Clownfish acting like a clown

[Jeruvalcaba]

Hello everyone i just started a nano reef about a month ago! I recently purchase a original clownfish and its been in front of the water flow since i put it in the tank! He's moving up an down like crazy! Im really worry about it! What can i do for it to stop doing that?

 

[obscurereef]

Glad you started a SW tank! They are very active "hyper" fish and many like to be pushed in the flow. I don't know if this is a sign of stress b/c I don't know how you've had him or what the actions actually look like (if normal or not).

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

Hey thank you im so excited!! I really dont rhink its stress cause he is. tank rised fish!! And when i turn off completly the light he moves around the tank

 

[obscurereef]

Even tank raised fish are going to be stressed when first introduced in a new environment. My clown slowly settles to his sleeping spot on the sand which is quite different to all the other fish which dart and hide in the rocks.

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

So should i just give him some time to settle?? I took all the fish out and let him by him self! Also i bought him some pellets and at the store he eat'em an here he just sees them pass by! I also give him som frozen foodd and it was the same result!

 

[obscurereef]

What do you mean let him settle? You had other fish? Were they damsels to cycle the tank? Where are those fish now? Try flakes too and buy some garlic extract..or maybe squeesing some garlic to only get the juice if you can't find any extract would be fine. This will entice it to eat..fish go crazy over that! Also what are your parameters since it seems almost too new to be cycled completely. And sorry for all the questions!

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

Well to "settle" to get use to the tank!! And yes the testers fish! Theyre gone i give them away they were bothering my fclown n my red fire shrimp! My paremeters are good i just checked them a couple of hours ago! My water is completely cycle!

 

[obscurereef]

Cool. By "good" parameters, what are the actual readings? Are you using test strips? Those are not accurate and shouldn't be used for saltwater. A test kit is a necessity in the saltwater hobby. A standard API kit will work and is fairly cheap/average.

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

I took it to the store where i got it and they test it wth liquids!!

 

[obscurereef]

Did they give you the results? This would be very important to know.

 

[Xxmxxh1]

Dont worry about the clown they are quite hardy ne way. When i got my maroon clown it was doing the same thing about 3 days later it was all good. Clownfish do all sorts of stupid things. Aslong as its eating and seems active and not sittin at the bottom they should be ok. U need to properly check uour water. If the tank aint cyced youl kill your fish.

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

A ok thanks!! Yes my water is completely cycle!! My clown seens more active and a bit better today!! I think the light hurts him! When the light is on he kind of hide fromit when i turn it off he comes up and moves alot more! Also my LR is growing corals but i also saw a small starfish!! Its that a good sign or theyre bad?? And i think my cleaner shrimp just give brith to a small one too i saw it in one of my rocks! Lol sorry for my long stories! I just want to learn the most i can!

 

[Xxmxxh1]

Yeah they fine dont worry. The clown jus needs time to acclimate to ur light itl take a couple of days

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

Yeah they fine dont worry. The clown jus needs time to acclimate to ur light itl take a couple of days

Ok thanks! Hopefully by next year i want to upgrade my 40g tropical freshwater tank to a reef! Thats why i want to get this tank running pefectly in orderr for me to to go bigger!

 

[obscurereef]

There's life on the LR, your cleaner shrimp can't self produce lol. I don't think those are corals, but they could be algae, sponges, etc. Glad he seems to be doing better.

 

[Xxmxxh1]

I know some people will say start with a big tank beacuse its better but when you start out in this hobby youl slowly realise its very expensive.. So if you start off small you might make mistakes but wont cost you much wereas if you started off on a big tank if you make mistakes on that... Well you understand what am trying to say. Take your time in this hobby and always research never listen to what local fish stores tell you and youl be succesful. If you need help with anything message here

 

[obscurereef]

I still think that starting out bigger is better. 20 or 30 is a good tank to start out with and it's not that much more expensive than a 5 or 10 which many want to try to set up as their first tank. Having a larger tank does get costly, but if you research in advance you wouldn't make any larger mistakes than you would with a smaller tank IMO.

 

[Jeruvalcaba]

Obscurereef@. Yeah it probably came pregnat from the store lol !! Im 100% sure it was a little shrimp !!! I just got the shrimp! And the things growing in the LR really looks like a flower dont know if its a spomge or something!! Will the small stafisj eat my other corals??

 

[Xxmxxh1]

No doubt the star fish will do anything.. Keep it in the tank majority of them are actuallly beneficial for your aquarium. If you notice your corals are agitated or not happy then maybe investigate but for now jus leave it and think you have another critter in ur home aquarium and yeah it is true a bigger aquarium is definatly better due to the large water volume which may compensate for a few mistakes here and there.. But research is definatly key here if you want good results and save money in this hobby. 10 or 20 gallon is small id say a good size to start of with would defo be a 30 or 40 which i think you said you have so thats excellent

 

[Xxmxxh1]

Ohh sorry my mistake when you upgrade to a 40g then it be excellent but take everything slow