New clownfish questions.....

[krshlln300]

Hi all! I have a quick question. I am new to keeping clowns... I picked up a dwarf perc this afternoon and acclimated him slowly. He is the only fish in my 10 gallon I added him into. The tank param are: ph - 8.3. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0 to 2 or 3 ish I think (barely registering), temp 78.5. He has been swimming around pretty well but only at the very top of the tank while occasionally going slightly further into the tank.

Is this normal? I never had clowns before and am used to gobies and fire fish mostly...

 

[shamus]

That's normal until it gets used to the new tank. Give him a few days to act normal.

 

[krshlln300]

Great next question. What corals will they comfortably host? I have had horrible experiences with anemones in the past moving around or stinging other corals....

 

[MondoBongo]

for the sake of being pedantic, they don't host anything. they are hosted by them.

clown fish are hit or miss with what they do, or do not, choose as a host. i've had my two clowns for over three years now, and the only thing they've picked as a host is my mag float.

i have a mixed reef, with loads of euphyllia, and plenty of other types of corals that would potentially make a good home, but they would just rather hang out in the top corner most of the time, right by the mag float. prior to that they had enjoyed the space around my vortech.

so basically it is a roll of the dice, even with anemones, they may or may not decide they fancy it.

 

[krshlln300]

Thanks!!!

 

[ncaldwell]

Mine was hosted by my overflow box for months. Then by an orange ricordia mushroom... they're weird sometimes

 

[feedmycorals]

I have a pair of tomato clowns hosted by a Sebae anemone in a 55G tank.
I also have an ocer and a maroon in a 10G nano that hosted in a coffee cup. The ocer sleeps under the live rock.

 

[vlangel]

You could try a clay flower pot. I know some breeders have success in getting pairs to lay eggs in them.

 

[feedmycorals]

Thanks, Dawn. My tomato clowns laid their first clutch on the glass so I added a ceramic mug in the tank..second batch was beautifully laid inside the cup..they are so well behave lol..they make my job of taking care the eggs become lots easier.

I agree with you that a clay pot might be better which is commonly used. I did not have one..and everyone should have coffee mugs

 

[krshlln300]

Ok any advice on getting a small clown ~2" to eat?

 

[feedmycorals]

my clowns (big or small) eat like crazy...I feed adult clowns with frozen brine shrimps mostly, occasionally flakes. I have not had any problem with them not eating.

if your clown does not eat, try to feed different food.

 

[MondoBongo]

thankfully all my clowns have been readily accepting of pretty much all types of food.

not sure what you're tried so far, but if you can get a hold of some frozen cyclop-eeze, that tends to be like clownfish crack.

frozen mysis shrimp, new life spectrum (NLS) pelletes, nutramar ova, and freshly hatched baby brine shrimp are all things mine will readily accept.

soaking food in selcon can also be helpful. it smells rank as all hell, but it seems to increase the feeding response from my fish on pretty much anything it touches.

 

[krshlln300]

Turned his nose up at 1mm nls Thera-a and brine shrimp. He tries but spits it back out....

 

[krshlln300]

Hi think i found the issue... Needed the smaller pellet size and a friend.
https://vimeo.com/132677660

 

[feedmycorals]

glad they eat now..and happy to have a "buddy"

 

[krshlln300]

Yeah they are little pigs. Every morning they huddle near the back corner where I feed and they go to their little corner around 9 pm for lights out- too funny. Who knew they had so much personality!