Is this normal clownfish behavior?

[DirkDigler]

Hi all,
I am new to saltwater aquarium and have purchased clownfish to start off my journey. I have had my tank for about 6-8 weeks and 6 weeks of that was cycling the tank with no livestock. The first week the clownfish we're swimming all over the tank and sometimes hang out in corners either top or bottom. They would also do some of behaviors like swimming up and down in an area. What I noticed today was them hanging in the back surface aquarium swimming on their sides. I hope the video helps and that I am simply being a new paranoid hobbyist.

 

[DirkDigler]

Also, is this a sign of overfeeding? I did accidentally feed a bit too much to my aquarium in general by mistake. Water parameters are.
Salinity: 1.026
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammo: 0
Ca: 360
KH: 8.9
Mg: 1050

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

I would say normal behavior are the lights out in this video above the tank. Do you see any heavy breathing. I have a blood orange that does this and is just happy as can be. Are they eating normal? Any and all details of the fish would help. But in my honest opinion your just a worried new parent. If they stop eating or show signs of heavy breathing then i would look into it further but with what i am seeing its just clowns being clowns lol.

 

[davidcalgary29]

It wouldn't hurt to turn up your return nozzles to get more surface agitation, though.

And nitrates are usually not 0 (or shouldn't be, if you don't want other problems to arise). What are you using for your tests?

 

[DirkDigler]

I would say normal behavior are the lights out in this video above the tank. Do you see any heavy breathing. I have a blood orange that does this and is just happy as can be. Are they eating normal? Any and all details of the fish would help. But in my honest opinion your just a worried new parent. If they stop eating or show signs of heavy breathing then i would look into it further but with what i am seeing its just clowns being clowns lol.

Thanks for the quick reply and I hope that's the case. Looking at the gills is a bit hard but it doesn't appear so and the smaller one just tried to eat surface debri. I'm worried it might be bladder disease. They have done odd things but not like this which has occurred over the past two hours. I did make a mistake of accidentally feeding them more than I needed. But they were moving around the aquarium this morning. The light is off the aquarium and only have my living room light on. I introduced a pink spotted goby and pistol shrimp and have 7 corals. Gsp, xenia, zoa, leather toadstool, Duncan, green tip bubble coral, cleaner shrimp, Harlequin.

 

[DirkDigler]

It wouldn't hurt to turn up your return nozzles to get more surface agitation, though.

And nitrates are usually not 0 (or shouldn't be, if you don't want other problems to arise). What are you using for your tests?

I'm using API saltwater master kit.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I'm using API saltwater master kit.

Yes, it's often hard to get an accurate reading with those tests unless you're very careful. I'd switch to a Hanna checker.

 

[DirkDigler]

I'm using API saltwater master k

Yes, it's often hard to get an accurate reading with those tests unless you're very careful. I'd switch to a Hanna checker.

First thing I'll do tomorrow, thank you. I've been wondering why ever single time I've checked it has always stayed the same and never seen it deviate from that. Same with every other test provided in this kit.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

100% normal. I don't think my two clowns have moved from the top corner in 2 years. The first night I came down after getting the pair and thought they were dead floating on the surface.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Thanks for the quick reply and I hope that's the case. Looking at the gills is a bit hard but it doesn't appear so and the smaller one just tried to eat surface debri. I'm worried it might be bladder disease. They have done odd things but not like this which has occurred over the past two hours. I did make a mistake of accidentally feeding them more than I needed. But they were moving around the aquarium this morning. The light is off the aquarium and only have my living room light on. I introduced a pink spotted goby and pistol shrimp and have 7 corals. Gsp, xenia, zoa, leather toadstool, Duncan, green tip bubble coral, cleaner shrimp, Harlequin.

You would see them struggling even trying to eat if it was bladder disease and they really wpuldnt be eating at all. Thats why i was asking if they are consuming food regularly. I would say it does happen quite a bit they pick an area and host it doesnt matter what it is. A lot of clowns choose towards the top of the tank mine love the returns and the upper rim where they can hide lol they love eating and life. I dont worry about it due to the fact they are living there best life in a big tank by themselves for right now lol but i wouldnt be too concerned to be honest just breathe and enjoy it.

 

[DirkDigler]

You would see them struggling even trying to eat if it was bladder disease and they really wpuldnt be eating at all. Thats why i was asking if they are consuming food regularly. I would say it does happen quite a bit they pick an area and host it doesnt matter what it is. A lot of clowns choose towards the top of the tank mine love the returns and the upper rim where they can hide lol they love eating and life. I dont worry about it due to the fact they are living there best life in a big tank by themselves for right now lol but i wouldnt be too concerned to be honest just breathe and enjoy it.

