etc.)

3)Extremely nervous on introduction,either goes into shock or refuses to eat, or slams itself into objects when startled,leading to injuries that get infected and subsequently causes death if not treated

4)Difficult to treat disease or injury,very intolerant of medication

I had success keeping them reef tanks with very high-quality water and plenty of cleaner shrimps.Thankfully the common diseases such as ich or velvet are not fatal if checked in time.

Of course,quarantine is a must,the quarantine tank also must have very clean water...I find that this species will die if given freshwater baths like what some books suggest...and using any medication will stop them eating and caus them to waste away and die...however in a tank with high-quality,clean water,comparatively few other fish and cleaner shrimps,parasitic infection can be kept in check...

Introduction must be done very slowly,with careful acclimatization to the tank's water conditions...and the fish must be left in darkness for a couple of days... and another disadvantage is that if the fish has to be moved to another tank these processes must be performed all over again...

Diet is another problem...they need to be tempted with small animal food such as brine shrimp or mysis, and also a tank with live rock and a good growth of algae can start them feeding...

I think these are the main problems and solutions....but they are rather troublesome...in the end the expenses just to get this fish used to its surroundings and adapted will cost more than the fish itself in the long term...

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

had sucess with these before but I regret moving house because that was the best specimen I had as it eat almost everything I threw in It was together with my sohal and they did alot of dances together in the tank

[dodo]

tat is a real beauty

[triggerpuff]

bought a clown and a blue tang together although I knew the clown would be quite difficult to keep.

the clown was really healthy and readily took mysis and even pellets for about a month, after which it stopped feeding and lay motionless on the sandbed 3 days after it stopped feeding. the blue tang is still going strong since the death of the clown 2 months ago.

this is my 2nd experience with a clown surgeon & i wont touch it again. there must hv been some disease that this species is vulnerable to.

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

bought a clown and a blue tang together although I knew the clown would be quite difficult to keep.

the clown was really healthy and readily took mysis and even pellets for about a month, after which it stopped feeding and lay motionless on the sandbed 3 days after it stopped feeding. the blue tang is still going strong since the death of the clown 2 months ago.

this is my 2nd experience with a clown surgeon & i wont touch it again. there must hv been some disease that this species is vulnerable to.

what a shame , because these are very striking fishes with very vivid colouration. I'm trying to locate one with a right size for my big tank but all I've seen are small specimens.

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

tat is a real beauty

thanks , I cried the whole day when it died!

[acanthurus]

tat is a real beauty

I agree...

BTW anyone ever find that clown tangs with the bottom light-coloured section that is white do better than those with gray/blue colour on the same area?Or that medium-sized to large specimens do better than small ones?At least those that are over 4 inches or the forked caudal fin has developed.

I noticed that the darker-bellied specimens tend to do poorly and die within a few days....I also never successfully kept one below 5 inches...also I wonder is the colouration a geographical difference or is the darker colour indicative of poor health...

Pls share your experiences,thanks

[FuEl]

Usually darker colors might indicate stress? Or maybe signs of cyanide poisoning?

[Dispar_Anthias]

I agree...

BTW anyone ever find that clown tangs with the bottom light-coloured section that is white do better than those with gray/blue colour on the same area?Or that medium-sized to large specimens do better than small ones?At least those that are over 4 inches or the forked caudal fin has developed.

I noticed that the darker-bellied specimens tend to do poorly and die within a few days....I also never successfully kept one below 5 inches...also I wonder is the colouration a geographical difference or is the darker colour indicative of poor health...

Pls share your experiences,thanks

Hey i believe this fish is way to delicate for us and should be belong to mother nature... Try other similar looking fish with better chance of survival such as sohal tang