Clownfish Behavior - Normal, Injury or Illness?

[AquaNomad]

Is this clownfish behavior considered normal - or possibly something else - stray voltage, illness, injury? I've read about clownfish with twitchy / seizure-like behavior being normal, however, I've never seen a video of it and it's always spoken of in the context of multiple fish. Tank is a 16 gallon biocube with 1 clownfish and 1 emerald crab (with live rock and live sand) and that's it. It's been up and running for 3 months, however the live rock and clownfish were given to me from someone else with a fish and invert tank. My best guess is the live rock is 1+ yrs old and the clownfish is 4-6 months old. The lights have never been turned on and the fish is fed 2mm pellets 2-3x day (eating 10-12 pellets total per day). The fish continues to eat normally.

Two other incidents which may or may not be related but are worth noting:
1. The fish recently hit the side of the tank or rock loud enough for me to hear it. I approached the tank quickly with the lid open and I think it was startled. I have not observed other darting or scratching behavior. This has me wondering, what are the best ways to differentiate illness from injury in fish?
2. On two ocassions, I've tried introducing a trochus snail and both times (drip acclimated meticulously), they initally attach to glass or rock, but within 12-24 die. I tried polyfilter to see if rocks were leaching contaminants, tested stray voltage, but I'm at a loss. My only other guess is possibly toxic algae / bacteria...

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30 ppm (estimate, API test is hard to read)
Temp: 77
Salinity: 1.025
Stock pump
Heater with inkbird controller (often emits a high pitched buzzing sound)
Chemipure Elite and Purigen

@Jay Hemdal

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is this clownfish behavior considered normal - or possibly something else - stray voltage, illness, injury? I've read about clownfish with twitchy / seizure-like behavior being normal, however, I've never seen a video of it and it's always spoken of in the context of multiple fish. Tank is a 16 gallon biocube with 1 clownfish and 1 emerald crab (with live rock and live sand) and that's it. It's been up and running for 3 months, however the live rock and clownfish were given to me from someone else with a fish and invert tank. My best guess is the live rock is 1+ yrs old and the clownfish is 4-6 months old. The lights have never been turned on and the fish is fed 2mm pellets 2-3x day (eating 10-12 pellets total per day). The fish continues to eat normally.

Two other incidents which may or may not be related but are worth noting:
1. The fish recently hit the side of the tank or rock loud enough for me to hear it. I approached the tank quickly with the lid open and I think it was startled. I have not observed other darting or scratching behavior. This has me wondering, what are the best ways to differentiate illness from injury in fish?
2. On two ocassions, I've tried introducing a trochus snail and both times (drip acclimated meticulously), they initally attach to glass or rock, but within 12-24 die. I tried polyfilter to see if rocks were leaching contaminants, tested stray voltage, but I'm at a loss. My only other guess is possibly toxic algae / bacteria...

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30 ppm (estimate, API test is hard to read)
Temp: 77
Salinity: 1.025
Stock pump
Heater with inkbird controller (often emits a high pitched buzzing sound)
Chemipure Elite and Purigen

@Jay Hemdal

Tank may be too new for snail and they need sufficient calcium level (400 min) and a Good acclimation. I dont favor drip method but equalizing salinity and I question water quality which API test are not the best and disregard nitrate which is freshwater specific.
I recommend a water sample to an LFS that does not use API kits and see what readings they come up with. For clown, can be impact injury and a behavior seen when they are cleaning an area

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is this clownfish behavior considered normal - or possibly something else - stray voltage, illness, injury? I've read about clownfish with twitchy / seizure-like behavior being normal, however, I've never seen a video of it and it's always spoken of in the context of multiple fish. Tank is a 16 gallon biocube with 1 clownfish and 1 emerald crab (with live rock and live sand) and that's it. It's been up and running for 3 months, however the live rock and clownfish were given to me from someone else with a fish and invert tank. My best guess is the live rock is 1+ yrs old and the clownfish is 4-6 months old. The lights have never been turned on and the fish is fed 2mm pellets 2-3x day (eating 10-12 pellets total per day). The fish continues to eat normally.

Two other incidents which may or may not be related but are worth noting:
1. The fish recently hit the side of the tank or rock loud enough for me to hear it. I approached the tank quickly with the lid open and I think it was startled. I have not observed other darting or scratching behavior. This has me wondering, what are the best ways to differentiate illness from injury in fish?
2. On two ocassions, I've tried introducing a trochus snail and both times (drip acclimated meticulously), they initally attach to glass or rock, but within 12-24 die. I tried polyfilter to see if rocks were leaching contaminants, tested stray voltage, but I'm at a loss. My only other guess is possibly toxic algae / bacteria...

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30 ppm (estimate, API test is hard to read)
Temp: 77
Salinity: 1.025
Stock pump
Heater with inkbird controller (often emits a high pitched buzzing sound)
Chemipure Elite and Purigen

@Jay Hemdal

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I’ve seen clowns do that when nesting, but not solo like that. I suppose this could be a result of the strike injury.

Jay