PSYCHOTIC Clownfish Babies

[Tears are Salty]

Hello all,

I started with a O. clownfish that I adopted from a woman breaking down a 220g. The fish was HUGE! Well, after quarantine (20g) when they were all together, he chased 2 green chromis so badly that they scraped their sides hard enough to draw blood. I asked my lfs, with whom I have a great relationship with, if I could trade him for two "babies". They're not so much babies, but are barely one inch. The chromic are bigger.

I put them into the dt today and they have not stopped frantically swimming all over the tank. None of the others are bothering them, but they are still frantic. They have collided, head first, a couple of times already. I did not qt because my qt numbers are way off, so I figured the stress of dealing with that water would be worse. LFS confirms that all parameters in dt are perfect, all at 0, and said even alkalinity and PH are perfect.

I do not want to get an anemone, but did buy a small bubble coral in case they wanted it. They are tank raised, however, so they should be accustomed to other fish and no anemone.

ANY help is GREATLY appreciated!! :headwally:

60g reef sumpless, Reef Octopus Classic 100 protein skimmer, 70lbs rock, 40lbs live sand,2 x Galaxyhydro 165w 55x3w LED

 

[Rudimenta]

Normally they act "weird" for 1/2 day in my experience, 1" is very young. I would take them out over night if it continues

 

[Tears are Salty]

Thank you for replying! I heard they were such mellow fish unless something was wrong, so I was worried. I'm finishing moving my qt residents tomorrow with the red linckia sea star & peppermint shrimp, so I'll do a major wc & put them in there if need be.

 

[Coelli]

I have a 65g and got my clowns in March when they were no more than 3/4". Instead of letting them into the display immediately I put them in an acclimation box on the inside of the tank. A couple of weeks later I added a small BTA. They all lived there for weeks until I finally moved the BTA and once it had settled, I moved the box down to it so the babies could swim into it (they had bonded to it by then). To this day they are still being hosted by the nem and doing it this way kept them safe and gave them time to adjust. Highly recommend this method for tiny clowns (and their BTAs). This is them today!

 

[OrionN]

Nice pair of clowns

 

[aadams22]

Yeah my pair went nuts when I put them in their new home for almost a week. Now they are active but much calmer. Your first clown was probably really old and used to being queen of the tank!

 

[anizato]

Seems like "regular" behavior for clownfish. Maybe it is excitement?? They should be fine, it is a large tank, so give'm time.

 

[Coelli]

Nice pair of clowns

Thanks, local guy breeds them.

 

[Tears are Salty]

I have a 65g and got my clowns in March when they were no more than 3/4". Instead of letting them into the display immediately I put them in an acclimation box on the inside of the tank. A couple of weeks later I added a small BTA. They all lived there for weeks until I finally moved the BTA and once it had settled, I moved the box down to it so the babies could swim into it (they had bonded to it by then). To this day they are still being hosted by the nem and doing it this way kept them safe and gave them time to adjust. Highly recommend this method for tiny clowns (and their BTAs). This is them today!

Awww your clowns are gorgeous! I should've asked this question beforehand. They have calmed down quite a bit, but still seem to have a burst of energy right before bed & in the late morning. Kind of like my kid I guess. Haha

 

[Tears are Salty]

Yeah my pair went nuts when I put them in their new home for almost a week. Now they are active but much calmer. Your first clown was probably really old and used to being queen of the tank!

Yeah, he/ she was DEFINITELY used to ruling the roost! All of my other fish are sooo much happier now. I thought I'd lost my watchman, hadn't seen him since the day I got him. 3 hours after the big clown left, he was cruisin' around. He's been coming out ever since. I ended up losing 3 chromis from wounds that looked like they scratched themselves on the rocks.

 

[Tears are Salty]

Seems like "regular" behavior for clownfish. Maybe it is excitement?? They should be fine, it is a large tank, so give'm time.

Thank you! They seem to have calmed down, but still have some bouts of neuroses. Haha

 

[duyhuynh]

They both look beautiful. Is the bta too small for them to host?

 

[Cparcaut]

They should adjust and calm down so long as they aren't being bothered substantially by other fish.

 

[Coelli]

They both look beautiful. Is the bta too small for them to host?

Are you talking about mine? The nem is definitely croweded, especially because two crabs live in it too, but it seems to be holding up and hasn't moved in months. If it starts to seem like it's overwhelmed I'll try to move the clowns to another tank. I feed it almost daily to keep its energy up and help it grow (it's tripled in size since I got it, when the clowns were tiny).

 

[Cparcaut]

Are you talking about mine? The nem is definitely croweded, especially because two crabs live in it too, but it seems to be holding up and hasn't moved in months. If it starts to seem like it's overwhelmed I'll try to move the clowns to another tank. I feed it almost daily to keep its energy up and help it grow (it's tripled in size since I got it, when the clowns were tiny).

Interesting, the clowns and the crabs don't bother each other even though they both are attempting to live in it?

 

[Coelli]

Interesting, the clowns and the crabs don't bother each other even though they both are attempting to live in it?

They hadn't until recently, but occasionally I do see them start to go at it. However it doesn't seem serious and I've seen the clowns sleeping on top of the crabs at night, so I am just monitoring for now. I think it's the clowns that start it. The crabs just ignore the clowns otherwise. They've been there since the clowns were much smaller so if they were going to hurt them, it would probably have happened by now.

I am keeping an eye on it though. As the clowns grow and start to jockey for dominance it's getting rowdier in there. And my yellow watchman recently moved under the rock next to the nems and now a couple of the tentacles on that side look chewed. Not sure if it was the watchman or perhaps one of the bigger emerald crabs stealing food.

Tell ya one thing though, that's one tough nem! It still fully inflates every day and hasn't tried to move, so I can only assume it's okay with all of the activity.