Clown in distress?

[spunkykitty78]

Hey Guys! I just yesterday acclimated the first two residents of my 29 gal saltwater tank. A fire shrimp and an O.Clownfish. This morning, the shrimp appears fine but the clown is just hovering in one area. Is this normal clown behavior or is he struggling? My instinct is saying he's struggling.

I forgot to ask the dealer if he was wild caught or tank raised. This is also surprising to me because the dealer seemed to think the shrimp would be the less hardy of the two.

On the other hand, the dealer did say not to be surprised if he does hover for the first couple days. They tend to be shy at first, especially when there are other fish, but like I said, no other fish here.

Hmmm.... any thoughts?

Paranoid 1st time fish keeper

 

[snorvich]

Normal behavior. He would be happier if he had something to associate with. But if your tank is new, that will come much later.

 

[snorvich]

Oh, I did not notice . . . Welcome to Reef Central, I am glad you are here!!

 

[otrlynn]

Welcome to Reef Central. There's a cool banner thing they do to welcome new members, but I don't know how to do it, but welcome anyway! I'm not an expert on clowns, but they do hover. Mine for awhile decided he liked the back corner of the tank behind a rock, and spent most of his time there. They are goofy fish. Sometimes they take a liking to a power head or some other object and spend their time hanging around that object. I think it must be instinctual behavior akin to their being hosted by an anemone. They don't need anemones to survive however. Don't be tempted to get an anemone at this early stage of your tank however. They are not easy to keep and need well-established tanks and experienced reef-keepers.

 

[spunkykitty78]

Oh, okay. That's reassuring! Thanks for the welcome guys!! I feel at home on this site already!!

Otrlynn, that does make sense about the anemone. I hadn't thought of that and he is hanging out right above the heater. I have it placed horizontally about three quarters of the way down in the center of the back wall and he is just hovering right over top of the control end. Maybe it does seem comforting to him like his anemone. I hope that's it!

I'm going to Hersheypark for the day so I'll scope him out when I get home. Thanks so much! I'll keep you posted!

 

[Playa-1]

To Reef Central

It's normal Clown behavior. It will likely move around more as it gets more comfortable with it's new surroundings. Give it a couple days.

 

[weluvfish54]

mine never leave my overflow box..+1 for liking anemones later but then they never leave that!

 

[Playa-1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033053#post13033053 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by weluvfish54
mine never leave my overflow box..+1 for liking anemones later but then they never leave that!

Meet Jack and Jill

 

[weluvfish54]

those are too cute