Comments on this clown...

[Firefish]

I traded in my trigger for a few passive / friendly fish yesterday. The trigger would attack my hand every time I tried to clean the tank and was being way too aggressive with the other fish.

So one of the new guys I picked up I guess is called a "Sweet Lips" Clown. Or that's what the LFS called it anyway. I could not find any info on it in my marine books so I was wondering if any of you had a little info on him?

Seems real friendly and beautiful to look at. Should he have a mate? He was being sold alone.

My two other Clarki's don't seem to mind him.
Tanks is a 150 with over 100 lbs of LR.

[leebca]

The Clown Sweetlips (name is reversed) is Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides. It is not relates to the Damselfishes (of which Anemonefishes are a part). That is why your Anemonefish are neither bothered nor attracted to this fish.

It is a rather delicate fish requiring a lot of attention for successful husbandry beyond a year. There are exceptions (as always) to just how delicate they are. They are easy to catch and show up a lot in the collection system, which is a bit unfortunate because of their lack of hardiness.

Keeping the fish in quarantine until it has learned to accept prepared foods is essential for a good acclimation. Any fish that eats quickly will prevent this fish from getting its food in the display tank. It is a relatively slow eater.
Juveniles can be kept together, but adults may not show tolerance to one another.

The last 'problem' with this fish is that they get over 2 feet (that's feet) long. Another reason they belong in the sea. But if it must be kept, go through the quarantine process and provide it a 125+ gallon display tank to start.

Good luck!

[Firefish]

Thanks for the info- I actually just got back from returning the Sweetlips, I didn't think it was doing so well. From the start (yesterday) he was real tipsy. I traded him in today for a young Butterfly (Chaetodon ephippium).
As soon as I put him into the tank he jetted over to my Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius) and kept "rubbing" up on the shrimp. I'm not sure but I didn't think these shrimp were cleaner shrimp... or are they? I know the Candy cane (Lysmata grabhami) shrimp are cleaners but I don't have any in the tank right now.

[leebca]

I don't know much about that shrimp. But, if you post a question in the Reef Discussion Forum, I'll bet someone there will know about it.

You should consider setting up a quarantine tank and going through a quarantine process. At least give a read to these:
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

A Fish Quarantine Process

[tullsterx]

Too bad they're so delicate. . . cool fish.