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- Aug 22, 2026
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My female clown has been acting strange for about 3 days. I’ve had her a couple of months and my other fish seem fine. Water parameters all normal, except I’m waiting for a new alkalinity test to arrive today so currently unsure about that one.
I’ve seen her rubbing herself on the sand bed a few times and she was hovering in the top right corner near the pipe yesterday. I’ve since increased surface agitation and she has come down but is still largely staying in the corner swimming at a more vertical angle. She usually hangs out near the rock work with the other fish all day. She also slept in the top left corner of the tank alone which is unusual. I can’t decide if her skin looks a bit different or if markings have just changed as she’s gotten bigger/ with different lighting/ me being hypervigilant. She is still accepting food. My hammer coral has been knocked off a few times (it’s not glued because I’m still figuring out what it needs), I’ve not seen her do it but it coincides with these symptoms so she may have been stung?
Yesterday I went to the LFS and they gave me treatment that is antibacterial + oodinium, it’s reef safe so I treated the whole tank. Whilst that was in the water she seemed a bit better, she returned to her usual hangout but then 12 hours later she is doing the same behaviours again, although not seen a flash yet today (it’s only 10am here though).
Interestingly the male clown isn’t approaching her really at all, he has remained in their usual spot by the caves, things seem a bit more distant between them, but no aggression. I got a Scopas Tang a week ago, there have been no obvious issues, my clown was very curious when she arrived and the 3 of them were spending a lot of time together, Scopas is intermittently going over to her to see what she is doing but no chasing, she just goes back over to the male after a few seconds. Possibly social dynamics could be a factor but she seems friendly enough with the Scopas, who is very gentle.
Does anyone have any thoughts please? I’m new to the hobby so this my first time dealing with anything like this. I’m thinking anti-parasite may be the next step because of the flashes and seeking more oxygenation, but unsure when to do that and whether to watch & wait a bit longer?
This is the link to my Reddit post which has some pics and a video: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReefTank/s/BAkm5KW8TF
Thank you
I’ve seen her rubbing herself on the sand bed a few times and she was hovering in the top right corner near the pipe yesterday. I’ve since increased surface agitation and she has come down but is still largely staying in the corner swimming at a more vertical angle. She usually hangs out near the rock work with the other fish all day. She also slept in the top left corner of the tank alone which is unusual. I can’t decide if her skin looks a bit different or if markings have just changed as she’s gotten bigger/ with different lighting/ me being hypervigilant. She is still accepting food. My hammer coral has been knocked off a few times (it’s not glued because I’m still figuring out what it needs), I’ve not seen her do it but it coincides with these symptoms so she may have been stung?
Yesterday I went to the LFS and they gave me treatment that is antibacterial + oodinium, it’s reef safe so I treated the whole tank. Whilst that was in the water she seemed a bit better, she returned to her usual hangout but then 12 hours later she is doing the same behaviours again, although not seen a flash yet today (it’s only 10am here though).
Interestingly the male clown isn’t approaching her really at all, he has remained in their usual spot by the caves, things seem a bit more distant between them, but no aggression. I got a Scopas Tang a week ago, there have been no obvious issues, my clown was very curious when she arrived and the 3 of them were spending a lot of time together, Scopas is intermittently going over to her to see what she is doing but no chasing, she just goes back over to the male after a few seconds. Possibly social dynamics could be a factor but she seems friendly enough with the Scopas, who is very gentle.
Does anyone have any thoughts please? I’m new to the hobby so this my first time dealing with anything like this. I’m thinking anti-parasite may be the next step because of the flashes and seeking more oxygenation, but unsure when to do that and whether to watch & wait a bit longer?
This is the link to my Reddit post which has some pics and a video: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReefTank/s/BAkm5KW8TF
Thank you

