Is my oscellaris done for?

[JT101]

I didn't know if this is the right forum for this but here goes:

I have a mated pair of oscellaris clowns that, between two tanks I've had them in, have graced my home with their presence for just shy of 7 years.

Yesterday I noticed the female's upper lip was swollen and a little white.

I fed the tank with my usual BRS pellets and everything ate well. As far as the female clown goes, she did eat too, but it took her a little longer for her to "join in" (usually she "paces" back and forth as soon as she sees me approach the tank).

I also have, among others, a single black-and-white clown which I BELIEVE is also a female because of her size. I've had that one for about 3 years.

Is the swollen lip problem an injury or an illness?

Also (and I feel a little silly asking this) but say worst case the female oscellaris dies. Will the male "pine away" for her, or would he even notice/give a hoot?

 

[reefprobe]

I would try either a bacterial meds in a iso tank
And or formalin
The clown should re align with another mate it may take a little time??

 

[JT101]

Well, I guess her time was up ? early yesterday morning I awoke to see her being munched on (tail first) by my emerald crab

The male oscellaris seems fine (I guess there?s something good about being a fish after all?..)

When I go out to get a new female fish, do you think I should also get a male black-and-white clown to complement my female of the same species? This way there will be two mated pairs in the tank. Or is it OK to just leave the black-and-white female clown ?as is??

 

[Crowder]

:-(

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Well, I guess her time was up ? early yesterday morning I awoke to see her being munched on (tail first) by my emerald crab

The male oscellaris seems fine (I guess there?s something good about being a fish after all?..)

When I go out to get a new female fish, do you think I should also get a male black-and-white clown to complement my female of the same species? This way there will be two mated pairs in the tank. Or is it OK to just leave the black-and-white female clown ?as is??

You cannot buy a male or female clown... clowns change sex as needed within their group. So if you introduce a bunch of clowns into your tank the most dominate one will "become" the female. If she was to die, as in your case, the next dominate one will then take her place as the female in the group. If you were to add two females to your tank, from different groups, the less dominate one would revert back to a male.

When you say you have two mated pairs in the tank... that's pretty much not possible in a small tank (you could have multiple groups of clowns in very large tanks)... are you calling them pairs because they are the same coloring?

 

[JT101]

For about 7 years I only had the two orange-and-white oscellaris clowns and other fish. They hosted a green hammer coral several years ago and that's been their "home" for a while.

A while into this "pairing" my wife bought me a black-and-white clown. About as large as the female orange-and-white so I thought she was a female (I always thought the females were the larger ones and the males were the tiny ones). I do recall seeing the two larger clowns fighting in a "lip lock" a few times but not for several months now.

 

[JT101]

Holy crap - my wife JUST came over to me and said "have you seen the black and white?"

I just checked all over the tank - GONE!!! It was ALWAYS right out in the front. I have NEVER seen it go in the back behind the rock work. I'll bet a million dollars that damned crabs got a hold of it! She was fine too!!

I have to hit the sack now, but if I don't see her in the AM I will be CERTAIN that effing crab got her.

 

[albano]

I have to hit the sack now, but if I don't see her in the AM I will be CERTAIN that effing crab got her.

I would guess that there was something wrong with the clown, if the crab was able to catch her

 

[JT101]

It?s confirmed: My wife just texted me to tell me she found the ?missing? black & white clown laying on the sand in the back, behind the rockwork, partially eaten. She took it out of the tank & flushed it (PS ? she was not a happy camper doing this as you can imagine).

This leaves just the little orange & white clown, along with other livestock. He seems to be perfect.

Sunday I found the orange & white clown being eaten by the emerald crab. She did have the swollen lips so something wasn?t right. I guess the crab just caught it while it was lying around. However, the black & white looked perfectly fine up until it went missing, and now it?s dead. Common thread? The fighting I guess, but that was a while ago. How could it just die like that?

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

About as large as the female orange-and-white so I thought she was a female (I always thought the females were the larger ones and the males were the tiny ones). I do recall seeing the two larger clowns fighting in a "lip lock" a few times but not for several months now.

Yeah they did that to reestablish dominance in the group.... generally when you add more clowns you want to add smaller ones. Sorry to hear the black and white is missing now too!

 

[JT101]

Yeah they did that to reestablish dominance in the group.... generally when you add more clowns you want to add smaller ones. Sorry to hear the black and white is missing now too!

The b & w is dead too (my wife found it dead).

Now that I have just the tiny o & w clown what combination of clowns can I add? I was thinking about a larger o & w, and a small & a large b & w. Does this sound OK?

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

The b & w is dead too (my wife found it dead).

Now that I have just the tiny o & w clown what combination of clowns can I add? I was thinking about a larger o & w, and a small & a large b & w. Does this sound OK?

I would only add 1 larger oscellaris of any color or all smaller ones and let them sort out who becomes the larger female. These are all the same species, just bred out to make the non-standard colors.

 

[eazy al]

Go with a blacker ice or phantom both are ocellaris also ,b4 you start adding fishes did you ever find out what was the couse of death on both clown looks like the had some type of fongus you said one had swollen lips n white on it?? At first my thought n understanding was that you had 2 female in the thank females fight till one of them is dead that's why I figured one had the swollen lip from both locking jaws with each other ,oh yeah remember this in a pair male n female if the female dies n the male stays alone long enough it would change to female by itself no need for another "smaller" clown for him to change to a female but if you do put a juvenile it would speed up the process n ones a clownfish turn to a female she can not go back to be a male ever again ,only a juvenile,juvenile have no sex yet all somewhat males but one a juvenile plays a male roll on a pair he can change to a female

 

[peteyboyny]

My guess would be that the lone survivor is the dominant. Maybe took out both other fish.