Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

Kooky Ocellaris Clownfish


drfu

Recommended Posts

Well I'm excited to say i have my first pair of fish for my fairly new reef aquarium and have noticed a couple of things i need advice with as their behaviour is quite different from all of my fw fish!

 

I purchased the juvenile pair three days ago and here is what i have observed so far and have some questions on:

1) after 2 hour acclimation they went right to my Korelia 240 powerhead and never left it for 24 hours

2) after the first day they kinda hide in the back corner where my intake to my filter column is

3) they don't seem to adventure away from there unless I'm cleaning that corner and they go hide around my Spin Stream powerhead.

4) i started feeding them frozen brine shrimp, turning off my pumps and trying to encourage them to come out of the corner. Some success there, will continue to do so further away from the corner each time.

 

I have several conclusions but even after all the reading on the forums i think they are all guesses at this point:

 

1) they are still trying to acclimate to their new surroundings, they dont like their new home yet?

2) they have paired to my Hydor because they were paired with one @ lfs and I'm screwed?

3) I'm impatient and should wait and see in a week, month,year if their behaviour changes?

4) need to add an anemone right away and hope, as their is no guarantee , that will host it, but my tank is new, though stable?

 

Here is my set up & parameters:

IM Nuvo 8, upgraded pump w/spinstream, additional hydor korelia 240 pump, extra t8 marine glo light, custom caddy w/ff, cpe,puragen, cycled 6 weeks ago.

Several soft, sps&lps corals, no anemone yet as everyone says my tank is too new

Sal, 1.025, temp 79-80

No detectible ammonia, nitrites, phosphates, nitrates under 10mg/l, all stable

Ca@380-400, kh between 10-11, ph 7.8-8.0, all stable

post-82698-0-78586700-1390931928_thumb.jpg

post-82698-0-16681000-1390931951_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
My clowns hang out in the front left corner of my tank, they're just weird like that. Give them time and see what happens.

 

Moved from to the back to the front this evening for a bit, now that the moonlights are on one has gone back to the rear, the other is rubbing his butt on the powerhead!

Link to comment

Yup, probably no nem. Not only is the tank new, it's also pretty small for an anemone. Clowns are just weird, and you can't really force them to hang out in a spot you want :P I wish you could

Link to comment

it's called 'corner tank syndrome'

So I'm assuming their is no cure for this syndrome then, lol? My teasing them with food to come away from the corner is having mixed results, they did explore the front yesterday, but only for an hour and only at the top.

 

Yup, probably no nem. Not only is the tank new, it's also pretty small for an anemone. Clowns are just weird, and you can't really force them to hang out in a spot you want :P I wish you could

From my research i agree its too small for these fish even, as this is my starter tank & plan on having a bigger one within a year can i not start off with a small rbta and move it along with the fish when they get larger?

 

Strange how everyone says small nano tanks are not suitable for these fish considering how little room they use to swim around, guess its more about the bioload!

Link to comment

So I'm assuming their is no cure for this syndrome then, lol? My teasing them with food to come away from the corner is having mixed results, they did explore the front yesterday, but only for an hour and only at the top.

 

From my research i agree its too small for these fish even, as this is my starter tank & plan on having a bigger one within a year can i not start off with a small rbta and move it along with the fish when they get larger?

 

Strange how everyone says small nano tanks are not suitable for these fish considering how little room they use to swim around, guess its more about the bioload!

 

I have 3 clowns and they move ALL over the tank. I always figured maybe the reason they hang in corners is people put them in small tanks? Mine are in a 20g Long and a 40Breeder and they use the entire space. Maybe my clowns are just weird and don't host anything ever.

Link to comment

I just got two tiny baby clowns last week. Mine hang out by my return tube too which is fine by me. They feel comfortable there so I'm cool with it. I had a bonded pair of Picassos a number of years ago and it literally took them 2 years before they got 'hosted' but once it happened they spent all day hopping from host to host lol clowns are weird!!! :)

Link to comment

Also if they are small it's probably a built in survival instinct to "hide". In the wild if they approached a host with larger clowns in it they'd get killed. If they swim around in the open...they'd get eaten. Don't worry about them - they'll come out one day :)

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
I just got two tiny baby clowns last week. Mine hang out by my return tube too which is fine by me. They feel comfortable there so I'm cool with it. I had a bonded pair of Picassos a number of years ago and it literally took them 2 years before they got 'hosted' but once it happened they spent all day hopping from host to host lol clowns are weird!!! :)

 

How have yours been since, mine still like my powerhead but do go for a swim now and again but never deep, like to stay up top. Picky eaters, just found a flake food they like, they spit out Mysis shrimp, eat brine like candy, just as unhealthy!

