Clownfish acting wierd...

[flighter x]

Hi im new to Saltwater tanks and everything to do with it. basically i got a new tank started it all up not completely sure the nitrogen cycle is complete. but been left there standing just over 3 weeks with pump and air bubbles flowing.
So Yesterday i went out a baught 1 blue tang, and 2 nemo clownfish, small ones about less then an inch.
one is slightly bigger then the other. All day the blue tang has been fine and last night swimming around all happy and all the tank, no signs of stress or frightened. But however the 2 Clownfish hide by this tree and i have a small pebble under it. they like to stay about 2 mm from the sand. the big one will go out and explore the tank every 1 hour or so. but the smaller one swims vertical, flapping its fins rather fast, now i dont know if its normal or what, weather he is too small and struggling to swim, there isnt much current either. but now about 2 hours ago, he is like trying to lay flat on a rock, trying to sit down, but cant stay on the pebble upright. the big one wont move and swims around him, like he defending him from anything that comes near. my water is rather warm at 90F becuase its hot here in uk today, and salt levels mb a tiny bit low but nothing of scale, pinch to less. but the tang is fine. eats all time, havent seen clowns eat once.
Cheers for reading like i said new to saltwater, dunno how these behave, cant see him stressing out becuase he does fall of rock every now then and try once agen to sit on it.
Cheers for any help and just hit me with everything, bad news i wanna know my mistakes.

 

[mal3]

I do not know where to start.
Putting fish in a raw new tank! The tank is going to cycle and cause ammonia because there is no biologicals to break down the waste. Test for ammonia, and if you find any, do a water change of 20% twice about three hours apart. If you want to cycle your tank, use black mollies first. Then get your fish.
90 degree water --- Way to hot. Water should be 76 to 79.
Your salinity should be in a range of 1.021 to 1.025.

 

[flighter x]

Cheers mate, u sure about the water change? ill keep an eye on it. i cocked up and i admit it. but i wont give up, fish still fine atm, swimming around now and going back to his rock every now and then. doesnt seem to eat as much as tang. but looks gd wen swimming.

 

[poniegirl]

I believe a water change would just delay the cycle, at this point. The heat is a bigger problem, IMO.
How low is your lighting? Can you incease the flow :thinking: a bit?

 

[alyssia]

Water changes will just mess up the cycle. I agree, the water is way too hot. I don't think a blue tang has much of a chance in a tank that new.

 

[flighter x]

Originally Posted by alyssia
Water changes will just mess up the cycle. I agree, the water is way too hot. I don't think a blue tang has much of a chance in a tank that new.
Yea i respect all your views guys, but my tank is just basically standard, ive tested for ammonia and its just above 0. nitrite is around 1, nitrate is pretty high 75, but u have to take somthing away think, thts just wat scale reads on colour chart. and ph 8.3. tryed floating ice in a bag to cool it down, but melted pretty fast and only dropped to 29, taken heater out, the clowns still on rock and wen ever the tang swims close to em the clowns seem to be very aggressive moving around trying to head butt him. one clown lays on top over just hovers below. it looks as if they paired up already.
tang is swimming fine, eats all time doesnt stop, clowns not so big eaters. i have my light on 24/7 and it probs does make it hotter, but i dunno if its safe to turn it off, wen i turn it off for 2 secs they go mad and swim around fast in panic. any more ideas. fish still hanging on. seem fine atm. mb they taken to this rock like anemone. tht would be a first. its just a garden pebble. with coral sand.

 

[jjjoey]

lol if u think ur tank is standard and u think its fine. then dont post about stuff acting weird if ya dont wanna know why.
i just saw u added all those fish in a new tank and the tank is 90 degrees wow.

 

[flighter x]

it aint 90degrees, is 90f. they aint living in a kettle ya know. its 29C

 

[poniegirl]

Maybe you could try turning off the light before it is actually dark in the room and ease them into it. Make sure the tank is well covered, to state the obvious. They won't be so panicky after a while in their new home. IMO, they need some lights out.
90F is too hot and it will cause all kinds of trouble for you (water quality) and your fish.
BTB, I think most folks commonly split the day with lights on 10 to 11 hrs and off for the balance.

 

[pandafish]

Welcome o the board. Everything I have found is that the fish calm down while lights are off. Many suggest acclimating them in the dark. I agree that if you turn your lights off while it is still light in the room it will ease them into the dark like sunset. If your lights are off it will help cool the tank a bit, Tangs like to dart about sometimes so don't worry if he does that when the lights go out. Also clowns like to find something to help them feel safe so a rock with a hole or plant type thing will help they will use whatever they can find. Some even push the sub-straight to make a home. Keep an eye on your nitrate, it really needs to get as close to zero as possible. Let us know how it goes.

