New clowns distressed or normal behavior?

[Jon0807]

I made the mistake of making an impulse buy when I stopped by my LFS. I've been planning on stocking my 36g with 2 damsels, 2 clowns and 1 blenny or a goby with doing the blenny/goby first. Well long story short, I walked out with 2 clowns. I believe they're clarkii's. Part brown and orange with white stripes. When I get home I float the bag in my QT and test the salinity. My LFS has his at 1.028! Do the normal acclimation routine and toss them in. Everything seems fine at first, then one of them starts to swim sideways at the top of the tank. I give them about an hour to adjust then both of them start doing it. And one of them begins to become very aggressive twords the other. I test the water and there was a slight reading in ammonia most likely due to feeding the zoa that used to be in there. I didn't plan on having a fish today so I didn't have time to change the water before I put anything in the QT. In a panic I say screw it and throw them both into my DT where they both seem fine. They start to swim around the whole tank and start exploring. The only thing I have in there are some zoas I added a couple of days ago so if ich rears up, it won't be too much of a hassle to start over. I go to bed and think all is well.

Well this morning, I see both of them swimming in the top back corner of the tank. Sometimes sideways, sometimes not. I tried feeding them some mysis shrimp with a turkey baster and they ate a little bit but still just hang out at the same top corner. They "seem" healthy but I can't tell if there is something wrong or if this is just normal. The water tests fine, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, elevated nitrates but not extremely high.

I know, newbie move, but I'm learning. Thanks in advance!

[Bl@ckbird]

Most new clowns Ive dealt with like to pick a corner of the tank to hang out in until they get comfortable. (Not uncommon to see them swimming vertical in the corner either) They're probably under a little stress but if nothing else is in the tank right now it'll wear off.

I also swear by seachems StressGaurd and ParaGaurd. I dose it for all my fish. (I do TTM though before moving to a DT)

If they're eating that's a good sign...


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[thelawnwrangler]

what did you use to test the salinity? my red sea refractometer reads 1.030 every time and I flip out. When I take a minute to breath and recalibrate it reads the right number

[Jon0807]

Originally Posted by thelawnwrangler

what did you use to test the salinity? my red sea refractometer reads 1.030 every time and I flip out. When I take a minute to breath and recalibrate it reads the right number

I use a refractometer as well. I first tested the QT and it was 1.026 as usual. Cleaned off the tester and tested the lfs water. I actually did it twice cause I thought I got the wrong reading

[thelawnwrangler]

Originally Posted by Jon0807

I use a refractometer as well. I first tested the QT and it was 1.026 as usual. Cleaned off the tester and tested the lfs water. I actually did it twice cause I thought I got the wrong reading

oh

So odd that the LFS is so high. I thought generally they are low end 1.021-.023 because salt is expensive.

I will let someone more knowledgeable advise as I am newbie, but good luck.

[tazdvl]

No expert by any means but I think if they don't pair you will have 1 Clarkii left at some time. Not to be a buzz kill here but you might be limited in your further fish additions as the Clarkii will most likely claim your entire tank as her domain. So any further fish added will have to be assertive or they will be picked on. Onto further buzz killadge if they do pair my understanding is they will even more territorial.

[reefbroao]

Clowns are weirdos, they will be fine.

[Jon0807]

OK so I was mistaken. I do not have clakrii's. Apparently I have onyx clowns. I did more research and I definitely have onyx clowns.

[Jon0807]

Originally Posted by reefbroao

Clowns are weirdos, they will be fine.

So much clowns are just being clowns? Lol good to know

[MuShu]

I just got clowns today (and orange and a black), and after having so many fish that swim by darting, the bumbling way that they swim is disconcerting to me as well. Both of mine seem fine though for clowns.

[Jon0807]

I just got home from work and they are both fine, swimming happily everywhere. I tried feeding them mysis shrimp again but I don't think they're used to it. They ate a few of what I gave them then stopped. They seemed to go after the shrimp then decided they didn't like it. I have some flakes I'll try to give them tomorrow

[Dkuhlmann]

Get some NLS pellet food and make sure it's the .5mm if your clowns are small, if not the 1mm size is fine. NLS New Life Spectrum pellets are probably the most fed in the saltwater world. I know all of my fish love them. Variety of food is a good thing to have available to your fish. My fish don't like flake food, they just let it blow around in the tank. It's good to also offer one of the many mixed frozen foods available.

Good luck with your new fish and enjoy the hobby! Welcome to RC!

[Jon0807]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

Get some NLS pellet food and make sure it's the .5mm if your clowns are small, if not the 1mm size is fine. NLS New Life Spectrum pellets are probably the most fed in the saltwater world. I know all of my fish love them. Variety of food is a good thing to have available to your fish. My fish don't like flake food, they just let it blow around in the tank. It's good to also offer one of the many mixed frozen foods available.

Good luck with your new fish and enjoy the hobby! Welcome to RC!

They seem to go for the smaller particles of mysis shrimp that I've been giving them. Tho one of them must be starving cause he'll eat whatever comes at his face. The other is more particular. I'll check out the NLS pellets and other frozen food.

[mattyg18]

Jon0807 - I'm happy your guys are doing well. Wish I could say the same.

Im glad I stumbled upon this thread. So I picked up two black ice snowflake clowns last monday night. They are small. I drip acclimated them and put them directly into my 60 gal DT which is newly cycled (3 months old) and has no fish it prior to these clowns. I do have a QT setup however they were purchased from a well known poster on this site and I trust he has no issues in his tanks so added them directly to my DT. Anyways they pretty much hang at the top - back - left part of the tank most of the time and occasionally will swim down about half to 2/3 of the way down and then right back up. They will eat a little bit of pellet food and I try to feed them 2-3 times a day to make sure they are eating enough. I tried the frozen shrimp but they aren't interested. I'm not sure if the tank is too big for them and they are intimidated, or they just need some time to get used to the new home. Yesterday I noticed that one seems to be picking on the other one which i've read is normal. Anyways I wanted to know how much longer should I wait on this? I don't want to stress them out; if thats what even going on.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Fissues]

That's perfectly normal. My occy's have been in for a month and still hang out in a corner swimming sideways sometimes.

