SALTWATER HELP!! I just rescued a Clown Fish - he was going to get flushed!! 0.0

[FX1C]

I just went to pick up a free fish tank
6' x 2' x 2.5' 10mm glass! Yes free

Whilst there the guy giving the tank away mentioned he couldn't find a home for his last fish - a nemo & due to having to leave for a long drive - he was just going to flush it :O

So I've brought it home - the guy gave me a 20kg bucket of Red Sea salt & said I could mix it up & the fish would be fine! He also gave me 2 huge bags of crushed coral.

My only spare tank was a small 30L
I threw in a well cleaned sponge filter - mixed the salt in as per the bucket directions & put a heater in to get tank to 26degC

I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SALTWATER TANKS / FISH!!
Heck I've got my 'L' plates on for freshwater tropical & axolotls.

My questions are
Can you keep a saltwater tank easily?

Should I put any crushed coral in the tank he's in now or leave bare bottomed? There's a piece of rock in the tank that was in the bucket with the fish.

I didn't expect it but the tank ended up coming with all the testing kits - reverse osmosis set up / $1000 worth of LEDs & control boxes / canister filters / air pump / all sorts of stuff (3 plastic garbage bins full of stuff) it all looks soooo confusing!

My intentions were to rehome him (anything but flushing ) but I would love a clown fish (yes I called it nemo ) of my very own <3 but not at the expense of the little fishes health & happiness.

So some simple advice as to keeping
1 nemo in a tank so small with just a sponge filter?

Or

SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA
If you know someone who has established tanks & would like a new addition - please get back to me urgently.

At worst I only have to keep the little guy alive for a day or two - either to go to a new home or I can take it to a saltwater aquarium shop (I'll have to wait a day or 2 - weather tomw 45degC & not good for transporting a little fish in a black van!)

Thanks for reading my rambling



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Pics of the little guy


Pics of the tank I just brought home


It's huge!!! Time to sell furniture & replace with tanks & beanbags



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Just trying to keep him alive -
Can someone please let me know if I should do anything else urgently, or if he'll be ok like this for a little while

Picture of entire tank & a seemingly happy enough clown fish.

I'm trying to contact a couple of saltwater fish clubs to see if anyone can take him in.





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[twistedfisher]

looks like a breeding set up to be honest, maybe get hima mate and let them live out their days in bliss

I would add a flower pot turned on its side for him to have a house

feed it only a few flakes/pellets a day and remove any uneated food with in a few hours

And NEVER name it Nemo

 

[twistedfisher]

And watch out for his crazy dad who is on his way to rescue him LOL

 

[schoozoo]

Hi, I currently have a 150 gallon salt tank in my classroom - once established they are fairly easy to look after.

Ideally you want to try to do about a 10% water change weekly. Your salt content should have a specific gravity of between 1.020 and 1.025 ( I keep mine around 1.022)

I would add the crushed coral that you were given. If you can pick up some "live rock" - any place that sells salt water fish should have some. The coral and the live rock will house the healthy bacteria and give her places to hide/swim through as well as make it more intresting for you to look at. As long as you have a fair amount of light, and lots water movement it should be happy. For feeding yes it can/will eat the flakes however it will do best on frozen brine shrimp.

If you add another clown fish you will need to make sure that it is close to the same size as the one that you have or smaller - if the new one is bigger there will be issues over territory in the tank. Live rock will also be good if you are adding others.
Hope this helps.

 

[FX1C]

As much as I'd love to keep Nemo...
It is not fair to have him in such a small tank (especially when I can't guarantee the tank health) I couldn't get another one, that'd be cruelty x 2.

He's ok this morning but definitely needs a new home urgently.

I'm keeping an eye out for pelicans & all the windows are shut tight I'm half expecting Marlin & Dory to save him!

Shark Bait - Oooh Ahhh Ahhh



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[twistedfisher]

42 Wallaby Way better not be your address or i fear for your safety from the menacing fish!

LOL its good to have a laugh

 

[Tephra]

So sweet of you to try and rescue this little guy...

I just did a quick search on google and found this

RareClownfish.com – A Marine Fish Breeding Community

Perhaps you can make an account on there and ask if anyone from australia is willing to take in this fella

 

[FX1C]

So sweet of you to try and rescue this little guy...

I just did a quick search on google and found this

RareClownfish.com – A Marine Fish Breeding Community

Perhaps you can make an account on there and ask if anyone from australia is willing to take in this fella

I've posted on a couple of other fishy forums & the consensus is to take him to an aquarium shop - I've arranged to take him to a decent shop that's a marine specialist & they'll quarantine him. Hopefully I can take him there tomw - if not it'll be first thing Monday morning

He's doing really well in the temp setup & swims happily, eats & poops so I'm not stressing as much now I realise he's not as delicate as I feared. After much watching I've also noticed that he has one fin slightly smaller on his right side it's not the same side fin as Nemo's lucky fun, it's the fins underneath at the front so cute - we keep walking past his little tank saying 'shark bait oh ah ah'
He swims too wiggly & fast to get a clear shot - not like photographing axies



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Final Update = Happy Ending

Shark Bait Ooh Ah Ah has made it to the aquarium shop & they were very happy with the little fishes condition
He got popped in a tank with similar sized Clown Fish & his colour was really bright compared to the others - apparently he was a wild caught fish and the others captive bred.

He'll now hopefully go to a good home & a tank with lots of friends - the shop only sells them in pairs so he'll always have a buddy!

I love a happy ending

PS: the guy at the shop was very helpful & gave me a rough value for all the extra stuff that came with the tank, like RO unit / LED lights & controller / loads of eheim stuff. He says I'll easily get over $2000 just for the accessories 0.0 as its retail value is well over $6000! Crazy!! eBay here I come

Thanks all for the advice & for crossing your fingers - now I'm off to scrub down the tank & pop in SpookyBoo who's a rescued axolotl - keep crossing those fingers for him please cheers!



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[twistedfisher]

I'm glad Fabio found his dad

LOL

 

[XDragonGrlX]

I'm glad Fabio found his dad

LOL

LOL I love dory

 

[FX1C]

I'm glad Fabio found his dad

LOL

lol - best laugh I've had all week

Awwwww you made me ink lol



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[twistedfisher]

Duuuude

 

[jane1187]

EDIT: sorry just re-read the post about you re-homing him so have deleted what I originally put.

Well done for rehoming him to a shop. Though relatively easy to keep, marine tanks need a lot of specialist equipment so you'd have had to fork out a lot of money just to keep that one fish.

 

[FX1C]

EDIT: sorry just re-read the post about you re-homing him so have deleted what I originally put.

Well done for rehoming him to a shop. Though relatively easy to keep, marine tanks need a lot of specialist equipment so you'd have had to fork out a lot of money just to keep that one fish.

I got all that equipment free with the fish & I'm still not ready for marine it's a lot to learn to have a happy tank!

Maybe one day!



<3 >o_o< <3