New Storm Clowns Not Eating

[Aaron Soliz]

Hello all,

I thought this was the best thread to post this message on. I recently purchased a black storm and a mocha storm on Tuesday. Acclimated them for an hour in a half and they have been great this whole time. We are going on 48 hours in the tank and the mocha storm doesn’t want to eat. The little storm clown eats very little. I got frozen food yesterday, tried to feed them it and Mocha wasn’t having it and neither was the black storm.

Today, I bought dry Spectrum pellets and tossed a few of them in there today. The little one ate a pebble and the other had it in his mouth then spat it out. I also tossed a little bit of frozen after the dry and the the little clown ate one while the other showed no interest.

I want to make sure this is normal. They did get shipped from sea and reef so from what I read, their clowns eat any foods. I have grown attach already to these two little guys so I would hate for something to happen.

They swim all over and recently they started being close to one another when they swam. They look very healthy.

Any recommendations? Has anyone had this issue?

 

[PDR]

Assuming there are no water quality issues, it is pretty normal for clowns to not eat for several days after being introduced to the tank. How old is the tank? Any other inhabitants that may be stressing them out?

 

[davocean]

Yeah agree, if I had a nickle for every one of these posts I've seen...

For some reason clowns are notorious for exploring and being curious on new tank, and often don't eat first few days, it's super common for clowns in particular.

The fact one even tried a nibble of NLS is good, they will acquire a taste for those I'm sure, as well as mysis and other foods, just takes time.

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Assuming there are no water quality issues, it is pretty normal for clowns to not eat for several days after being introduced to the tank. How old is the tank? Any other inhabitants that may be stressing them out?

Hi PDR,

My tank cycled a week in half back.

0 Nitrite
0 Ammonia
5PPM Nitrate
8.0 PH

Tank is about 1 1/2 months old.

No, water movement isn’t an issue. They seem to be very happy with one another.

No other tank mates as they are the only fish in there. They seem to be breathing fine. Not fast but it’s hard to tell because they are always moving lol.

Aaron

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Yeah agree, if I had a nickle for every one of these posts I've seen...

For some reason clowns are notorious for exploring and being curious on new tank, and often don't eat first few days, it's super common for clowns in particular.

The fact one even tried a nibble of NLS is good, they will acquire a taste for those I'm sure, as well as mysis and other foods, just takes time.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I was thinking same as I read but I might be over thinking it. I’ll continue trying every day and drop some in there and see if it gets better.

I am so use to clowns eating right away so def not accustom to this behavior. Just wanted to double check.

 

[davocean]

Understand concern.
It's always nervy till new fish eat and seem happy and fine, but it is a pretty popular post topic, not that we should always assume all is well, but just giving words of encouragement based on typical behavior I've witnessed personally and from years of paying attention mainly to clowns on this and other sites over the years.

Post pics of them once they start eating.

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Understand concern.
It's always nervy till new fish eat and seem happy and fine, but it is a pretty popular post topic, not that we should always assume all is well, but just giving words of encouragement based on typical behavior I've witnessed personally and from years of paying attention mainly to clowns on this and other sites over the years.

Post pics of them once they start eating.

Thank you. It does make me feel more at ease and that they will eventually eat like pigs lol.

I will Def post once they start and they get adjusted to their new tank. Here is what they are in right now. A Nuvo 20 gallon. I always can’t wait to watch these guys swim around when I get home. They are entertaining fish to watch and great conversation piece when people are in my living room.

 

[pecan2phat]

Agree that new clowns might take a few days to a week to start eating.
I bought 20 Snowflakes from Vossen Aquatics and was concerned enough to inquire what their exact food consisted of after day 3. Even with the same size and brand of TDO pellets, the harem did not start eating till almost a week later.

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Agree that new clowns might take a few days to a week to start eating.
I bought 20 Snowflakes from Vossen Aquatics and was concerned enough to inquire what their exact food consisted of after day 3. Even with the same size and brand of TDO pellets, the harem did not start eating till almost a week later.

[emoji33] why don’t they just eat right away lol. I checked parameters one more time. They are the best they will get. Let’s just see with time but I feel confident they will start eating a lot soon.

Cheers!

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Hello all,

Wanted to give you all an update. I was being over cautious with these little clowns, they did eat a few min ago and on frozen food. I bought new life spectrum for no reason. Luckily, I won’t have to buy food for a while. I do understand that this is normal for new fish.

I usually only feed once a day but at the end of the day, I want to try a few pellets.

Apologies on the thread.

 

[Geebs19]

Glad to hear they are eating. Those clowns are beautiful. Thinking of starting a small 20g for a pair of black storms!

 

[davocean]

Hello all,

Wanted to give you all an update. I was being over cautious with these little clowns, they did eat a few min ago and on frozen food. I bought new life spectrum for no reason. Luckily, I won’t have to buy food for a while. I do understand that this is normal for new fish.

I usually only feed once a day but at the end of the day, I want to try a few pellets.

Apologies on the thread.

It's a worthy and informative post, and now that you and anyone reading have figured this out, you will probably start to notice similar posts from here on out and reassure others as well.

Your NLS pellets were not a waste, it's good to feed a variety of foods, and you may discover your clowns eventually will grow to really like them, most of my clowns ended up preferring NLS to anything else.

Glad to hear they are now eating.

Clowns and tank looks really cool, will look really nice as corals fill in!

 

[Bryce M.]

That's wonderful, they are so beautiful

 

[Aaron Soliz]

Hello Dave and Geebs,

Thanks you for your response. Yes, these designers are gorgeous! Didn’t think I have a few when they first came out because they are priced so high. You will love them.

I can’t wait to fill it out with coral. I am taking it fairly slow now that I got some movement in there with these clowns but I would like a nice leather coral in there when the time does come. Thanks again for the help as I hope this helps others out as well

 

[Aaron Soliz]

One more good photo I got of them together.

 

[Geebs19]

Beautiful!