new clownfish not eating yet

[reaper7677]

i am a beginner i have a 20g tank has been setup , fishless cycled and running for little over a month and a half..i have just added fish to the tank --water parameters are all normal : ph-8.0,ammonia-.25,nitrite-.25,nitrate-5.0,and salinity-1.021,havent purchased a protein skimmer , no powerheads, no live rock.

1-yellow bellied blue damsel
1-false perc.
1-skunk cleaner shrimp

these are all i intend to keep till i get the funds to get a 75gal and i am sure that i understand the saltwater fish

my concern today is that i purchased the fish after obsering their behavior at the LFS they seemed very active and healthy i watched em eat and decided to purchase them.
all are very active in my tank its has been 3 days and my damsel eats like a horse my shrimp bounces around pickin at everything but my clown hasnt eaten a thing,but he swims all over the tank mostly in the current from my filter. i have been tryin to alternate between marine flake and brine shrimp....i was wonderin if i need to give him more time to settle in or should i start worryin??

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

I'm afraid you may have been misinformed regarding the system/tank you have. The size tank is too small for the Anemonefish AND the Damsel. Keep in mind that Anemonefish is a kind of Damsel and there will likely be tension/trouble.

The chemical readings indicate the tank is not ready for fish, but in they went. Not all fish can handle bad water quality, and my guess is that the Anemonefish is being stressed (from a few different sources). A stressed fish usually won't eat, nor behave 'normally.'

Remove both fish to another place until the tank matures. Maybe return them to the place you acquired them. You should be following this guideline in general: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium Instead of live rock, you'll have to establish another biological filter and that will take a bit longer than if you had begun with live rock.

Until the stress of water quality, tank mates (environment), space, etc. are settled, this fish may not settle in and eat. In the meantime, due to these circumstances, both fish's lifespan will be shortened.

[reaper7677]

i appreciate the info. like i said im new and the only info i had avaiable at the time was from the LFS and it seems like all they wanna do is sell the fish, i ask alot of questions and seem to get short answers. and to update ya the anemonefish didnt make it.

[leebca]

I'm sorry to hear this. You are not the only one who has been given mis-information.

Look through the posts here and read some of the threads. This is a fairly good table of contents for many of those threads and posts: Table/Contents - Link List

Good luck!