Should I be worried about my clowns?

[NaturallyKait]

Last night we had a power outage and one of my clowns got spooked and tried to jump repeatedly. We have a mesh top, so he didn’t succeed but today he seems to have a mark on his side, and both he and his mate are swimming a bit...erratically? The swimming almost looks like the jerking they do when they’re pairing, but our two clowns were already an established pair when we bought them. They jerk a bit and seem to be shaking their heads? Is it normal that they’d do this seemingly months after being paired? I’ve never seen them do it before. 

 

This is the mark on his side, but it’s hard to get a good photo because lights haven’t come on for the day yet. 

 

 

[mcarroll]

How old is the tank and how old are the fish?

 

If the fish and tank are both established this will be no issue. Don't worry, just keep feeding them and keeping the tank up.

[NaturallyKait]

3 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

How old is the tank and how old are the fish?

 

If the fish and tank are both established this will be no issue. Don't worry, just keep feeding them and keeping the tank up.

The tank is four months old. We have had the clowns for a month, but I don’t know exactly how old they are. They’re about about 1.25-1.5”, if that helps age them? Not tiny, but not full grown either. 

[mcarroll]

 in that case you are rightly concerned… But that doesn't have a lot to do with the jumping, that has more to do with the extreme newness of the tank and the fact that there are already fish in it.

 

Continue being vigilant of course and note any changes in appearance will behavior.

 

Can you post a full tank pic as well as what you test results have been like for the big 5? (ca, alk, mg, po4, no3) 

[NaturallyKait]

2 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

 in that case you are rightly concerned… But that doesn't have a lot to do with the jumping, that has more to do with the extreme newness of the tank and the fact that there are already fish in it.

 

Continue being vigilant of course in note any changes in appearance will behavior.

 

Can you post a full tank pic as well as what you test results have been like for the big 5? (ca, alk, mg, po4, no3) 

I don’t have tests for ca, alk, mg or phos yet. We have no corals yet so I haven’t purchased ca/alk/mg yet, and our LFS has been out of phos kits for a bit. I’ve had no luck with ordering test kits in the mail here in Canada, every time I’ve tried they’ve arrived shattered. I do test nitrate, typically it sits between 5-10ppm, depending on when the last water change was. I don’t let it dip below 5. 

 

 

[mcarroll]

Your local store might test phosphates for you.

 

So we don't have a whole lot of information to go on but from what we do have it seems like things are going pretty well — it's just a little early for fish in my opinion as I already mentioned. Doesn't mean it can't work.

 

I certainly wouldn't add any more fish for at least a couple of months while these guys all continue settling in and the tank continues to mature. (May be worth noting that you already have quite a few fish for the size tank.)

 

Keep up the good work, keep your fingers crossed — hopefully those scratches on your fish will be gone in a day or two and everyone will be back to normal.

 

If you plan to add corals I would get started sooner than later, btw. They will also help stabilize and mature the tank.  Just start small with 1-2 corals and add very slowly, same as we should do with fish.  

 

Do you mind me asking what kind of light you have on the tank? It looks like you are spilling quite a bit of light onto the wall behind the tank.

[Clown79]

They will probably be fine, just most likely got spooked.

 

 

 

How long was the power outage and did you add anything to oxygenate the water?

[NaturallyKait]

Just now, mcarroll said:

 your local store mate test phosphates for you.

 

So we don't have a whole lot of information to go on but from what we do have it seems like things are going pretty well — it's just a little early for fish in my opinion as I already mentioned. Doesn't mean it can't work.

 

I certainly wouldn't add any more fish for at least a couple of months while these guys all continue settling in and the tank continues to mature.

 

Keep up the good work, keep your fingers crossed — hopefully those scratches on your fish will be gone in a day or two and everyone will be back to normal.

 

If you plan to add corals I would get started sooner than later, btw. They will also help stabilize and mature the tank.  Just start small with 1-2 corals and add slowly, same as we should do with fish.  

 

Do you mind me asking what kind of light you have on the tank? It looks like you are spilling quite a bit of light onto the wall behind the tank.

LFS unfortunately doesn’t do tests. 

