Normal Clownfish behavior ?

[Mikemilly245]

First time with clownfish so bear with me…
2 small clowns in QT. Both been doing fine so far. This one however has recently just staying in this corner most of the time alone doing this:

Sort of swims sideways and vertical and sometimes flicks his tail and shakes a bit. Is this normal ?

 

[Ben.QLD2]

It does look a little uncoordinated. Are you currently treating with anything in the QT? Also, post water parameters and more info about the fish please, how long you've had it, if it's eating and what you're feeding, any other treatment etc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

While this is a-typical of a new clown, often can also be due to poor acclimation.
The video is almost impossible to see due to dirty glass and always best with clean lens and glass.
How did you acclimate and for how long ?

 

[Mikemilly245]

It does look a little uncoordinated. Are you currently treating with anything in the QT? Also, post water parameters and more info about the fish please, how long you've had it, if it's eating and what you're feeding, any other treatment etc.

I’m treating copper power at 2.00 ppm. Had them at that level since 2/11. I would post water parameters but since I’m dosing copper it will throw off results from what I heard.
It’s eating for sure, and when it does it gets super excited and shakes a little when he swallows food

 

[Mikemilly245]

While this is a-typical of a new clown, often can also be due to poor acclimation.
The video is almost impossible to see due to dirty glass and always best with clean lens and glass.
How did you acclimate and for how long ?

Yes I know the glass makes the video awful I’ll try to get a better one. Acclimation went well, I floated for 10 mins then slowly added tank water into bag. They’ve been in the tank for about a week and a half

 

[Mikemilly245]

Added a bit of food for a video.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes I know the glass makes the video awful I’ll try to get a better one. Acclimation went well, I floated for 10 mins then slowly added tank water into bag. They’ve been in the tank for about a week and a half

Not good acclimation and may or may not be a factor.
In addition to drip which is typically an hour, see my method below. There are many methods but the goal is to equalize temp-salinity and Ph and if you did not aim to get the salinity alone close to each other- steps were missed. Hope fully you did not add bag water to the tank either,

My acclimation method (not the only one out there):
I generally:
Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display. Release under LOW light before lights out.
Fish in shipped bags produce carbon dioxide and ammonia. The carbon dioxide lowers the pH of the water in the bag, That in turn makes the ammonia non-toxic to the fish. When you acclimate them, if not done just right, you drive off the carbon dioxide faster than you are diluting the ammonia. That raises the pH of the water in the bag, and that in turn, makes the residual ammonia very toxic to the fish. Sometimes, the fish will die right in the bag

 

[vetteguy53081]

Added a bit of food for a video.

I dont see much concern here. Turning down white intensity generally makes them calmer

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Poor guy, can I ask the obviously not obvious question, why are you treating with copper, do you have other issues in your aquarium??

 

[Mikemilly245]

Better feeding video.
Am I underfeeding? How much of a frozen cube should these guys get a day?

 

[StatelineReefer]

So, your video cuts off each time right at the most concerning thing, when the clownfish lists to the side as if it's going to lie down.

Does it do this? Does it do it often?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Poor guy, can I ask the obviously not obvious question, why are you treating with copper, do you have other issues in your aquarium??

Better feeding video.
Am I underfeeding? How much of a frozen cube should these guys get a day?

If videos are accurate, maybe too much current, to much for them to swim against

 

[Mikemilly245]

So, your video cuts off each time right at the most concerning thing, when the clownfish lists to the side as if it's going to lie down.

Does it do this? Does it do it often?

It will never lie down on the glass from what I’ve seen but it does swim sideways sometimes, sometimes pointing its nose down and swimming vertically .

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Click bait

 

[Mikemilly245]

Click bait

??? Does this mean they look fine? I turned down the current a bit…
Only treating with copper because I’ve heard it’s the wise thing to do when buying from Petco or some place like that as they’re often riddled with ich

 

[Rick's Reviews]

??? Does this mean they look fine? I turned down the current a bit…
Only treating with copper because I’ve heard it’s the wise thing to do when buying from Petco or some place like that as they’re often riddled with ich

I'm unsure but you could always ask where you purchased from

 

[StatelineReefer]

It will never lie down on the glass from what I’ve seen but it does swim sideways sometimes, sometimes pointing its nose down and swimming vertically .

That part is pretty typical, swimming downwards that is. If it starts laying on the bottom of the tank, it's indicative of other issues.

To be fair, there is no such thing as 'Normal' clown behavior, because I have yet to meet a percula or ocellaris clown that behaves like any normal fish would. Swimming upside down? Yep, in a cave, like a bat.... That's my small clown now.

Rub yourself against hair algae like an anemone? With an anemone right there? And a hammer coral, and a torch? Yep, Algae is friend, let's feed the algaenemone.

 

[H-C6179]

First time with clownfish so bear with me…
2 small clowns in QT. Both been doing fine so far. This one however has recently just staying in this corner most of the time alone doing this:

Sort of swims sideways and vertical and sometimes flicks his tail and shakes a bit. Is this normal ?

HI @Mikemilly245 Im new to the hobby however my fist clownfish did this and sadly died. Im not sure what it was, stress maybe?

 

[Mikemilly245]

HI @Mikemilly245 Im new to the hobby however my fist clownfish did this and sadly died. Im not sure what it was, stress maybe?

Could have been stress for sure, had a lot of trouble with that guy in the video above. When I moved him into the third tank, he literally stopped moving and went mortibund, didn’t move for a solid 2 minutes. Now he’s doing fine, swimming all around.. clowns can be dramatic I guess

 

[H-C6179]

Could have been stress for sure, had a lot of trouble with that guy in the video above. When I moved him into the third tank, he literally stopped moving and went mortibund, didn’t move for a solid 2 minutes. Now he’s doing fine, swimming all around.. clowns can be dramatic I guess

Indeed. The hobby consists of understanding the species and it goes without saying... Clownfish love clowning around! Hope the little fellas ok