[Jscwerve]

Mine have been hanging in the top corner of my tank for about 6 months now. I wish they would swim around the tank. Just the way it goes I guess.

[mattyg18]

How old are they and how large are they? Just curious. My guys are maybe 1 1/2" and about 3 months old I think.

[Jon0807]

I've noticed at night they hang out at that same top corner, swimming sideways. I guess that's how they sleep, but during the day they are all over the tank

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by mattyg18

Jon0807 - I'm happy your guys are doing well. Wish I could say the same.

Im glad I stumbled upon this thread. So I picked up two black ice snowflake clowns last monday night. They are small. I drip acclimated them and put them directly into my 60 gal DT which is newly cycled (3 months old) and has no fish it prior to these clowns. I do have a QT setup however they were purchased from a well known poster on this site and I trust he has no issues in his tanks so added them directly to my DT. Anyways they pretty much hang at the top - back - left part of the tank most of the time and occasionally will swim down about half to 2/3 of the way down and then right back up. They will eat a little bit of pellet food and I try to feed them 2-3 times a day to make sure they are eating enough. I tried the frozen shrimp but they aren't interested. I'm not sure if the tank is too big for them and they are intimidated, or they just need some time to get used to the new home. Yesterday I noticed that one seems to be picking on the other one which i've read is normal. Anyways I wanted to know how much longer should I wait on this? I don't want to stress them out; if thats what even going on.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Think about your new clowns as being in an ocean where they don't see any other fish. This is a disturbing situation in the ocean and it means that there are predators around so stay hidden. Once you get a few more fish in the tank they should become more active and not just hanging out at the top corners.

As far as the picking on the other that is going to happen a lot until and even after they have paired up. My Mocha Ocellaris pair constantly fight even though one is clearly the female and the other male. So don't worry about them fighting, it's to decide dominance and who will become female.

So start thinking about your next fish addition, you're pretty safe adding a fish every two weeks allowing the bacteria enough time to grow to handle the additional load. I would not add anymore than two fish at a time as you could end up with ammonia problems until the bacteria has grown to handle the new load on it.

[mattyg18]

Dkuhlmann - That definitely makes sense about ocean comparison. I'm just on the fence about what to add because these guys are pretty small. I was thinking about a green mandarin since they tend to hang low. I do have a bunch of snails in the tank already and several corals which i'm not sure if they can see. Its a tall tank (2' x 2') . When the snails go near them they seem to get pretty scared. I don't want to cause them more stress than they already have by adding an additional fish. Does that make any sense?

[mfaso24]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

Think about your new clowns as being in an ocean where they don't see any other fish. This is a disturbing situation in the ocean and it means that there are predators around so stay hidden. Once you get a few more fish in the tank they should become more active and not just hanging out at the top corners.



As far as the picking on the other that is going to happen a lot until and even after they have paired up. My Mocha Ocellaris pair constantly fight even though one is clearly the female and the other male. So don't worry about them fighting, it's to decide dominance and who will become female.



So start thinking about your next fish addition, you're pretty safe adding a fish every two weeks allowing the bacteria enough time to grow to handle the additional load. I would not add anymore than two fish at a time as you could end up with ammonia problems until the bacteria has grown to handle the new load on it.

+1 when I upgraded and transferred my clowns over, they were the only ones in the tank for a while and hung out in one spot. Once more fish were added they started moving around quite a bit.


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[mattyg18]

mfaso24 - what were the first fish you added? just curious.

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by mattyg18

Dkuhlmann - That definitely makes sense about ocean comparison. I'm just on the fence about what to add because these guys are pretty small. I was thinking about a green mandarin since they tend to hang low. I do have a bunch of snails in the tank already and several corals which i'm not sure if they can see. Its a tall tank (2' x 2') . When the snails go near them they seem to get pretty scared. I don't want to cause them more stress than they already have by adding an additional fish. Does that make any sense?

A good choice would be a Midas Blenny, pretty much any of the gobies but don't overdue bottom dwellers since the size of your tank is only 24x24. You could probably get a few flasher wrasses but I'd think might be an issue due to the tank dimensions. Wrasses like to swim around and I think are better suited to say a bit longer tank than tall. You can also get a pigmy angel but again might have issues due to not enough distance swimming. Hmmm there are also firefish that would work. Any of the fish in this link would work with the exception of more clowns. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a....cfm?c=15+2124 Take a look at the three pygmy wrasses those are awesome too. I think they're on the last page of that link for nano fish.

Kind of a boring fish but the Cardinals come to mind. Yellow Candy Hogfish is another great fish I love mine as well as my Midas blenny. My Cherub angel can be a bit of a butthead but as he gets older is better behaved. He gets great fun and joy out of hiding and then ambushing my McCosker's wrasse LOL

Take a look at Live Aquaria's website http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a...plies.cfm?c=15 for other options. It lists the tank size as well as behavior and compatibility of any fish listed.

So take a look at what's available and let us know what you're thinking and we can recommend what to add and when. IT's always best to add more aggressive fish last for instance if you pick a pygmy angelfish they should go last in most cases. There are also some fish to stay away from due to their collection practices of using cyanide which kills the fish months after collection.

Anyway good luck and have fun picking out your fish.

OH and stay away from the Mandarin for a while until you have a huge population of pods for them to eat.