 

We’re actually not planning on ever adding more fish, unless something awful happened and we were to lose one. I consider the tank fully stocked for fish. Inverts and corals only from here on out. Waiting for the tank to mature just a little bit more before we add a shrimp is our next goal. For corals I would have started already, but we only have one LFS and his coral selection is pretty lacklustre right now. It’s all either SPS (which clearly we’re not ready for yet) or stuff like GSP and mushrooms that I don’t want to really have to be honest. He does have one nice Rasta Zoa frag I always eye up, but I don’t know that I want to spend that much on a first coral. 

 

The light is a Kessil a80. Not as powerful as some I know, but the plan for this tank is softies and maybe some LPS, so I’m happy with it. If I change my mind I’ll add a second or maybe a different light. 

 

3 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

They will probably be fine, just most likely got spooked.

 

 

 

How long was the power outage and did you add anything to oxygenate the water?

Power was out for about 2 hours. I did pop my battery operated bubbler in to make sure oxygenation stayed ok. 

[Clown79]

4 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Your local store might test phosphates for you.

 

So we don't have a whole lot of information to go on but from what we do have it seems like things are going pretty well — it's just a little early for fish in my opinion as I already mentioned. Doesn't mean it can't work.

 

I certainly wouldn't add any more fish for at least a couple of months while these guys all continue settling in and the tank continues to mature. (May be worth noting that you already have quite a few fish for the size tank.)

 

Keep up the good work, keep your fingers crossed — hopefully those scratches on your fish will be gone in a day or two and everyone will be back to normal.

 

If you plan to add corals I would get started sooner than later, btw. They will also help stabilize and mature the tank.  Just start small with 1-2 corals and add very slowly, same as we should do with fish.  

 

Do you mind me asking what kind of light you have on the tank? It looks like you are spilling quite a bit of light onto the wall behind the tank.

You think 4 mnths is early?

Most ppl add a fish right after cycling.

 

With a power outage, I'd think the biggest concern would be 

 

1. How long was the power out for

2. Was anything done to oxygenate the water

3. Any ammonia spike occur

4. Possible electrical current in the water(only because of fish symptoms)

 

I've had my clown get spooked and do the same weird dance and then she went back to normal.

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

LFS unfortunately doesn’t do tests. 

 

We’re actually not planning on ever adding more fish, unless something awful happened and we were to lose one. I consider the tank fully stocked for fish. Inverts and corals only from here on out. Waiting for the tank to mature just a little bit more before we add a shrimp is our next goal. For corals I would have started already, but we only have one LFS and his coral selection is pretty lacklustre right now. It’s all either SPS (which clearly we’re not ready for yet) or stuff like GSP and mushrooms that I don’t want to really have to be honest. He does have one nice Rasta Zoa frag I always eye up, but I don’t know that I want to spend that much on a first coral. 

 

The light is a Kessil a80. Not as powerful as some I know, but the plan for this tank is softies and maybe some LPS, so I’m happy with it. If I change my mind I’ll add a second or maybe a different light. 

 

Power was out for about 2 hours. I did pop my battery operated bubbler in to make sure oxygenation stayed ok. 

I would test ammonia just to cut it off the list of possible issues.

 

Most likely the fish got scared and are just a bit stunned. They can be very resilient.

 

You could turn the lights off to help calm them or just blues(moonlighting)

[Humblefish]

I agree the damage will most likely self heal, but some vitamins in the fish food can help with that: 

 

[NaturallyKait]

3 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I would test ammonia just to cut it off the list of possible issues.

 

Most likely the fish got scared and are just a bit stunned. They can be very resilient.

 

You could turn the lights off to help calm them or just blues(moonlighting)

Ammonia is at zero. I’ve actually got an alert badge in there. I already own it, so I figure why not keep it in? 

 

They actually seem seem to be calmer now that the lights are up, but I’ll keep that in mind for later in the day if they seem off again. 

 

5 minutes ago, Humblefish said:

I agree the damage will most likely self heal, but some vitamins in the fish food can help with that: 

 

Thank you, I’ll take a look at that. 

[NaturallyKait]

14 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

You think 4 mnths is early?

