Perc clown lying directly on LR at night

[muppet]

I've got a 5 year old mated pair of perc clowns in my 55g. On their first day/night in there, they dug a little depression in the sand at the base of one of my LR and they sleep by hovering just inside the depression, usually looking like they're "treading water" in a sort of full-body waving motion that keeps them in place.

Recently, though, while the male keeps sleeping the same way, "waving"/hovering over the sand depression, the female has taken to either sleeping directly on the sandbed or sleeping lying on the LR. When the tank lights go on, she immediately gets up and starts swimming normally. She eats fine, swims around the tank fine, and generally appears to behave normally during the day.

This is my first clown pair and I know that clowns sometimes do odd stuff but I'm not sure about this behavior. Could she be having a problem? Age related?

Need answers from folks with lots of clown experience, please.

 

[Reef Junkie]

I'm not a clown expert, but there are a couple of things to look for.
Does the female appear to be "breathing" heavier?
Do her gills look red?
Sometimes its a sign of oxygen deprivation when a fish rests on something. Normally even an older fish will actively swim.

Also, sand beds are notorious for sucking a tank dry of oxygen at night.
This tends to get worse as the sandbed gets older.
A reverse cycle refugium can help counter this, along with good circulation.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,

PS your fish could also just be plain lazy.

 

[muppet]

My sandbed is extremely shallow with an average depth of about 3/4". She doesn't appear to have labored breathing but it's hard to see at night because of her odd positioning, usually on the back side of the LR.

I've got a reverse light cycle refugium going and I've got what I think is really excellent aeration through my overflow onto a drip tray.

 

[sslak]

My clowns lay motionless in a frogspawns branches at night. Nothing to worry about.

I saw pictures of someone on here who's pair sleep on top of a powerhead with thier bodies partially out of the water...bizarre, but nothing to worry about.

 

[Tahoe Reefer]

I have a pair of Occi where the female is being hosted by the sand bed. At first they picked a favorite spot and dug a small hole in the sand, down to the glass. As the female got older, more mature, she began laying on her side directly on the glass bottom. She lays there sometimes in the daytime as well as at night. I think she just wants a host and this is normal behavior for clowns.