Thank you for the reassurance. I'm panicking less with everyone on this thread. Idk if this makes a difference but I'm also going through a diatom phase which is why I have the lights off as it was recommended in other threads. One other thing on their behaviors is that you mentioned they might have picked a spot there but for the first two days they would sleep at the bottom about an inch from the sand bed. Then for the rest of the week one would sleep at the bottom and the other would sleep in the top back panel of the tank. Clown behavior I suppose. The smaller clown has two bit marks on it's tail fin.

 

[DirkDigler]

100% normal. I don't think my two clowns have moved from the top corner in 2 years. The first night I came down after getting the pair and thought they were dead floating on the surface.

But swimming on its side too?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Perfectly normal clown behavior. It probably took them a little while to decide to pair up, and now that they're besties, they've chosen a spot to live. When clowns are hosted by an anemone, they rarely leave it except at feeding time or to prepare for/tend to eggs. Your clowns are just instinctively showing similar behavior, even without an anemone.

One word of advice, if you don't already have one, get some sort of lid/screen top for your tank... clowns are notorious for carpet surfing

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

And yes, they often swim on their sides, especially at night (and times your lights are lower).

 

[DirkDigler]

Perfectly normal clown behavior. It probably took them a little while to decide to pair up, and now that they're besties, they've chosen a spot to live. When clowns are hosted by an anemone, they rarely leave it except at feeding time or to prepare for/tend to eggs. Your clowns are just instinctively showing similar behavior, even without an anemone.

One word of advice, if you don't already have one, get some sort of lid/screen top for your tank... clowns are notorious for carpet surfing

Thank you for the advice, I actually have a lid but I was told by my LPS employee that it might be a good idea to remove the lid to allow/help with CO2 levels. For context I own the Fluval 32.5 that comes with a plastic cover.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Thank you for the advice, I actually have a lid but I was told by my LPS employee that it might be a good idea to remove the lid to allow/help with CO2 levels. For context I own the Fluval 32.5 that comes with a plastic cover.

Yea point return to agitate the surfave water and doesnt matter to leave the lid plenty do. Its made for your tank for a reason. You can always do a screen top if your worried about it but i have glass lids on all my tanks and have never had issues.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Thank you for the advice, I actually have a lid but I was told by my LPS employee that it might be a good idea to remove the lid to allow/help with CO2 levels. For context I own the Fluval 32.5 that comes with a plastic cover.

I have two RSM250s -- and they have heavy closed canopies -- and the fish and coral are fine. And my house is bottled-up tightly for the winter,too: it's currently -30C outside. You can always add an airstone too, although you may not like the salt creep that you'll get with the spray.

 

[DirkDigler]

I have two RSM250s -- and they have heavy closed canopies -- and the fish and coral are fine. And my house is bottled-up tightly for the winter,too: it's currently -30C outside. You can always add an airstone too, although you may not like the salt creep that you'll get with the spray.

Thank you for shedding some light. I also thought it was odd otherwise why would a manufacturer create a plastic lid. I'm just trying to go with the flow and follow instructions. As I mentioned before zero background in saltwater water world.

 

[DirkDigler]

Yea point return to agitate the surfave water and doesnt matter to leave the lid plenty do. Its made for your tank for a reason. You can always do a screen top if your worried about it but i have glass lids on all my tanks and have never had issues.

Thank you, someone else pointed that out. Fish jumping out was definitely a concern which is why I was only leaving the lid off while i am in the living room bit will be covering it now. Thank you for point out the angle of my point return your the second person to notice that.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Thank you for shedding some light. I also thought it was odd otherwise why would a manufacturer create a plastic lid. I'm just trying to go with the flow and follow instructions. As I mentioned before zero background in saltwater water world.

Many people take the manufactured lids off their tanks for two main reasons: first, they want to replace the stock lighting in these all-in-one tanks with a custom setup, and two, because of the current fashion for open or rimless-like tanks. There are multiple other reasons for removing a canopy, and I think many reefers enjoy DIYing and modding their setups, and so bulky canopies are often the first things to go. Unless you have a tank in an environment with very low ambient oxygen, or are keeping fiddly and difficult SPS, though, it's just a matter of choice. I keep my lids on because it really does reduce evaporation, which is a major issue in my dry climate.