normal behavior

[GlobalEvan]

I put my first fish in my tank last night. it's a tank raised ocelaris and it's very cute.
All it does is swim around the top of the tank in big circles. Is that normal behavior? Is it asking for food or somthing? Is he lonely?
it doesn't seem to have a problem swimming down if it's scared or chasing food, it just doesn't choose to otherwise.

I don't think the tank is ready for an anem yet, (I'll wait a couple more weeks on that)

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

How old is the tank? How long has it been after the cycle? How much water flow do you have? How hot is the tank? It almost sounds like he's low on oxygen.

 

[Drewcipher]

Do much reading on anemones before you buy one. You need strong light for some and the tank should be at least close to a year old before getting one.

 

[dc]

I have yet to figure out what is normal for clowns. My Ocellaris seem normal, while I'm amazed everyday that my Percs are alive everyday. They just stop swimming at night and float sideways at the waterline. They have been doing this for a year so I guess it's normal for them. My Maroon used to swim around the ph's for the longest time. Now she's in Hairy mushrooms. They don't need an anemone, and if you have to have one I would suggest you wait closer to a year than a couple weeks. They seem to do better in a mature tank and you will have better success with it.

 

[GlobalEvan]

Okay, so I'll wait a while on the anem.


tank is a 20 gallon long
water temp is around 78.
Trickle filter moves 80gph
I have this skimmer http://www.leesaqpet.com/PICCAT/product_index/item/17100-10/ (small) I'ts Lee's counter current skimmer.

Tank just fineshed it's cycle. I just tested the water again and it's still in decent shape (amonia almost at zero)

Right now he's not doing the circle in the surface, he's going up and down the front of the tank. He seems okay, I just expected him to hang out in/around the rocks more.

 

[Drewcipher]

I would add a power head to increase your circulation. 4x turnover is on the low side for me. I like at least 10x-15x, if not more. Also, you should never put any fish in, if you have measurable ammonia.

 

[GlobalEvan]

The ammonia.

the scale reads that:
.00 is yellow
.25 is green
.50 is neon green

the color result at first glance is yellow (0), but if you stare at it long enough you can see that it's just a little bit greenish. So it's someplace between 0 and .25, closer to 0, and I'm guessing that it's probably okay for a clown. Am I wrong?

Thanks for the heads up on the water turnover. I'll go find somthing later this week. Is there an article with advice on power head placement somewhere?