Clownfish Question

[mansiz]

Hi Gauge, i bought three clown fish two days ago, they were like what you had said, stay at a corner, not moving around the tank, but they did swim a little around the corner, how do you make your clown fish became active? They were very active at the [acronym:902ef3b96f="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:902ef3b96f].

[Gauge]

Well, I tried scaring mine away from the corner with the net, but there were two problems... First, it didn't work. He just swam in circles avoiding me and making me look like an idiot. Second, it was kind of stressing him out a bit, and since he was just put in the tank, that's probably not a good idea.

The next day he was swimming around like normal. Are your fish just hanging out in a general area a lot, or have they never left that area? Because mine did not leave his corner at all for the first 12 hours or so. He didn't even give the tank a quick exploring, he just stayed there.

[BillyZ]

Well, I tried scaring mine away from the corner with the net... it was kind of stressing him out a bit, and since he was just put in the tank, that's probably not a good idea.

i think not a good idea is perhaps an understatement. New fish often act this way because they are already stressed. Chasing them with your net or other means to "Scare" them into moving around is the absolute last thing you want to do. Doing so causes more stress. For any fish, something trying to "Catch" them means simply it's trying to EAT them and this is not a happy feeling for anyone or anything! You simply have to be patient and let him calm down on his own. As you stated, after a day or two he was just fine.

[mansiz]

Or was it because there is no hiding places for them, so they feel stress? The live rocks are out of stock, the [acronym:50fa483e0d="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:50fa483e0d] owner told me to buy the fish first and add in the live rocks later. The whole tank just consist of two tube worms, three clowns and a cleaner wrass. Before the fishes are place in, the water have been cycle for quite some time.

Originally Posted by mansiz

the [acronym:79c8c275f1="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:79c8c275f1] owner told me to buy the fish first and add in the live rocks later.

How old is the tank?

If purchasing [acronym:79c8c275f1="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:79c8c275f1] and adding after the fish, you should re-cure it in a plastic bin/bucket prior to placing in the tank to avoid any spikes in your water quality. After about a week if there are no [acronym:79c8c275f1="Ammonium"]NH4[/acronym:79c8c275f1] or [acronym:79c8c275f1="Nitrite"]NO2[/acronym:79c8c275f1] readings, you should be good to go providing it was purchased as cured rock.

I would not suggest pruchasing uncured [acronym:79c8c275f1="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:79c8c275f1] at this point unless you have a place for it to cure for a few weeks at least.

You can read this >>arcticle<< for better info.

Cheers
Steve

[two11devan]

I have had [acronym:8a9175c58a="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:8a9175c58a] in my tank since i got my clowns. Neither of them have explored the rocks, they stay in the middle or at the top of the tank. They swim back and forth and all that, but they just don't seem to care about checking out any hiding places, and they are the only 2 fish in there....is this normal? iv'e had them for a couple of weeks, they are eating normal and look fine, i just thought that clowns liked to stake out a hiding spot!

[sokhamik]

clowns do that.. mines have their SECURE spots and that's where they stay just to hang out after they eat... all of my fishes from damsels to cowfish have a spot where they go after they get full... both of my clownfish when first introduce stayed at a corner.. i think it is normal.. i think a lot of people experience that with clowns..

Clowns are not what you would consider "explorers" as such. Very common for them to stick to one general area of the tank.

Once they begin showing mating behavour, they will claim a certain area of the tank where they will aggressively defend the territory. Which could be anything from a hole in the sand to the equipment in the tank itself.

Cheers
Steve