# why did my clown fish turn black?



## arpinehb

Hello Everyone,

It was very interesting......

Yesterday night I put some new brine shrimp that I purchased in my tank and it was basically a big frozen piece and when my clow fish ate it, I noticed that it got black in the lower part of the body and one day past and it is still black, The fish looks completely happy and healthy, swimming happily with other fish like always.......

So I am wondering that it turned black because the shrimp was frozen!??????????? or maybe it was a new brand!!!!! I stopped feeding them brine shrimp for two weeks because I didnt have anymore, so I gave them pellets that were rich in nutrition,I started feeding them brine shrimp again yesterday for the first time and this happened!!!!!!!! 



Will it go away?? any ideas???



let me know ASAP!!!!!!


Thanks for the help!!!


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## arpinehb

P.S.

1. Size of aquarium (# of gallons) 30 gal
2. How long the aquarium has been set up? 3 yrs
3. How long and how did you cycle the tank? one month, live sand and corals
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium (species are important to know)4 2 damsels, 1 clownfish, 1 butterfly
5. What temperature is the tank water currently? 78
6. What make/model filter are you using?
7. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? no
8. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed? 3 weeks ago
9. How often do you perform water changes? every 3 weeks, sometimes longers
10. How often and what foods do you feed your fish? brine shrimp, pellets
11. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on?
12. What specific concerns bring you here at this time?
13. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, GH, KH and salinity level.
14. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips?
15. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank? 2 months ago, they behaved normally and were happy


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## Pasfur

I do not know.

I will, however, mention that brine shrimp should not be a daily staple in a fish's diet. Brine are not the most nutritious of foods and are best used to stimulate a fish's appetite, especially newly acquired fish. This is off topic, but worth mentioning.


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## onefish2fish

its possible that it changed over time and you didnt notice? i do know that clowns usually will darken up as it matures


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## Pasfur

onefish2fish said:


> its possible that it changed over time and you didnt notice? i do know that clowns usually will darken up as it matures


This was my first instinct as well. Although it is a little unusual for a clown to change color in an aquarium without other clownfish present.


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## berkdug

sometimes they change color when t hey finally mature sexually... yours might have become a female


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## arpinehb

well, not only it changed the color but also became stressed and started biting my butterfly fish so yesterday I added some medication for stress and for calming the fish

ALso, right after i notice the clown fish got darker orange-blackish, I changed the water and salt level was high so I performed a water change to fix the salinity level, so I am thinking that the color changed because of the high salt level which made her to have stress


I noticed after the water change, it got a little better and I'm waiting to see big changes after adding the (kordon brand) medication yesterday



thanks


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## Pasfur

arpinehb said:


> well, not only it changed the color but also became stressed and started biting my butterfly fish so yesterday I added some medication for stress and for calming the fish
> 
> ALso, right after i notice the clown fish got darker orange-blackish, I changed the water and salt level was high so I performed a water change to fix the salinity level, so I am thinking that the color changed because of the high salt level which made her to have stress
> 
> 
> I noticed after the water change, it got a little better and I'm waiting to see big changes after adding the (kordon brand) medication yesterday
> 
> thanks


I hope this works out for you. Sincerely.

That being said, I have to add some personal experiences after reading this thread. I would not hesitate to suggest that most fish deaths in marine aquariums are caused by quick, unnecessary reactions. Adding medications without cause generally causes more harm than good. 

Bottom line, any time you are unsure of what you are observing, the best action is no action. Just sit back and wait. Unusual color changes, bumps, bruises, isolated white spots, black spots, and other random observations are best left alone until further evidence is available to provide direction for the proper action. The large majority of the time the fish will recover without incident, if the fishkeeper simply allows the natural immunity of the fish to do what it does best.


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