Clownfish resting on substrate, normal or reason for concern !!!

[SaltTank]

Hi and Happy Holidays to you all.

I'm new to saltwater and never had clownfish. I started the journey 3weeks ago. Set up the tank 13.5gallon evo with live sand, dry rock an seeded with Dr Tims and added the ammonia. 1week later 90% water change and added (2) clowns and biospira. Noticed that my API ammonia test was slightly green .25ppm and researched and discovered that API test TOTAL ammonia so purchased a Seachem ammonia alert badge and Seachem ammonia test. Put the badge in an ammonia is 0 and tested with the Seachem test. There is a little total ammonia but 0 FREE ammonia. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates are between 5-20 .... i have a hard time reading the colors because on the API test they are so close but i'm going to call it 10. Salinity is 1.024. PH 7.9.

Started tank with:
filter pad
polyfil
Seachem Matrix
GEMs 1 1/2 spheres

Yesterday added :
Chemipure blue
Purigen


3days after adding the clowns i noticed one tail was pretty torn up a was being chased by the other. I separated the aggressor into a breeder box in tank and started feeding kanaplex because it looked like the clown with the busted up tail had developed fin rot. I was feeding the kanaplex because i have coral, crabs and snails in the tank and didn't want to harm them by dosing the tank. After 3 days of feeding and still seeing the tail degrade while the aggressive clown was in breeder box it took the busted up clown back to the LFS because the white discoloration on the tail that i noticed when i got him spread into 3 larger spots. They exchanged it and i got one that is a little smaller than the one i kept.

I noticed that the larger clown would swim around and then come to the bottom and rest on the substrate, been doing this pretty much since I got it. Its like it picks a specific spot for the day to come to and relax sometimes for a few seconds sometimes for a minute or 2. Sometimes sitting upright and sometimes tilted on it's side. Today I noticed the new clown that I got doing the same similar thing but infrequently. I wonder if it "learned" it from the larger. I also noticed that sometimes the smaller one would come and sit beside the larger one or sometimes swim up to the larger one and give it a nudge to get up.

I read about this type of behavior in the forums but getting mixed feelings as some threads say this is cause for concern others say this is normal "clown" behavior. One thing is certain. Both are up and very active when i drop the medicated brine shrimp into the tank. I also feed a little TDO-c2 pellets after that eat a bit of the medicated brine shrimp. I decided to keep feeding the medicated food for one week just in case the larger clown had a bacteria infection or fin rot from the clown i returned.

Right now i just have the return pump for flow but i upgraded the supplied pump for a Syncra 0.5. It looks to be keeping food in suspension when i add it to the tank but I don't see or have the nozzles set to break the water surface so I added an airstone to the tank yesterday to provide some surface agitation. I added the airstone because some of the threads talked about lack of oxygen in water could cause this behavior. Still on the fence if I need/should add a powerhead/wavemaker. Love to get your feedback on that also.

Running factory lights white and blue for 6-8hrs and then blue only for 3more

All the initial coral pieces that I dropped in to test are opened up and showing coloring nicely.

Added a small bottle of copepods last week to seed that colony. feeding a few drops of phytoplankton every 3 days

Also prepared to do water changes as frequently as needed if that is something that needs to be done. I have an ro/di unit and plenty of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals salt

I was able to record the behavior last night so if you can watch the clip you will see it occur twice. You can also see my pearly white dry rock start to get the brown algae started .... CUC do your job !!

What else should i check, change or do to improve my clowns or the tank overall. Or it this just normal clown behavior

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[dedragon]

they are using your little black stand for the coral as a stand-in for an anemone, it is natural instinct to find an anemone to live in but they like to be hosted by anything from inanimate objects to anemones and corals, they seem fine to me

 

[dedragon]

i would buy a refractometer and decent kits for pH, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium though if going with a reef tank going forward you will need to know all of those parameters. Red sea, salifers, nyos, and hanna checkers are all great (i use hanna for phosphate and nitrate because i cant tell the color difference, those 2 specific ones are great I went ultra low range phosphorous though. Salifert and red sea i use for the rest

 

[CrimsonTide]

To me the clown behavior looks normal. Mine do the same but at the top of the tank which trust me is much scarier. They always look like their dead until you see a little tail flicker to stay in the right spot. When you add a powerhead later on they may decide to host a new spot in your tank. For now they have decided to host that specific spot in the tank. That is where they feel most safe.

 

[CrimsonTide]

i would buy a refractometer and decent kits for pH, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium though if going with a reef tank going forward you will need to know all of those parameters. Red sea, salifers, nyos, and hanna checkers are all great (i use hanna for phosphate and nitrate because i cant tell the color difference, those 2 specific ones are great I went ultra low range phosphorous though. Salifert and red sea i use for the rest

I also second everything said here! You may have started with corals a little early dedragon has given great advicem

 

[SaltTank]

Thanks for the prompt responses .... so would it be safe to pull the airstone out? Do you think i need a powerhead?

 

[SaltTank]

they are using your little black stand for the coral as a stand-in for an anemone, it is natural instinct to find an anemone to live in but they like to be hosted by anything from inanimate objects to anemones and corals, they seem fine to me

Thanks @dedragon I've heard mixed reviews on getting anemones .... although i'm interested I'm hearing they wander and could sting and kill corals. Is there a recommended coral that I could add that would allow my clownfish to develop that hosting relationship with that would be better than a plastic stand?

 

[thedon986]

Doesn't seem to be any heavy breathing or flashing their gills against the sand. Looks pretty normal. New clowns to the tank will have to work out dominance so there will be some aggression for a while. It's best to them sort it out, I've never had success separating and re-introducing, it actually seemed to make the aggression stronger.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Thanks for the prompt responses .... so would it be safe to pull the airstone out? Do you think i need a powerhead?

The clowns don't need a powerhead and the easy corals you have right now probably don't need a powerhead but eventually other corals will need flow in your tank also powerhead help with algae. They keep spots in your tank from getting stagnant and algae building up. More Flow usually equals cleaner tank. The airstone you can probably remove unless you just like it. I'm sure whatever pump you have is making enough oxygen for the fish. But also a powerhead near the surface will create more oxygen as well.

 

[CrimsonTide]

You need to let your tank mature for a couple months and go through the ugly stages before you get an anemone. Some clowns like euphyllias like hammer corals or frogspawn to host. Some host leather corals as well. Mine host the overflow box in my tank and avoid all the corals. All clowns are weird and different that's where they get the name.

 

[dedragon]

they seem to like the plastic host, let em have it lol