Tkstarr Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 HelloI purchased a snowflake clownfish over a week ago. He has been swimming back & forth from each end of the tank everyday all day very fast. I figured I’d just leave him be to let him settle into my tank. But today he is still doing the same thing none stop and I’m not sure if something is stressing him out. Today I turned off both wave markers and he starting to explore the tank and swim around normally but the minute I turn back on the wave makers he starts to swim crazy fast back and forth again. I have corals in my tank that require a lot of flow and both wave makers are on their lowest setting. Since turning off the flow is not an option any suggestions on what I can do for him or should I just leave him be and hope for the best? Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 37 minutes ago, Tkstarr said: HelloI purchased a snowflake clownfish over a week ago. He has been swimming back & forth from each end of the tank everyday all day very fast. I figured I’d just leave him be to let him settle into my tank. But today he is still doing the same thing none stop and I’m not sure if something is stressing him out. Today I turned off both wave markers and he starting to explore the tank and swim around normally but the minute I turn back on the wave makers he starts to swim crazy fast back and forth again. I have corals in my tank that require a lot of flow and both wave makers are on their lowest setting. Since turning off the flow is not an option any suggestions on what I can do for him or should I just leave him be and hope for the best? Usually when fish “chase the glass” it is stress related. Having said that, clownfish are weird “swimmers” in general. Can you get a video? How old is this tank again? 1 Quote Link to comment
Tkstarr Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 33 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: Usually when fish “chase the glass” it is stress related. Having said that, clownfish are weird “swimmers” in general. Can you get a video? How old is this tank again? The tank is 3 months old. This is also the second clown fish I had the last two never did this in this tank. I cant figure out how to upload a video on here form my phone Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 What happened to the last two clownfish? Three months is pretty young....how was it set up? How is it doing in general? Good algae growth, but not too much? No other problems? 1 Quote Link to comment
Tkstarr Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 10 hours ago, mcarroll said: What happened to the last two clownfish? Three months is pretty young....how was it set up? How is it doing in general? Good algae growth, but not too much? No other problems? The last 2 Clownfish were baby’s and got stuck on the intake for some reason and died but I have a Denzel that was much smaller than my clownfish and he is doing great still. The tank in general seems to be doing really well all my water parameters are in line and I have very lil algae growth because I do run my system very clean with very low Phos. The system was setup with 30lb of live rock and about 10lb of live sand. All my corals are doing great except my GSP and my Pipe Oregon. Im not sure what his problem is but he is still swimming fast from one side of the tank to the others. When I got up this morning it seems like he has been doing it all night yet again. Quote Link to comment
j.falk Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Franticly swimming laps like that means something is definitely stressing it out. Mine used to do it after I changed to a new brighter light so I had to slowly get them used to it over a few weeks time. You say your water parameters are in line, but you aren't giving specific readings. It would really help if you could list the numbers when you make a post. 2 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Tkstarr said: The last 2 Clownfish were baby’s and got stuck on the intake for some reason and died but I have a Denzel that was much smaller than my clownfish and he is doing great still. The only time fish get stuck to power heads and filters is when they are about to kick off. There is no healthy fish capable of swimming that isn't capable of out-swimming a powerhead or a filter. I don't know if you have been able to do much extended time viewing (more than 10 minutes without a break), but if not try to make sure you do so you can assure that the damsel is not harassing your clown fish. That is possible. Also, please post a full tank picture. 5 hours ago, Tkstarr said: The tank in general seems to be doing really well all my water parameters are in line and I have very lil algae growth because I do run my system very clean with very low Phos. The system was setup with 30lb of live rock and about 10lb of live sand. All my corals are doing great except my GSP and my Pipe Oregon. Maybe it's a low percentage of your inhabitants but it sounds like you have two fish and two corals that are having mysterious circumstances, so I would not look at the whole tank is doing well – something is going on. 😉 As J mentioned, posting your actual test numbers would be helpful. "Very clean and very little algae" often translates to unfriendly circumstances for corals and perhaps to an unstable system for fish. The better situation would you be have a little bit of nitrate and a little bit of phosphate and a decent amount of algae growth (mostly green and coraline, hopefully) and a nice cleanup crew that handles it. It is a good thing that you started with live rock and live sand. How did the rock look when you got it? Was it all gray? In addition to the full tank shot, it would be cool if you could take some close-ups of the calls that are having trouble, and maybe some close-ups of some corals that aren't having trouble too for reference. 1 Quote Link to comment
j.falk Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 37 minutes ago, mcarroll said: I don't know if you have been able to do much extended time viewing (more than 10 minutes without a break), but if not try to make sure you do so you can assure that the damsel is not harassing your clown fish. That is possible. He has a Denzel...not a damsel. Two completely different things. 😄 4 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Denzel's are known for being very pretty but can be pretty stressful too: 4 Quote Link to comment
j.falk Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 LOL...I almost used that photo in my reply. 😛 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Tkstarr Posted September 26, 2019 Author Share Posted September 26, 2019 Hello everyone thank you all for your help. I took that clown back since I only had him two weeks and exchanged him for another one. The new snowflake clown is in my quarantine tank and doing great so fair he’s eating and looking great. I removed a piece of the GSP and the whole pipe organ coral from the tank and dipped them in my coral dip for a few minutes. The very next day they both started to open up and each day more and more seems to be coming back out. Tank parameters as of today and water change was done yesterday. I use Reef Crystals salt. It’s late and lights are out on my tank I will take a photo of the tank tomorrow when the lights are on and the corals are open. SG 1.026 PH 8.4 Amo 0 Alk 9.3 dkh Mag 1290 NO2 0 NO3 0.5 ppm Cal 480 Phos 0 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 30 minutes ago, Tkstarr said: Hello everyone thank you all for your help. I took that clown back since I only had him two weeks and exchanged him for another one. The new snowflake clown is in my quarantine tank and doing great so fair he’s eating and looking great. I removed a piece of the GSP and the whole pipe organ coral from the tank and dipped them in my coral dip for a few minutes. The very next day they both started to open up and each day more and more seems to be coming back out. Tank parameters as of today and water change was done yesterday. I use Reef Crystals salt. It’s late and lights are out on my tank I will take a photo of the tank tomorrow when the lights are on and the corals are open. SG 1.026 PH 8.4 Amo 0 Alk 9.3 dkh Mag 1290 NO2 0 NO3 0.5 ppm Cal 480 Phos 0 Possible some of the corals are pissed by 0 phos and low Nitrate depending how accurate that test kit is. 2 Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 What size is your tank? My money is on Denzel Washington being a problem inhabitant. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
j.falk Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 On 9/25/2019 at 11:40 PM, Tamberav said: Possible some of the corals are pissed by 0 phos and low Nitrate depending how accurate that test kit is. I concur. GSP likes dirtier water. 🙂 Quote Link to comment
natedg200202 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I gotta know . . . How did this turn out? Quote Link to comment
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