Link to comment

Our baby clowns did this for a while too, eventually they did become bolder and swim everywhere now.

One of them is a bit shyer, but all in all they go everywhere now, just sleep around the power head.

 

Good luck!

 

~ Hester

Link to comment

I just put a baby clown in my 5 gallon pico and he swims all over! It is a new tank and only has rock w/ no coral. He is the first/only current inhabitant. He loves the whole front of the tank and spends all day zooming back and forth and up and down. He hasn't explored the rock much except I think he spends the night somewhere in behind them.

 

When I first put him in he just sat in the current from the HOB filter spillway, then he hung around the heater for a while before actually exploring the tank. Now he seems happy and is very active. :)

Link to comment

I just got two new clowns. I wanted a black and white one two weeks ago and then last week I got a misbar orange and white one last week. It was funny when I put the orange and white clown in the big tank, the two just took to each other so fast. Even though I got them at two different stores, they are the perfect size match. They hid for a day or so and now they are all over the tank. They are best buddies. I'm trying to find some artificial anemone since I don't have corals, just live rock, but the artificial kind is hard and doesn't sway like a natural anemone would in the water.

Link to comment

I have had mine now for 3 weeks, they cruse the top to middle portion of my tank, still love my power head vs any of my other corals. Picked up an anemone that had just split from a guy locally, its the size of an eraser head so don't think they will pair with it for quite some time if ever. Both of the fish and the anemone will be eventually moved to my 15 gallon once they get to big for my IM Nuvo 8.

 

Finally found a food they like besides brine shrimp as this had me stressed out since brine do very little for nutrition. The best thing about this flake food was it was on sale @ lfs for $1 as it was on final clearance, so i went back and bought all that they had left, lol. Im hoping one day soon they will start to eat Mysis shrimp, right now they just spit it out!

Link to comment
Just clowns bein clowns,wait till they're bold enough to nip at your hand if you're in their area. Lol,my female does it if I get near her Nem.

 

Thats funny, lol!

 

Maybe i will keep my o. Clowns in this Nano and buy some black & white ones for my 15 gallon if i wasnt so worried about them outgrowing there home. I have heard quite a few oclown owners keep them in tanks like mine but never for how long.

Link to comment

You could always try a a patch of frogspawn coral as a host they will use it sometimes. My clowns took 3 months to find my long tentacle anemone,if you're worried about your tank not being able to do a nem yet,or just wait till the tank is a bit older and put a bubble tip in.

Link to comment

My long term worry is only if they need to come out because its a small tank I just got a bta last week, its the size of an eraser head, lol. Don't think it will host them anytime soon. One of my fancy anemone shrimp found it and hung out for a few minutes. I was hoping they would host a toadstool mushroom leather i had but not yet. I was thinking of a frogspawn actually but have to wait till my new second tank lighting arrives next week, will thin out my IM Nuvo 8 and see if i can find a great spot for it as i know they are aggressive. Good advice, thanks

Link to comment

My dad has a Clarki that hosts a large colt leather coral. Mine just hangs around wherever it wants.

 

The buggers have a mind of their own when I comes to hosting.

Link to comment

Just clowns bein clowns,wait till they're bold enough to nip at your hand if you're in their area. Lol,my female does it if I get near her Nem.

 

Yep, one of my clowns attacks me every time I put a hand in the tank.

 

Clowns just seem to do whatever they want, without pattern. Mine have hosted in mushrooms, nems, leathers, on certain rock pieces, etc. One thing is certain...they are never further than 2 inches away from each other. I moved a powerhead recently and now my larger clown has a fascination with remaining completely vertical in the current for as long as he can. I thought at first he might finally be dying but after about a month of this mixed with normal swimming, he is just being weird as usual.

Link to comment

Mine also used to be big on roaming the whole tank checkin everything out,once they moved into the anemone they rarely leave it for long,although it's a good sized one that they have.

Link to comment

Clowns are indeed strange. I found one at petco hosting the sandbed the other day. That was wierd.

mine host GSP and a nass snail whenever it sees it come up......... just to add to the weirdness

Link to comment

I love my clown, we call him Solo. He is the cutest! :wub: He loved my Koralia 240 also, but I moved it recently and he isn't interested anymore. Now he is best buds with the Gramma who tolerates him. He is staying mostly in the back next to his rock. I am waiting on a clown buddy to come in next Saturday, he needed a buddy! They are my favorite fish. I just love that bobbing up and down and he comes to the glass all the time when he sees me......it's love!

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...