 

[flighter x]

K cheers very much u too, and yea fish still doing fine, clown was swimming in top corner all night and most of morning, but is back at the rock agen with his buddy thts on it all time. tang has found a new very squashed new home, inside a small car, pretty funny actually. and cheers for light info, i turned it off and the tang seemed to sit on the sand? after 5 mins of them being off, so i turned em back on agen and he swam aroun. i dont even know if the fish knows wen lights are out its sleep time. i thought he was weak with out and was giving up. but ill slowly ease them into it now. still looking gd tho for the way ive let em into this tank. "Touch Wood"

 

[pandafish]

Fish do settle down in the dark unless they are nocturnal ones but yours are not. So it will seem as though they are sleeping. That is a good thing, how is the temp? Also you don't want your specific gravity to low.

 

[flighter x]

Yea the Fish is still on the rock, other Clown has moved to outside the tangs home, and hovers above the sand, tang is staying next to rock with other clown atm. and temp is now 27-28. gonna go float some ice on it now to be honest in plastic bags. but still going fine, gonna go to LFS weekend try by some coral or somthing, but first ill read about it. was thinking of getting few tank cleaners such as snails and stuff. but also not to sure, looking around the forums now.
Saltantinty = 1:20 from the float reading.
If you have any info would be much thnankful.

 

[poniegirl]

Wow, so caught up that a few basics got skipped! I feel a need to urge you to slow down a bit on additions to your new hobby. It's unfortunate, but often I think that the excitement causes a loss of caution. I would believe that a lot of folks who try this hobby, hit the ground running and make some expensive mistakes and quit.
I'm sure part of the purpose of this site is to try to help make each attempt a good (or great) go of it!
I also very much urge you to spend some time reading on how to set up and cycle a marine tank. The horse is out of the barn, but you still need that information.
As new as your tank is, there should not be any fish in it yet. Or 1 or 2 damsels at the most, to help the cycle. The damsels are inexpensive and LFS will usually let you return them to trade up. The theory is to cycle the tank's chemical balance using the least investment dollar.
I'm sure your hydrometer has an area that it indicates is "good". The middle is likely.21/.22 and this is a good range under most circumstances. I tend to run a bit higher than that, but I have seahorses and they prefer it up a bit. I'd suggest that once your tank matures and it is time for water changes, gradually raise that number.
On the same note, to add corals at this point could very likely be a mistake. Once your tanks "vital signs" are in order (chem balance, temp. issues, mature substrate) and you have a very clear picture of how all of the members of an aquarium will co-habitate together (or not :scared: ) then you will have an excellent time! It is a wait that is difficult, to say the least, but well worth waiting for!
That said, what size tank IS yours? Do you have live rock? What is your lighting system. Do you run a protein skimmer and what filtration system do you use?

 

[flighter x]

Tank is 8gal. with air pump, filteration, coral sand, no live rock, no coral, Artic light effect which i now leave of at night, fish wer sleeping by looks, clown was swimming backwards very wierd. and tang was sleeping at bpttem, thought it was dead, but in morning today, everything is still fine, still havent seen clwons eat with my eyes yet, been 4 days now. any ideas? mb they eating scraps on coral, but tang eats always.
Cheers for ure help there ponie girl.

 

[pandafish]

only 8 gal. check out the Nano boards. I wouldn't add any thing new to the tank untill every thing is in check you really need perfect water for corals and if they die they can wipe out your fish. once the tank is stable try adding some live rock but then wait again for everything to balance out. How does your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and alk look now?
Is your tang a blue hippo tang?

 

[poniegirl]

Hey Flighter. I looked back, but can't see what you feed them?
It could be that they have been too stressed to eat. Try some brine shrimp. You can buy this at the LFS. Keep frozen. When you feed (once or twice a day?) use a 1/4 cup or so of tank water and completely thaw a small cube of the brine shrimp. Pour the cup back in.
Flighter, I hate to say it, but you're overstocked. An 8gal is not (again my opinion) enough space for one clown by itself. You could feasably try a nano set-up, but they are difficult to maintain. To me like trying to balance a dinner plate on a needle head!

 

[flighter x]

Im feeding it frozen veg and mixed up food all together, and im only gonna have this tank short while, the fish are really small tho, so would 8 gal really affect them tht much?
and im not gonna get coral yet tbh, gonna try get some tank cleaners this weekend.
Cheers for reply agen and yea i know wat u mean by needle and plate,

 

[poniegirl]

Im feeding it frozen veg and mixed up food all together, and im only gonna have this tank short while, the fish are really small tho, so would 8 gal really affect them tht much?
Yes, it will.
I agree, go to nano boards to see what folks are doing with this size aquarium. It should give you some perspective that I can't.
All the best!

 

[flighter x]

Yea just got in so gonna take look at ---- found some live sand and live rock on there, Ponie are u from uk? if so where do you buy your LR from? LFS? Or Net?
And yea been viewing nano tanks, some ppl have 4-5 fish in 5.5 tanks, and had em for few months. some1 has had a damsel 3 years in 3gal tank.