Is Clown fish hardy?

[MadScientist]

that's why the safest way to ensure the health of that clownfish is to let ur lfs keep it for 2 weeks. From what I know, most would be glad to do that for u. BTW, bigger doesnt mean healthier. It only means higher adaptibility of the fish. Super Elephant, maybe u didnt observed carefully or that the fishes died due to shocks. Fishes at our lfs doesnt have comfortable journey. They have to be transferred from places to places before reaching lfs. The way to reduce their stress load is to extend the stay of each place it went. 2 weeks in lfs, mati also never mind mah, 2 bucks nia, better than wiping out your whole tank of clowns n the possibility of introducing diseases which ur tank is not immune to.

[MadScientist]

Brooklynella hostilis

Phylum: Ciliophora

Class: Kinetophragmenophorea

Family: Chilodonellidae

Genus: Brooklynella

Species: hostilis

Microhabitat: skin

Brooklynellosis is caused by a ciliated protozoan known as Brooklynella hostilis Lom and Nigrelli, 1970. B. hostilis is found pretty much all over the world, but is more common in warmer waters. It infects most marine teleosts (bony fishes) but has not been detected in wild fish. Brooklynella has no free-living stages.

The parasite attacks the gills of the infected fish and with heavy infections, the surface tissue of the gills is destroyed and the parasites feed on tissue debris and ingest blood cells.

Brooklynella resembles Chilodonella in aspect and size. These ciliate is a parasite which appears on the skin and gills of tropical marine fish.

At the beginning you can see small pale areas on the skin, the fish loose appetite, breathe rapidly, become more and more lethargic and secrete mucus. The pale areas grow bigger, and in the final stage, extensive parts of the skin come off. Death occurs in several days when large skin areas are destroyed.

Immediate treatment is therefore necessary. Add sera cyrpinopur1 every day for four to six days according to the instructions in saltwater aquariums without invertebrates (or in the quarantine tank). You must calculate the water quantity and dose the remedy exactly like when combating cryptocarion. In saltwater aquariums without invertebrates, Brooklynella can also be combated safely with sera costapur1. Dose according to the instructions.

1 No product endorsment intended.

References:

http://www.fishdisease.net/fd/disease_imag....php?img_id=298

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j...ooklynella.html

http://www.aquarium.net/0497/0497_6.shtml

http://www.sera.de/autoframe.htm?url=http:...n/ciliaten2.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brooklynellosisart.htm

[Super Elephant]

I've got starfish in my fish tank... Do i need to take them out before i put the medicine?

And is this disease infect other marine fishes like damsels or foxface or angel etc?

[Super Elephant]

Yah.. one thing.. nearly forget....

before my clownfish die... I always saw a "white coating" on its body before it dies.... the "white coating" is like a dead skin peeling off our skin like that....

Is it the same kind of disease?

[ben]

clown fish have many types. Some hardy and some not. At the moment they are not tank raised in Singapore nor any part of Asia yet. Most clown fish needs Anemone in order to survive. Anemone gives these easy frightened fish a secure home. Damsels are territorial but if your clownfish are in the Anemone, they are safe. The big problem is Anemone are very sensitive to water quality and will only let 1-2 clownfish to stay there. If too much Anemone-staying fish crowded around it, then u will have to say bye bye to ur Anemone later. Its hard to feed Anemone and most types will eat up your little shrimps. If you really want to have clownfishes, try buying a school so they feel more secure but your tank is too crowded hence will destroy everything if you do so.

BTW local fish shops always tell people marines are easy and fishes are easily kept. But all that are liars as they do want to make business too. So we can actually blame them. If you always hang around these LFS, u will notice that they have hard times stabilizing too.

If your clownfish is saved by them , yes possible. I can do that for you too, hehe. Just place them into a very nice place full of anemones, corals, .... and later your clown fish will be in superb condition. Main issue is what if you bring back and happenes again? You have to find out what happened at your tank in order to solve all your problems.

[ben]

My above statements has too much spelling error so I re write again here. Pls delete the above, thx.

clown fish have many types. Some hardy and some not. At the moment they are not tank raised in Singapore nor any part of Asia yet. Most clown fish needs Anemone in order to survive. Anemone gives these easy frightened fish a secure home. Damsels are territorial but if your clownfish are in the Anemone, they are safe. The big problem is Anemone are very sensitive to water quality and will only let 1-2 clownfish to stay there. If too much Anemone-staying fish crowded around it, then u will have to say bye bye to ur Anemone later. Its hard to feed Anemone and most types will eat up your little shrimps. If you really want to have clownfishes, try buying a school so they feel more secure but your tank is too crowded hence will destroy everything if you do so.

BTW local fish shops always tell people marines are easy and fishes are easily kept. But all that are liars as they have to make business too. So we cannot actually blame them but u can blame them on their lousy supprts. If you always hang around these LFS, u will notice that they have hard times stabilizing their aquariums too.

If your clownfish is saved by them , yes possible. I can do that for you too, hehe. Just place them into a very nice place full of anemones, corals, .... and later your clown fish will be in superb condition. Main issue is what if you bring back and happens again? You have to find out what happened at your tank in order to solve all your problems.

Clownfish cost S$1 only in the market and its cheap but pls consider the effort and transportation. Furthermore I wouldnt gamble to have buy 1-2 clownfish whih later will be dying due to reasons which later will cause my other fishes demoralised. This will later result the whole tanks wipe out.

[terryansimon]

hmm clownfishes do not necessarily need an anemone to survive. they do not have a symbiotic relationship.

