Yellow Stripre Maroon Clown stressed out

00Warpig00 · 12/26/2011, 11:36 PM

I have had my New addition a small Yellow Stripe Maroon clown in QT for just over three weeks now. Drip acclimated after being in a bag for only 20 minutes during the drive home. he was great the first week and a half or so and about a week and a half ago he started hiding continuously. He is obviously stressed about something. He hides at the water surface behind the HOB filter intake and tries to stay completely out of sight. The first week I had him in QT he was out and about all over the tank and eating aggressively even after only being in the QT tank for a couple of hours. He has been a great eater the entire time he has been in QT but since he went into hiding he dashes out to grab food and then dashes back to his hideout. Then he dashes out for more etc. He swims as fast as lightning when going after food but he is always dashing back and forth to his hide out. He is still eating well and VERY interested in any food I feed him. he is a garbage can. When I noticed this behavior I figured he must have been spooked by something and was hiding. I try to stay out of the QT tank as much as possible for this very reason. Part of QT is supposed to be to de-stress fish not stress them out. I do a few water tests a week on the tank and the only changes I had noticed over the three weeks was a slowly elevating nitrate level. Being with many fish Nitrate is not a big issue I just kept an eye on my parameters and did nothing else. I always have QT's at 1.013sg (and he appeared to be ok with this the first week and a half) and my tests always 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and slowly elevating nitrate during my testing over the first two weeks. After a few days of seeing if he would come back out and trying to figure out if he was just hiding from me and was out all day long while I was away and noticing no change. I installed a webcam to my QT tank and monitored it several times a day from work. Always in hiding every time I checked on him. After realizing he was not snapping out of it I started making changes in the tank to see if I could figure out why he is stressed out. I moved my sponge filter to have it's output break the water surface more and hopefully get a better gas exchange in case that was an issue. I played with temperature over a few days and he didnt respond to any changes warmer or cooler. I tried several temps between 74 & 84 degrees. At this point i wondered if maybe the nitrate getting up to ~40ppm was bothering him. this should be no problem right? so I did a 50% water change bringing nitrate down to about 20ppm. No difference in his behavior. As three weeks had passed I decided to start to bring up the sg slowly from 1.013. doing 2gallon water changes once a day for the past 5 days with 1.020 Sg water I have brought it up to 1.018 where it sits now. Due to these water changes nitrate further reduced to ~10-15ppm. Nothing I do is making any difference. When he comes out to eat twice a day i inspect him and see nothing unusual about his appearance at all. He looks PERFECT physically, I couldn't be happier with his coloration or appearance. has no visible spots of any kind. Im not sure what else to try at this point. his Qt period would be nearly over and he has been in hiding for two weeks straight now while I try to figure this out. I am very hesitant to move him to the DT this coming weekend at this point because I still have no idea what is stressing him out. He appears completely healthy physically. For now I am going to continue to raise my SG to 1.025 to match my DT with small daily water changes and see if he responds. Keep monitoring my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and keep inspecting him daily at feeding time to see if he has any physical changes. From there I'm at a loss... could he be stressed out because he is alone? Something in the QT he doesn't like that I haven't figured out yet? health issue? (appears healthy except his hiding)

This is my first clown, but I assume this hiding behavior is abnormal. It almost appears as if he is trying to host with the HOB filter. Hiding between the intake and the back glass... but it still seems strange to me the way he is behaving compared to his first week and a half in my QT tank.

Any ideas...

Nick

00Warpig00 · 12/27/2011, 01:21 AM

BTW the more I read and read about clown behavior... this may be nothing at all... Seems from searching around clowns may have any type of "Strange" behavior. What strikes me as odd is the fish was very social the first week and a half in QT and has since withdrawn and sits in his spot constantly (except feeding time)

Nick

L_Spec · 12/27/2011, 02:04 AM

Sounds like a clown being a clown. The first night I had my pair of clowns, I turned the lights on in my room to find their lifeless bodies tumbling across the sand. Turns out they were sleeping hahaha. Clowns will do weird things, but being the new guy in the tank, I'm not really surprised it's acting the way it is. It probably went to your filter because it was the first place it could find to hide from the other fish and has since called it home.

