just bought my first fish, but...

ChrisReefer

Premium Member
today i bought my first fish for my new reeftank. its a 5 cm clownfish (occelaris). at first it was swimming around in the tank, but later it settled at the bottom in a corner. its been in the corner for the last 6 hours now.. is that normal for a new inhabitant? the tank has been running for about 4 weeks now, and the nitrat and nitrite has dropped to 0. salinity is 1.026.
heres a pic of the clown in the corner =)

clownfish.jpg
 
It's perfectly normal for a new fish to stay in the same spot for extended periods of time. Give him some time, patience is the key.
 
Its a little hard to say at this point, but it will probably be fine. All fish act differently when stressed, like when being put in a new tank. Did you take your time acclimating it to minimize chemical stress?
 
leave the lights off to let him to get used to his new home and minimize stress. and as popping fresh said, how did you acclimatize him?
 
i had him in the bag from the fish store and used a hose with a flow adjustment valve so the water from my tank would drip slowly into his bag. did this for an hour or so then let him out.
i also measured the water at the fish store to 1.026. the same as in my tank.
just turned on the lights in the tank now after 14 hours of "night" and he is moving a bit more now, but still hanging around not far from his corner. heh. =) should i try to feed him now?

i dont have a test for amonia yet, ill get it as soon as possible.
 
Hello he might end up "hosting" that corner mine did for a month till they found my thermometer lol. I had to remove it befroe they even looked at the nem I got for them. They are strange fish. Bill
 
yeah they sure are =)
just figured out that if i turned of my mj 1000's (got five of them) he would swim around the tank and as soon as i turned them on again he returned to his corner to settle at the bottom. i guess its less turbulent there. =)
 
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Chris, I have had a percula clown (not the ocellaris) for about 6-7 years now. He still does exactly what yours is doing and has always done it. I think it is normal (at least for my perc) to act that way. But anytime I walk up to the tank, he is the first to swim to the top to be fed (which reminds me that I need to feed my fish).

Mine is a good, hardy fish.

Good luck, Frank
 
ok =) i guess its normal behavior then. maybe he'll like it when i introduce an anemone in some time. or maybe a mate? =)
 
just wanted to tell you that my clownfish (now named Benny) is swimming all over the tank now =) guess he's finally comfortable now.
 
When I got my pair (same species as yours) I put PVC pipe in the bottom because they were scared of the rest of the fish. Now they are both happy, a year later. Always hosting in my speghetti leather waiting to be fed. Sound like you acclimated him right and have good water. So it was just stress. Remember in the future when you add a new fish that they will act like this for awhile now.
 
ChrisReeefer

I am glad your clownfish is swimming all over and healthy. We have all been there with a new fish, worrying about it that is. Anyway congratulations your on your way!
 
:(

Sorry to hear, Chris. Sometimes that just happens and there is no obvious reason why. Better luck witht he next one.
 
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