Clownfish goes mad at night

[darksun92]

Hello guys! This is my first post in this forum, but I have been following since the last 6 months the tank of the month, I have a nano tank of 10 gallons with an Ocellaris Clownfish and a Watchman Goby, but when I turn the lights off they start to acting very odd, the clownfish start to move pretty fast in the same place and the watchman goby goest to the top and sometimes he let flows with the water and rest in the overflow or start to float in other places he does every 5-6 days, but the Ocellaris does every night and can do it for about 1 hour, in the day they act pretty normal, the clownfish just swimming calm in all the tank and the watchman goby in front of his burrow just standing there and sometimes “cleaning” the sand, I have a Skkye Light with white and actinic, the return pump and a powerhead In the top of the water to move it, thanks! 

 

 

[colinadam]

That's crazy! 

 

Do you ramp down your lights at night? Or do they just go from full power to off? 

 

 

[seabass]

Welcome to Nano-Reef.com.

 

17 minutes ago, colinadam said:

Do you ramp down your lights at night?

That'd be my guess too; some sort of stress reaction.  I wouldn't say that ramping lights up and down is necessary, but it might help alleviate this behavior.

 

I assume the tank (and fish) is pretty new.  It might grow more comfortable over time.  Also, a mate will sometimes affect behavior (although a 10 gallon tank might be just a little small for a pair).

 

I probably wouldn't worry about it too much.  However, if your fixture has two channels, you might try to shut them down one at a time (daylight/white first).

[darksun92]

49 minutes ago, colinadam said:

Do you ramp down your lights at night? Or do they just go from full power to off? 

It can’t ramp down or dimm I have to turn off manually every channel one by one, I turn off the white first and when the actinics are on they are pretty well, when the actinics turn off they start to act like that.

 

25 minutes ago, seabass said:

I assume the tank (and fish) is pretty new.  It might grow more comfortable over time.  Also, a mate will sometimes affect behavior (although a 10 gallon tank might be just a little small for a pair).

The tank has 3 months old, 3 weeks of cycle, 2 months with the Clownfish and 1 month with the watchman but that behavior starts 2 or 1 week ago with both fish, in planning to move in a 20g tank the next month.

 

44 minutes ago, seabass said:

However, if your fixture has two channels, you might try to shut them down one at a time (daylight/white first).

Yes I turn off first the White channel and then 3 hours after the actinics but that’s when they start to act like that. 

 

Thanks

[Clown79]

My clown sometimes does a similar crazy thing, just the female. Have not figured out why.

 

I had a watchman that at night would come out and swim the same way, all other times of day he was on the sand.

[Matteo]

It's night time. Spooky things happen 👀

[darksun92]

3 hours ago, Clown79 said:

My clown sometimes does a similar crazy thing, just the female. Have not figured out why.

 

I had a watchman that at night would come out and swim the same way, all other times of day he was on the sand.

So what are they doing at night apparently is totally normal? 

 

9 minutes ago, Matteo said:

It's night time. Spooky things happen 👀

😂

[seabass]

3 minutes ago, darksun92 said:

So what are they doing at night apparently is totally normal?

The clownfish behavior is kind of unusual; however, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Clown79]

6 hours ago, darksun92 said:

So what are they doing at night apparently is totally normal? 

 

😂

Clowns are odd and funny fish. 

 

I couldn't tell you why my clown sometimes does the same thing as yours but it freaked me out the first time. 

 

It doesn't happen nightly but I have seen it happen once and a blue moon.

[darksun92]

8 hours ago, seabass said:

The clownfish behavior is kind of unusual; however, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Great, thanks for your words! 

 

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Clowns are odd and funny fish. 

 

I couldn't tell you why my clown sometimes does the same thing as yours but it freaked me out the first time. 

 

It doesn't happen nightly but I have seen it happen once and a blue moon.

Well so they are kinda funny 😅 thanks I feel calm now.

[_felix_]

My clowns act the same too. I'm worried about them cause there's a small gap on the lid and they jumped out once... It all happened after lights out. They are swimming really really fast, going up and down and circling around the tank. 

Is this normal? Since the jump, I'm checking them for 5-10mins before going to my room.. 

[Tired]

You should cover the gap in the lid, and make sure they have plenty of places to hide. 

[darksun92]

He actually jump out 6 months ago 😞

 

[Tired]

Sorry about that, but I was replying to the person above me. 

 

Also, if you have fish, and a lid with a hole in it, the advice still applies.