Most ppl add a fish right after cycling.

 

With a power outage, I'd think the biggest concern would be 

 

1. How long was the power out for

2. Was anything done to oxygenate the water

3. Any ammonia spike occur

4. Possible electrical current in the water(only because of fish symptoms)

 

I've had my clown get spooked and do the same weird dance and then she went back to normal.

I missed this, but I agree. I didn’t just throw the fish in all at once either. After cycling we added a couple of snails, then the YCG and gave him a little over a month to establish himself as the first fish and then added the clowns. I think that’s reasonable. 

 

How could I know about possible current?

[mcarroll]

43 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

The light is a Kessil a80. Not as powerful as some I know, but the plan for this tank is softies and maybe some LPS, so I’m happy with it. If I change my mind I’ll add a second or maybe a different light. 

Good light, and I think actually fine for the depth of your tank, but aesthetically it'll be nicer with two, side-by side, equidistant from each other and the side walls.  You'll be able to lower them enough to get all the light into the tank while having even better coverage than you do now.  

 

No rush though if you like it OK the way it is.  When you do upgrade (if there are already corals by this time), use a light meter (lux or PAR) to match the two lights' intensity level with what you had from just one light as closely as you can.  If you also want to increase light levels, do that slowly after the two lights have been up using the old intensity levels for a few weeks...may be no need to increase overall intensity levels though.

48 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

You think 4 mnths is early?

Most ppl add a fish right after cycling.

I do.  

 

I know it could be only my perspective, but it seems like most people end up with avoidable problems using whatever is considered the conventional way these days. 

 

Starting with fish is really rushing things and risking a little too much IMO.  Especially for a beginner...especially if multiple fish are being added at once, which seems pretty typical.  

 

My generic advice would be something like start with lights-on and in a little while a small number (maybe just 1 unit) of cleanup crew based on algae growth...wait a few weeks see how things grow in algae-wise...help the crew by hand as much as needed, add more crew if needed and wait a little more...then add one fish...wait more...see how algae adjust to the higher bio-load...add more crew if needed...once things are settled, add a second fish (or two)...repeat the wait for algae and crew adjustment, etc until tank is stocked.  If it's a coral tank, you should work corals into the rotation of additions...preferable after the cleanup crew gets started so any big flushes of algae can be handled already, but before the fish.

 

Obviously there are a million shortcuts that can be applied to that, but IMO a tank could easily take a year to get stocked with fish without any excessive waiting, and personally, I'm not that into shortcuts when starting a tank.

 

Shortcuts and rushing things are well-known bad karma in our hobby, plus I really like to see and learn from all the phases a tank goes through if you let it go on its own pace.  Wish I had access to my startup journal, but it's on the RAID of a dead PC waiting for a rescue effort... 🙄

[NaturallyKait]

7 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Good light, and I think actually fine for the depth of your tank, but aesthetically it'll be nicer with two, side-by side, equidistant from each other and the side walls.  You'll be able to lower them enough to get all the light into the tank while having even better coverage than you do now.  

 

No rush though if you like it OK the way it is.  When you do upgrade (if there are already corals by this time), use a light meter (lux or PAR) to match the two lights' intensity level with what you had from just one light as closely as you can.  If you also want to increase light levels, do that slowly after the two lights have been up using the old intensity levels for a few weeks...may be no need to increase overall intensity levels though.

I do.  

 

I know it could be only my perspective, but it seems like most people end up with avoidable problems using whatever is considered the conventional way these days. 

 

Starting with fish is really rushing things and risking a little too much IMO.  Especially for a beginner...especially if multiple fish are being added at once, which seems pretty typical.  

 

My generic advice would be something like start with lights-on and in a little while a small number (maybe just 1 unit) of cleanup crew based on algae growth...wait a few weeks see how things grow in algae-wise...help the crew by hand as much as needed, add more crew if needed and wait a little more...then add one fish...wait more...see how algae adjust to the higher bio-load...add more crew if needed...once things are settled, add a second fish (or two)...repeat the wait for algae and crew adjustment, etc until tank is stocked.  If it's a coral tank, you should work corals into the rotation of additions...preferable after the cleanup crew gets started so any big flushes of algae can be handled already, but before the fish.