As long as it's eating and being active, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

00Warpig00 · 12/27/2011, 03:23 PM

the more i read about clown behavior the more I agree that it could be nothing. It just seems strange that he is fine swimming the tank for a week an a half like any other fish I have ever QT'ed and then one day he decides to go into perpetual hiding. Seems clown behavior can be a mixed bag. You dont know what youre gonna get. i thought it was a bit strange on the first night at lights out her went to sleep floating near the surface on his side in a corner. Five minutes after lights back on he's swimming around having a great time. What has me worried is the change in behavior and add the general consensus with fish behavior is if they act strange they are stressed out. Sk8er posted a thread about this just last week. Good reading, but also easy to fit my clown's behavior into that box. He shouldnt be afraid of anything particularly when I'm not around as he is in QT and is the ONLY fish in the QT tank and has been for the past three and a half weeks. It also appears he May be trying to host with the HOB filter. He's beautiful and colorful and eats like a monster at every feeding. he is pure and without any blemishes on his body that I can see anywhere. not breathing heavily. he just hangs out at the HOB filter and stays mostly out of sight and only comes out to feed. Only two reasons I'm concerned. One the change in behavior from the first week and a half, and two, if he IS healthy it's almost time for the display tank. But I dont want to chance moving him there this weekend if this is actually him telling me something is wrong.

Nick

L_Spec · 12/27/2011, 06:58 PM

I'll put it this way, in my 65 gallon, other then a small CUC, my two clown fish are the only livestock in the tank and they hide a lot.

00Warpig00 · 12/27/2011, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L_Spec

I'll put it this way, in my 65 gallon, other then a small CUC, my two clown fish are the only livestock in the tank and they hide a lot.

I hear you... just seems odd he would choose to hide at the water surface behind the input feed of the HOB. EVERY other fish I have EVER had hides in the many available pieces of PVC in the bottom of the QT tank, and they were ALL out swimming around much of the time and only hid at lights out

Hmm is their strange behavior why they are called "Clowns"

Nick

12/26/2011, 11:36 PM	#1
00Warpig00 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Schaumburg, IL. Posts: 621	Yellow Stripre Maroon Clown stressed out I have had my New addition a small Yellow Stripe Maroon clown in QT for just over three weeks now. Drip acclimated after being in a bag for only 20 minutes during the drive home. he was great the first week and a half or so and about a week and a half ago he started hiding continuously. He is obviously stressed about something. He hides at the water surface behind the HOB filter intake and tries to stay completely out of sight. The first week I had him in QT he was out and about all over the tank and eating aggressively even after only being in the QT tank for a couple of hours. He has been a great eater the entire time he has been in QT but since he went into hiding he dashes out to grab food and then dashes back to his hideout. Then he dashes out for more etc. He swims as fast as lightning when going after food but he is always dashing back and forth to his hide out. He is still eating well and VERY interested in any food I feed him. he is a garbage can. When I noticed this behavior I figured he must have been spooked by something and was hiding. I try to stay out of the QT tank as much as possible for this very reason. Part of QT is supposed to be to de-stress fish not stress them out. I do a few water tests a week on the tank and the only changes I had noticed over the three weeks was a slowly elevating nitrate level. Being with many fish Nitrate is not a big issue I just kept an eye on my parameters and did nothing else. I always have QT's at 1.013sg (and he appeared to be ok with this the first week and a half) and my tests always 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and slowly elevating nitrate during my testing over the first two weeks. After a few days of seeing if he would come back out and trying to figure out if he was just hiding from me and was out all day long while I was away and noticing no change. I installed a webcam to my QT tank and monitored it several times a day from work. Always in hiding every time I checked on him. After realizing he was not snapping out of it I started making changes in the tank to see if I could figure out why he is stressed out. I moved my sponge filter to have it's output break the water surface more and hopefully get a better gas exchange in case that was an issue. I played with temperature over a few days and he didnt respond to any changes warmer or cooler. I tried several temps between 74 & 84 degrees. At this point i wondered if maybe the nitrate getting up to ~40ppm was bothering him. this should be no problem right? so I did a 50% water change bringing nitrate down to about 20ppm. No difference in his behavior. As three weeks had passed I decided to start to bring up the sg slowly from 1.013. doing 2gallon water changes once a day for the past 5 days with 1.020 Sg water I have brought it up to 1.018 where it sits now. Due to these water changes nitrate further reduced to ~10-15ppm. Nothing I do is making any difference. When he comes out to eat twice a day i inspect him and see nothing unusual about his appearance at all. He looks PERFECT physically, I couldn't be happier with his coloration or appearance. has no visible spots of any kind. Im not sure what else to try at this point. his Qt period would be nearly over and he has been in hiding for two weeks straight now while I try to figure this out. I am very hesitant to move him to the DT this coming weekend at this point because I still have no idea what is stressing him out. He appears completely healthy physically. For now I am going to continue to raise my SG to 1.025 to match my DT with small daily water changes and see if he responds. Keep monitoring my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and keep inspecting him daily at feeding time to see if he has any physical changes. From there I'm at a loss... could he be stressed out because he is alone? Something in the QT he doesn't like that I haven't figured out yet? health issue? (appears healthy except his hiding) This is my first clown, but I assume this hiding behavior is abnormal. It almost appears as if he is trying to host with the HOB filter. Hiding between the intake and the back glass... but it still seems strange to me the way he is behaving compared to his first week and a half in my QT tank. Any ideas... Nick __________________ 180G - 5 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels, Two Lined Sleeper Goby, Royal Gramma, Flame Angel pair, Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown, Pearlscale Butterfly, Australian Harlequin Tuskfish, Magnificent Foxface, Yellow Current Tank Info: 180G FOWLR Established 10/2010

