Too much flow for clownfish? Please help.

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

So,
I finally got a nano reef going (130 gph pump and 400gph powerhead for 530gph in a 15g) and my first addition was an Ocellaris. He has been in for about four days. The first couple days he was swimming nonstop, even all through the night. I was a bit concerned about how much he was working to move around the tank, but when I posted about it, everyone had said it was normal behavior. So after this, I started to reangle my pump outlet and powerhead against glass to make it easier and it seemed like that helped. Today he was just sitting seemingly very tired right in front of the filter inlet. I just turned the powerhead off and he seems to be able to move about much more easily. I am worried about there being too much flow in the tank, however mathematically it seems like it shouldn't be too much to handle. I am gonna start incorporating more types of food as he doesn't seem to be eating a heck of a lot either. He has been treated with copper by the breeder before I got him, so it shouldn't be any parasites causing him to feel tired or slow or anything. Is the flow just too much? I can go ahead and add some stress guard right now to help if that is an issue. Are there any other suggestions? Should I just run the powerhead a few hours per day (once I add corals)?

Edit: I havent seen him poke into the rockwork even once

 

[j.falk]

The swimming nonstop is stress swimming. I always advise people to turn the lights off for awhile and let them chill out if you see them doing that.

 

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

The swimming nonstop is stress swimming. I always advise people to turn the lights off for awhile and let them chill out if you see them doing that.

okay. Should I dose stress guard? Would less flow help? I tested my params a few hours ago and Ammonia and Nitrites threw zeros. Thank you for your help!

 

[spiraling]

You need some flow for oxygen exchange, particularly pointed near the top to agitate the surface. If it looks like its stressing him then keep the flow down for a week or two. I was going to ask with a new tank about the ammonia, but you just answered that. Keep testing daily.
How old is your tank and how did you cycle it?
What are you feeding him?
Copper only treats some parasites, and has to be done correctly to get others. It is possible he still has something. Look for stringy white poo in particular

 

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

You need some flow for oxygen exchange, particularly pointed near the top to agitate the surface. If it looks like its stressing him then keep the flow down for a week or two. I was going to ask with a new tank about the ammonia, but you just answered that. Keep testing daily.
How old is your tank and how did you cycle it?
What are you feeding him?
Copper only treats some parasites, and has to be done correctly to get others. It is possible he still has something. Look for stringy white poo in particular

I havent seen too much fecal matter, nor any that is stringy. I ended up angling the powerhead up towards the surface on the opposite side of the tank to create some slight wave action and surface agitation. The tank just finished cycling about a week ago, cycled with live sand, and live rock (10 lbs, 6 cured, 4 uncured). I additionally added some excess food that I had sitting around (too much betta food, just used that) to spike amonia. Currenly I've only fed him Medium sinking hikari carnivore pellets, however I am gonna add in some frozen mysis tomorrow, picked some up yeterday. Thank you for responding

 

[j.falk]

Don't use stress guard and stop feeding the betta food and hikari carnivore pellets. Stick with the mysis and maybe a little bit of good quality flake food to entice him to eat more...especially if it's a small clown.

 

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

Don't use stress guard and stop feeding the betta food and hikari carnivore pellets. Stick with the mysis and maybe a little bit of good quality flake food to entice him to eat more...especially if it's a small clown.

The betta food was just for cycling the tank, I wouldnt feed feed something that wasnt designed for marine animals. Will pick up some flake food. Is hikari carnivore not good for them? I had seen lots of people were feeding that. The clown is ab 2"

 

[j.falk]

The betta food was just for cycling the tank, I wouldnt feed feed something that wasnt designed for marine animals. Will pick up some flake food. Is hikari carnivore not good for them? I had seen lots of people were feeding that. The clown is ab 2"

Okay on the betta food. I thought you meant you were feeding it to the clown.

The carnivore is okay, but clownfish are omnivores meaning they should have some plant matter in their diet as well. I recommend the flakes to get them to start eating more/better if they are being picky. Mysis as a staple part of their diet and I also like to feed mine frozen prime reef which has a little bit of everything in it. It's usually readily available at most pet stores.

Also keep in mind that pellets expand when they come into contact with water so it probably won't take much to fill your fish up if it eats them.

 

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

Okay on the betta food. I thought you meant you were feeding it to the clown.

The carnivore is okay, but clownfish are omnivores meaning they should have some plant matter in their diet as well. I recommend the flakes to get them to start eating more/better if they are being picky. Mysis as a staple part of their diet and I also like to feed mine frozen prime reef which has a little bit of everything in it. It's usually readily available at most pet stores.

Also keep in mind that pellets expand when they come into contact with water so it probably won't take much to fill your fish up if it eats them.

okay sounds good. I will get him going on on flakes and mysis when he eats tomorrow then. As for flow, should I swap for a lower power powerhead like one of the hydor flo's? I wouldnt think that the flow was too strong but it definitely could be

 

[j.falk]

I was using 2 425 gph powerheads in my 20 gallon tank. I had one pushing water from left to right and the other was aimed at the water surface to cause agitation. What you have seems fine to me for a 15 gallon.

 

[EcoFriendlyMouth]

Okay gotcha. Sorry for bombing you with questions by the way. I will keep playing with the angles to see if I can find something that works. Is there any way I can help reduce stress? I generally only run my lights 6 hrs per day right now, perhaps rearranging the rock to make it taller?

 

[j.falk]

The way to reduce stress...lights off if it's still stress swimming and leave things alone. The more you mess with the tank, the more you'll stress your livestock out.

 

[spiraling]

Low light, low flow, frozen tasty food is the best combination if stressed.
Your tank is VERY new. Its possible its getting some mini ammonia cycles which is hard on the fish.
Measure ammonia. leave the little guy alone but watch him. Its odd a clown won't eat so keep an eye on that. Offer very small amounts of food several times a day.