Common clownfish going crazy

[ZakREEF]

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

How "crazy" is he? Does he just calmly swim or does he swim super fast? Does he have an anemone? There is no such thing as a 2 day cycle. No. Just no.

 

[Scurvy Dawg]

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

I have had bashful clowns before and they usually come out of it. Never seen the lights out freak out though. In my experience, the clowns I have had seemed to be calmer with the lights out.

2 day cycle?! - call me extremely skeptical.

 

[Frostyfishman]

Check for ammonia

 

[ZakREEF]

I tested my water again
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0

The cycle does seem quite fast and I was sceptical before I tried it aswell. I thought I might as well try it. It seems to have worked but I am taking things very slow just to be in the safe side

 

[ZakREEF]

Also there is no anemone in my tank. By "crazy" I mean he just won't stop darting around.
I'm really Not sure what's wrong

 

[Dkuhlmann]

The only way to really test a cycle is to add ammonia to 2 ppm and then see if it goes to 0 in a 24 hr period. DO NOT do this with any livestock in your tank.

I think as you add fish your clowns will calm down. Think of it like this. In the wild if a fish looks around and doesn't see other fish this is a signal to them that there is danger lurking and need to hide. If they see other fish out and about it's safe to be out.

I doubt the 2 day cycle and I seriously doubt that you have 0 nitrates.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Some of my fish id this initially, though not my clownfish. They did eventually calm down.

I'd feed on the light side to try to limit the bioload since you have the apparently quick cycle.

 

[ZakREEF]

thanks for the help guys.
Also the cycle was probably more around a week because I added live sand on day one but added the dr tims cycling product at day 4

 

[ZakREEF]

What other fish can I get with my clowns. My tank is only 30 gallon/120litres and I've never had a small(er) tank before this one

 

[ZakREEF]

I'm using a Red Sea marine care test kit - it's the only one my LFS sells for marine tanks

 

[Cymonous]

There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread.

I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0.

Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED.

 

[ZakREEF]

There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread.

I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0.

Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED.

I do think my tank is cycled because my results seem to be spot on?

 

[lifeoffaith]

What he's saying is that you need an ammonia source to have a true cycle in the tank. If there is no ammonia source, then you might read zero because there is no ammonia that the bacteria needs to break down. Once you add fish, the ammonia levels will build up. Adding two fish to a 30 gallon tank will cause ammonia to build up and you should get a reading eventually. Hopefully there is still enough bacteria to take care of enough ammonia that you don't have any fish die, but bacteria will adjust to how much ammonia is in the water. This is why even a well developed tank typically doesn't do well adding multiple fish at the same time. The tank is set up to handle the bio-load that is already in the tank; in your case zero bio-load. Depending on when you added the bacteria there should be enough bacteria there to break down some of the ammonia, just hopefully there is enough there to handle enough of the ammonia to not cause problems.

 

[xCry0x]

If they fish are eating I would not be too concerned. If your lights instantly go on/off the rapid change might cause them to freak out but they will get used to it.

As for the cycle -- people dramatically over react and over complicate the process there -.- It sounds like your tank is fine.

 

[jstack]

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

lol they are young clowns right? turn off 1 PH if you have 2 for a few nights let them get used to reef current it's a total trip going from almost stand still water in holding to tank's to full out reef.xD

 

[ZakREEF]

lol they are young clowns right? turn off 1 PH if you have 2 for a few nights let them get used to reef current it's a total trip going from almost stand still water in holding to tank's to full out reef.xD

Yes they are young clowns - I think about 4 months old. The clowns I got were in the shop for a month with quite a lot of flow so I don't think it would be an issue. I'll try it for a couple of nights to help them out. Thanks

 

[ZakREEF]

If they fish are eating I would not be too concerned. If your lights instantly go on/off the rapid change might cause them to freak out but they will get used to it.

As for the cycle -- people dramatically over react and over complicate the process there -.- It sounds like your tank is fine.

Okay that's reassuring. I just don't want to stress them too much. My LFS uses dimmable lights ( I know because I recognised the model) however mine don't have a dimming feature.

As for the cycle, Im quite sure the tank is cycled because of my test results. Haha

 

[xCry0x]

The biggest thing is to ensure they are eating. New fish can be skittish for a while. A pair of unbonded clowns can also be awkward until one establishes dominance.

Then you will start to see one being submissive to the other and basically rolling over on its side and shaking its fins/twitching.

Then, ideally, they will bond, one becomes a female and then they start breeding and become tank tyrants trying to kill everything that gets near them.

That was the cycle of my clowns hah. They started attacking my hand, the water siphon, everything, once they started laying eggs.

And yea, sometimes I think the cycle police are worse than the tang police.

 

[ZakREEF]

The biggest thing is to ensure they are eating. New fish can be skittish for a while. A pair of unbonded clowns can also be awkward until one establishes dominance.

They didn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed so my LFS gave me some free pellets to try and the pair seem to like them quite a lot.