I am new to clownfish, but I understand that they have crazy behaviors, so I wanted to check in on this forum to find out if what I'm witnessing it normal, or if I should be worried. I apologize for the lengthy text, but I understand the details are important if I want any real help. Thanks!
I bought two b/w ocellaris clowns from my lfs on 5/19--one small one and one larger one to speed the bonding process. I slowly acclimated them and placed them in a 10 gal QT. The tank itself has nothing but a few pvc pieces and an airstone. I am also running a hob filter with carbon and a small handful of live rock rubble from my display sump to help keep parameters steady (will toss when finished with QT). Temp is 78, SG is 1.023, and PH is around 7.9. Ammonia might have spiked at 0.05 which is still very low. But I did do a 15% water changed this morning just to be on the safe side.
Also, I had cut off the airstone after a few days of the fish in QT, thinking that all the bubbles and noise might be stressing them and causing them to stay on the other side of the tank. But I turned it back on this morning in case the hob filter might not be providing enough aeration.
With the back story stated now, here is what I've seen. The first full day, they were timid of me, but seemed to be swimming around together and acting fine and eating well. The larger one started nipping at the fins of the smaller one, causing a little bit of raggedness to the fins. This didn't concern me, as I know this is normal, and it was confirmed when I finally spotted the smaller fish do the "submission quiver," which was two or three days ago. At this time, they would venture all around the tank, and even hang around the front when I came near.
But starting yesterday, the larger one hasn't been nipping at the smaller one near as much, and seems a bit lethargic, hanging out in one corner of the tank. The smaller one is right by her side, but moves around a little more. Sometimes the larger one will sit on the bottom for a few seconds, then swim around a little in her immediate area again. But neither fish ventures away from the bottom of that side of the tank. Sometimes they'll go from the front corner to the back corner, but never more than a couple inches away from the side or the bottom. They will eat food that happens to float by them, but they will not go away from this area to get it. The pair are constantly together, even touching much of the time. So is this just the next step of the bonding process? Could they be trying to make this spot "home?"
One other thing to note is that I have spotted some clear and white feces on the bottom. I have actually seem both of them excrete some, but I've also seen them excrete brown feces as well. So I don't know if this indicates internal parasites, or maybe just switching back and forth between SA hatchery food and frozen mysis. But as a precaution, I have given two doses of metronidazole, on 5/23 and 5/25. I've also been soaking their food in garlic once/day. Any thoughts on this? Is this related to their strange (maybe) behavior?
If you read this far, thank you! I appreciate any feedback you can provide.
I bought two b/w ocellaris clowns from my lfs on 5/19--one small one and one larger one to speed the bonding process. I slowly acclimated them and placed them in a 10 gal QT. The tank itself has nothing but a few pvc pieces and an airstone. I am also running a hob filter with carbon and a small handful of live rock rubble from my display sump to help keep parameters steady (will toss when finished with QT). Temp is 78, SG is 1.023, and PH is around 7.9. Ammonia might have spiked at 0.05 which is still very low. But I did do a 15% water changed this morning just to be on the safe side.
Also, I had cut off the airstone after a few days of the fish in QT, thinking that all the bubbles and noise might be stressing them and causing them to stay on the other side of the tank. But I turned it back on this morning in case the hob filter might not be providing enough aeration.
With the back story stated now, here is what I've seen. The first full day, they were timid of me, but seemed to be swimming around together and acting fine and eating well. The larger one started nipping at the fins of the smaller one, causing a little bit of raggedness to the fins. This didn't concern me, as I know this is normal, and it was confirmed when I finally spotted the smaller fish do the "submission quiver," which was two or three days ago. At this time, they would venture all around the tank, and even hang around the front when I came near.
But starting yesterday, the larger one hasn't been nipping at the smaller one near as much, and seems a bit lethargic, hanging out in one corner of the tank. The smaller one is right by her side, but moves around a little more. Sometimes the larger one will sit on the bottom for a few seconds, then swim around a little in her immediate area again. But neither fish ventures away from the bottom of that side of the tank. Sometimes they'll go from the front corner to the back corner, but never more than a couple inches away from the side or the bottom. They will eat food that happens to float by them, but they will not go away from this area to get it. The pair are constantly together, even touching much of the time. So is this just the next step of the bonding process? Could they be trying to make this spot "home?"
One other thing to note is that I have spotted some clear and white feces on the bottom. I have actually seem both of them excrete some, but I've also seen them excrete brown feces as well. So I don't know if this indicates internal parasites, or maybe just switching back and forth between SA hatchery food and frozen mysis. But as a precaution, I have given two doses of metronidazole, on 5/23 and 5/25. I've also been soaking their food in garlic once/day. Any thoughts on this? Is this related to their strange (maybe) behavior?
If you read this far, thank you! I appreciate any feedback you can provide.
)
