ocellaris odd behaviour??

[ocellaris06]

I bought two ocellaris on June 6. They played together on my 20G tank (the tank has two turbo snails only).

1. When I fed them (once per day), they seemed very hungary. But they only had a few quickly bite on the brine shrimp then gave up. Why they refused to eat?

2. An hour after I turned off all light at night, I found both of them positioned vertically with the heads pointing downward. They stayed close to my alcohol type thermometer with their tails and fans swinging slight to keep their position. Were they sleeping?

3. Last night, I found one of them ocassionally swimming vertically with its head closed to the sand (seemed looking for something). It had a mouthful of sand then swam horizontally and spit the sand out. What is the meaning for this behaviour.

Water parameter is OK, ph8.2, NH3=NO2=NO3=0

 

[LuvFox118]

1) Most fish when first introduced will not eat readily. They should be attacking the brine shrimp since it's like ice cream to them. But, it is not very nutritious. I would suggest soaking some of it in Selcon and feed a few times a day instead of just once. I would actually get rid of the brine shrimp and get Mysis instead. Give it time, they are still getting used to the new surroundings.

2)They are called clowns because of their strange behavior.
Mine used to swim up and down, up and down the seams of the tank. They have been known to sleep vertically, horizontally, on the sand, rocks, etc. Mine like to cram between the glass and the thermometer. they are fine, just trying to adjust and get some zzzs. When I had them in the QT, I didnt turn the light on the first day/night and didnt feed until the next day. They adjusted, ate some food the 2nd and were little piggies by the 3rd day.

3) Sometimes fish spot some food on the sand (amphipod, copepod, etc) and they scoop up sand and spit it out. They seem to be hungry and looking for other means to supplement their feedings.

My clowns love everything except pellet food. They go nuts for mysis and krill. I would suggest soaking the food in some vitamins just to make sure what they are eating right now is fortified. Good luck.

 

[betat]

I also added a couple of ocellaris a little over a week ago. They behave pretty much the same as yours really sticking to one spot on the back wall of the tank by the overflow. They occasionally venture out into the tank but always return to this one spot. I added them with a frogspawn in hopes of getting them to host around it but I am not sure they even know it is there.

LuvFox118 is right on regarding pellet. They mouth it and spit it back out. It seems I am only feeding the hermits when I try it. They do like frozen Emerald Entree though. I may try some kind of flake this week. Any suggestions?

 

[papagimp]

suggestions: Try some Garlic Guard or Entice or any of those finicky eater enticing products, Used Garlic Guard and minced garlic (from grocery store) on my B&W Ocellaris and to this day, they'll eat anything I stick in the tank, pellets included (in fact those are there favorite)

 

[ocellaris06]

Really, they are very funny! Sometimes they swim like a drunk guys! The live rock in my tank has a small "tunnel". I watched them swam close to it. One of them went in for half an inch then came out quickly. They were afraid that a "monster" was inside and waiting for them. Just kids doing some adventure game!!!

 

[DarG]

Some clowns will dig beds for themselves in the substrate when they dont have a host anemone. I have a Tomato clown that I have had for 10 years. The tank has a plenum and deep sand bed and he scoops up the sand in his mouth and spits it several inches away making himself a crater under one of the LR overghangs and a pile where he dumps the sand near the corner. He digs down to the first screen layer. Used to have two spots he dug up, now he is down to just the one. When I do the water changes I cover it back up and by the end of the night, he has it dug up again. He has done this ever since I have had him. I had a Maroon clown years and years ago that did the same thing.

So, they could be rummaging for food on the bottom or they could be digging a bed. Or maybe they just like scooping up sand and spitting it out.