[ReDDeviLs]

there is always a certain risk to bring new frens in for ur fishes..

[ben]

I have read 90% of the pages I found from the web site research and they said most types of clownfish needs anemone and they are related. only 10% said no.

I remembered when I first bought my clowns and all dead later. Then I bought an anemone with 2 clowns and they are OK even after so many weeks. BTW my this tank is just a survey, 50 litre tank,

Since I like clowns so much, I wouldnt risk my fish die on this so I prefer Anemone.

[terryansimon]

urh. okay.

anemones do not need clowns to survive. the same can be said for the reverse. like I said, they do not enjoy a truely symbiotic relationship. if that is the case, a lot of clowns in FOWLR systems would be dead by now.

my friend's clown fish for example is still going strong, despite fights amongst themselves and all. even after three to four months.

[Super Elephant]

So clown fish is best with or without anemones?

[giantbicycle]

still trying to keep clown by First qurintine them in a seperate tank. I am trying out that .Sry for the spelling mistakes.

[terryansimon]

So clown fish is best with or without anemones?

depending on your tank size and water parameters, and whether you have sufficient lighting for the anemone. (=

[MadScientist]

It's true that clownfish do not need anemones to survive. The same holds true for anemones. But studies have kept showing that the cohabition of clownfish and anemones does increase their survival in the wild and in simulated environments. If your tank can support anemones, it is advised to keep clownfish with anemones. It is shown that the colouration of both the fish and anemone intensifies after being paired together. The anemone tends to be more lively with the fish. A word of caution: Clownfish do get more territorial if they are paired up with an anemone, especially so for maroon clownfish.

The reason for the benefits are still unclear. Some believed that the movement of the fish helped to create currents for waste to be removed, clean water and food to be brought in. Some also believed that the fish will bring in occasional prey for the anemone.

[MalaysiaBoleh]

according to reefcentral, clownfishes can do fine w/o anemones

[ben]

hehe, I wouldnt risk. its very sad to see the clowns dead after u went down and chose for so long on these clowns. I personally saw my clowns dead one by one each day so thats very sad for me. But after I introduce an anemone the day before these clowns, its OK till now, been few weeks. I noticed that untill now these clowns always stay near anemone and its proved that they territorial on anemone.

I remembered on the day I placed my clowns in and the anemone became so happy. It let the clowns cleaned it up. It even did a overturn to let these both clowns clean the whole body. I noticed my clowns always cling onto the anemone side body and between the tentacles to get a hold for sleeping. Maybe this is to avoid drifting away from the water current.

BTW they leave in a 2ftX 1ft X 1ft tank! Who said such a small tank cant rare marines, LOL

[ben]

The only problem I faced now is to feed this Anemone. Until now it still dont eat but its healthy! I tried frozen mysis shrimp sticking to the tentacles but it didnt eat up or pass to its mouth. seems no reaction though and minutes later when the clowns saw it, they will eat them up.

Anyone with anemone can advise me how to feed them?

[terryansimon]

nobody ever said you can't rear marine fishes in a 2ft by 1ft by 1ft. just that its harder as the water parameter fluctuation is much more sudden, as compared to a huge tank. but even still, fluctuation will also be high in a huge tank, but not as high when compared to a small tank.

advocating the need to get an anemone for clown fish survival isn't exactly right. if that is the case, a lot of Fish Only With Live Rock systems of FOWLR systems would be wiped out of clown fishes now.

getting an anemone also requires suitable and adequate lighting. and unless you're sure that you can handle the demands of having an anemone in there, I doubt it should be recommended to beginners who just started on this hobby. it'll be a waste of their money and time. but most importantly, it'll be a waste of one life. we're already leeching the resources of this planet as it is, at the rate that we continue. hehz. you go figure what will happen.

so I'm happy for you that your clown fishes are okay with the anemone. but generalising that they die because there isn't an anemone is as good as catching a robber without evidence. get my drift?

[Super Elephant]

I heard that different clownfish is suitable for different anemone.... Is that true?

[terryansimon]

more or less

Look here.

[MadScientist]

I do agree that clownfish and anemone can do well without each other. But it would still be beneficial to have them both together. As for the case of anemones not eating, u can still feed the shrimps regularly as anemones will eat them when they are hungry. Alternatively, you may choose to buy commerical plankton liquid food (which in my opinion, doesnt seemed to be that nutritious) for your anemone. Remember to swithc off your filters when feeding the liquid food and not to switch off your powerheads or wavemakers as they are needed to allow the food to circulate throughout the whole tank. Personally, I am having a 2ft tank! Size is no a primary factor. If you have good water quality, 2ft is no problem at all.

[giantbicycle]

Ya i ,strongly agree with MadScientist . That size dosent matter but the water quality must be good enough.

[blacknails]

Hmmz... I think we all understand and agree that it is true that clownfishes can live in an aquarium without an anemone but at the same time I also do agree with the rest of the reefers in saying that in good water conditions, clownfishes and anemones would thrive if placed together.

Besides, I do believe that it would make the clownfishes (I dunno about anemones.. They don't have brains but no offense) more secure if it has a host anemone in the tank and very evidently it is their nature to find a host as they would always use substitutes (bubbly corals, xenia etc) if without an anemone.

So for best results in colouration and survival rate it would still be best to honour this naural symbiotic relationship within the cofines of your aquarium.

Hehe.. How? I write like professor or not?

[terryansimon]

it isn't symbiotic. or at least, fully symbiotic.

[Super Elephant]

Wow... having a clown fish needs so many things.. not as easy as i thought.......