 

Obviously there are a million shortcuts that can be applied to that, but IMO a tank could easily take a year to get stocked with fish without any excessive waiting, and personally, I'm not that into shortcuts when starting a tank.

 

Shortcuts and rushing things are well-known bad karma in our hobby, plus I really like to see and learn from all the phases a tank goes through if you let it go on its own pace.  Wish I had access to my startup journal, but it's on the RAID of a dead PC waiting for a rescue effort... 🙄

We don’t mind it the way it is now. It’s actually only as high as it is because the gooseneck doesn’t let it go any lower. I could go lower and still have full coverage if I wasn’t using the gooseneck. 

 

An older photo from when we first upgraded the light, but you can see it’s really the mount limiting the height. 

 

[mcarroll]

You might consider the 90º mount as an upgrade then....it will go lower.  (And costs less than another A80! 😉)

[NaturallyKait]

6 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

You might consider the 90º mount as an upgrade then....it will go lower.  (And costs less than another A80! 😉)

I think that’s only for the 160 and up. The a80 takes a different gooseneck (“mini gooseneck”) because it mounts on the side instead of the top. Unless I’m missing something the 90* one only works with top mount lights. 

[mcarroll]

you could be right...dang.

 

On the A80's page is says this:

 

What's in the Box

1x A80 Tuna Blue

1x DC Power Supply

1x Top Mounting Adapter

 

 

What's a "top mounting adapter"?  

 

Sounds like what you'd want for the 90 degree mount, but I have no idea and the part isn't pictured anywhere.

[NaturallyKait]

26 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

you could be right...dang.

 

On the A80's page is says this:

 

What's in the Box

1x A80 Tuna Blue

1x DC Power Supply

1x Top Mounting Adapter

 

 

What's a "top mounting adapter"?  

 

Sounds like what you'd want for the 90 degree mount, but I have no idea and the part isn't pictured anywhere.

It’s a bracket for mounting it to a canopy if you had one. I noticed the 90* one doesn’t list the a80 as compatible. Oh well, I don’t mind our current set up. It works. 

[mcarroll]

Found a pic of the bracket just for reference:

 

Someone needs to make one that fits the 90 degree mount...it would be a trivial difference from this adapter.  😉

 

Glad you like it just fine as it is!!  🙂

[NaturallyKait]

17 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Found a pic of the bracket just for reference:

 

Someone needs to make one that fits the 90 degree mount...it would be a trivial difference from this adapter.  😉

 

Glad you like it just fine as it is!!  🙂

Yes that’s it, and we don’t have a canopy. If we ever buy a house and stop renting I may just hang it instead but for now I have no complaints. 

[Euphylin me]

if you are worried. I would get some selcon to soak the food in. The added vitamins, fatty acids etc does a number for the fish's health. Its always good to have some

[NaturallyKait]

Ok, so I think the power outage actually had nothing to do with it. 

 

The last two nights the female has started chasing the male and picking on him. She chases him around and he tries to jump to escape. It starts the moment lights go out for the night and stops as soon as the lights come back on the next day. During the day they’re inseparable and back to acting like a pair. They never used to have issues at night before, they’ve always slept together up by the return nozzles. 

 

Is this normal for clownfish even after pairing? 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, NaturallyKait said:

Ok, so I think the power outage actually had nothing to do with it. 

 

The last two nights the female has started chasing the male and picking on him. She chases him around and he tries to jump to escape. It starts the moment lights go out for the night and stops as soon as the lights come back on the next day. During the day they’re inseparable and back to acting like a pair. They never used to have issues at night before, they’ve always slept together up by the return nozzles. 

 

Is this normal for clownfish even after pairing? 

Clowns do odd things. How long have they been paired?

 

My one pair did the opposite.

At night slept together in the xenia but during the day the female was aggressive and they swam separately.

[NaturallyKait]

6 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Clowns do odd things. How long have they been paired?

 

My one pair did the opposite.

At night slept together in the xenia but during the day the female was aggressive and they swam separately.

I’m not sure how long. They were already paired when we bought them a month ago, but other than that I don’t know.