maroon clown laying down

[bigslim]

I'm setting up a reef tank ihave a couple of fish two percula clowns, i purchased a maroon gold banded, a hippo tang and a royal gramma everything is doing fine but the maroon is hanging out by the bottom of the tank like if he was laying down to sleep is there something wrong or is that normal for maroon clowns?

[Alf]

Not a good sign for a clown. How long has it been from purchase date? what was your acclimation procedure?

[crlkeep]

ALF is right, this is not a normal clown behavior. I have seen clowns faint, due to stress, but when they wake up again, they are fine. I would check all water perameters, and try a live brine shrimp feeding, to get him moving. If he stays this way a couple of days, consider returning him to your LFS.

[MJC]

The longer you wait to return it, the less your chances are of receiving a credit or refund. Explain to the store owner/clerk what you conveyed here. If they want your business, they'll take it back and give you some form of credit.

A heads up -- Some stores may have some form of policy, eg., 24 hours or so to honor returns, provide exchanges, or none at all. In some cases, they may want a sample of your water to see if it's a cause of concern.

[CrazieEddie]

You mentioned that your setting up your reef tank...then have you properly cycled the tank? After the cycle, did you purchase all the fish at once and them placed them in the tank?

[bigslim]

well it to late to find out this morning when i woke up my hermit crabs were feasting on him in a corner of the tank i took him out and put him in a bag but i have to wait till mon to talk to the fish store i left them a massage on the recorder hope they do something about the money i paid for the little maroon with gold bands b/c i took then a sample of my water the same day i purchased him and they said everything was fine. no i baught the perculas first then the next week i baught thethree fish maroon, hippo, and the royal grama.

[crlkeep]

Don't feel like you did anything wrong. It is entirely possible that you should never have been aloud to purchase that clown in the first place. A lot of LFS fall into the we need to make money approach to marine livestock, so they get the cheapest stock, and hope for the best. I had to take over the marine department at our store, because the croaker ration was way to high. After implementing some new maint. routines, and educating the staff a bit, our lossed have reduced by 1/5 what it was. Always ask how long the dealer has had the fish. If less than a week, it is a really risky gamble, more than a week is just a bit of a gamble. Always a gamble when it come to buying from a dealer.............................

[bigslim]

well i spoke to the store and they are going to work with me in getting another maroon for my tank so good deal! :D

[crlkeep]

Glad to hear that the LFS is going to stand behind their live stock.
It is always a good thing to find a reliable honest LFS.

Good luck..........

[MJC]

I also want to add to what chuck mentions about livestock in a LFS.

How well the livestock is at the LFS is determined well before it arrives there.

When livestock is caught, it exchanges several hands and buckets of water or plastic bags before ariving at a local wholesaler.

It's caught by fishermen/farmers, sold to wholesalers, sent to distributors, sent to LFS or other retailers, then the end user - yourself the hobbyist.

When the livestock is caught, it's usually bagged and sent out to the wholesalers who sends it to the distributors.

When the distributors receive it, they're usually quarantined, acclimated and tended to at the wholesalers before it's actually sold.

If the distributor is nearby, someone from a LFS will show up and hand pick the livestock, otherwise an order arrives to the distributor where someone will pick and bag the order.

The order is then trucked to the LFS where someone knowledgable (like CRLKEEP) will unbag and properly acclimate the fish before selling it. During this process, the fish is examined for signs of damage or stresss, feed and/or treat any ailments accordingly.

If the person is unknowledgable, s/he will just unbag and sell the fish without concern.

If you look at the complete picture, it's entirely possible for a livestock to be stressed or become infected at any point along the way.

If the fish is healthy when first caught and proper handling procedures are executed along the way, there's a strong likelihood it'll be a healthy specimen. Not so if any step along the way is compromised. However, as with anything, your mileage may vary.

- Marty

[crlkeep]

Thanks for the compliment MJC.

I enjoy this hobby, and have such great respect for "my" animals at my store, that out of my own pocket I paid for and installed 3 x 40 Watt Emperor Aquatics UV clarifiers to help reduce the parasites and diseases that seem to follow poorly handled specimens. I run these on a part of our system that I seperated from the main system to acclimate the newbies from the rest. It brought our survival rate up from 60% to over 85% at last check.

I have also refused to sell delicate or rare specimens to people with new tanks (3 months or less), and to people who are "ignorant" to the special needs of some marine life. I have made some people very mad, but most of my customers respect my descions, and I am always on the phone or out on the floor helping people. I guess thats why I came to this forum in the first place.

Am I still rambling? Sorry, I get carried away sometimes..........

Chuck

[bigslim]

where is your store out of or does it have a web site. let me know

[crlkeep]

We have 4 locations in the Greater Cleveland Area, Ohio that is. We have a web site RMS Aquaculture The Auarium Superstore (http://rmsaquaculture.com/ ).
I have no control over what is shipped, and how it is shipped, at least not yet, as all shipping goes through the HQ store in Middleburg Hts.
Our store is setup and maintained much different than the other three, as my wife is the Head Manager. Not that my colleges don't care for their animals with as much respect as I do, but I have no control over how they handle their livestock.
But I plan to move to Florida, Spring Hill area, in the next couple of years. Where my wife and I will setup a shop of our own. When this happens, I will personally hand select the livestock for shipping. If you are interested in ordering from us, PM me first, and I will talk with the SW department on your behalf.

Cheers m8

Chuck