12/27/2011, 01:21 AM	#2
00Warpig00 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Schaumburg, IL. Posts: 621	BTW the more I read and read about clown behavior... this may be nothing at all... Seems from searching around clowns may have any type of "Strange" behavior. What strikes me as odd is the fish was very social the first week and a half in QT and has since withdrawn and sits in his spot constantly (except feeding time) Nick __________________ 180G - 5 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels, Two Lined Sleeper Goby, Royal Gramma, Flame Angel pair, Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown, Pearlscale Butterfly, Australian Harlequin Tuskfish, Magnificent Foxface, Yellow Current Tank Info: 180G FOWLR Established 10/2010

12/27/2011, 03:23 PM	#4
00Warpig00 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Schaumburg, IL. Posts: 621	the more i read about clown behavior the more I agree that it could be nothing. It just seems strange that he is fine swimming the tank for a week an a half like any other fish I have ever QT'ed and then one day he decides to go into perpetual hiding. Seems clown behavior can be a mixed bag. You dont know what youre gonna get. i thought it was a bit strange on the first night at lights out her went to sleep floating near the surface on his side in a corner. Five minutes after lights back on he's swimming around having a great time. What has me worried is the change in behavior and add the general consensus with fish behavior is if they act strange they are stressed out. Sk8er posted a thread about this just last week. Good reading, but also easy to fit my clown's behavior into that box. He shouldnt be afraid of anything particularly when I'm not around as he is in QT and is the ONLY fish in the QT tank and has been for the past three and a half weeks. It also appears he May be trying to host with the HOB filter. He's beautiful and colorful and eats like a monster at every feeding. he is pure and without any blemishes on his body that I can see anywhere. not breathing heavily. he just hangs out at the HOB filter and stays mostly out of sight and only comes out to feed. Only two reasons I'm concerned. One the change in behavior from the first week and a half, and two, if he IS healthy it's almost time for the display tank. But I dont want to chance moving him there this weekend if this is actually him telling me something is wrong. Nick __________________ 180G - 5 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels, Two Lined Sleeper Goby, Royal Gramma, Flame Angel pair, Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown, Pearlscale Butterfly, Australian Harlequin Tuskfish, Magnificent Foxface, Yellow Current Tank Info: 180G FOWLR Established 10/2010

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12/27/2011, 02:04 AM	#3
L_Spec Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Regina Posts: 133	Sounds like a clown being a clown. The first night I had my pair of clowns, I turned the lights on in my room to find their lifeless bodies tumbling across the sand. Turns out they were sleeping hahaha. Clowns will do weird things, but being the new guy in the tank, I'm not really surprised it's acting the way it is. It probably went to your filter because it was the first place it could find to hide from the other fish and has since called it home. As long as it's eating and being active, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

12/27/2011, 06:58 PM	#5
L_Spec Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Regina Posts: 133	I'll put it this way, in my 65 gallon, other then a small CUC, my two clown fish are the only livestock in the tank and they hide a lot.