First clowns, behaivor question

[nuro]

I got a paint or false percs from the LFS Tuesday. They seemed to be acclimating fine, both hanging out together and hiding amongst the rock. I happened to be up at 3am this morning and noticed they had separated and on was swimming up near the top, and the other chilling in a corner. My LM blenny was sleeping in his rock an appear to be acting normal but i checked my levels anyway. Salinity was a Lil low about 27/28 ppt but everything else was perfect. trites 0 trates 0 amm 0. ph 8.2ish. Do clowns normally do this at night? im worried first, about their health, and second about them not really being a pair and then harassing each other to death.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/2591591
I got a paint or false percs from the LFS Tuesday. They seemed to be acclimating fine, both hanging out together and hiding amongst the rock. I happened to be up at 3am this morning and noticed they had separated and on was swimming up near the top, and the other chilling in a corner. My LM blenny was sleeping in his rock an appear to be acting normal but i checked my levels anyway. Salinity was a Lil low about 27/28 ppt but everything else was perfect. trites 0 trates 0 amm 0. ph 8.2ish. Do clowns normally do this at night? im worried first, about their health, and second about them not really being a pair and then harassing each other to death.
Yep. prb sleeping too.
And when they are awake they are fighting for dominance another common occurance..

 

[nuro]

its only a 55, so too small to have two clowns. If it looks like thier nipping at each other how long should i give them before returning one or both?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/2591678
its only a 55, so too small to have two clowns. If it looks like thier nipping at each other how long should i give them before returning one or both?
No definatly not too small of a tank. People sucessfully keep pairs of ocellaris and true percs in 20 gal tanks.
The nipping isnt an issue, what to look for is signs of stress, physical damage fins ragged or missing. Typically when this happens you need to be very observant, IMO you have a day or so for the smaller of the 2 or the one taking the beating to submit before there maybe serious health issues to him. You will know when one shows submisson, he will roll on his side when she approaches him and shake violently like a seizure. This is common and its a sign of submission. After that its all good. HTH.

 

[armywife1314]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
http:///forum/post/2591701
No definatly not too small of a tank. People sucessfully keep pairs of ocellaris and true percs in 20 gal tanks.
The nipping isnt an issue, what to look for is signs of stress, physical damage fins ragged or missing. Typically when this happens you need to be very observant, IMO you have a day or so for the smaller of the 2 or the one taking the beating to submit before there maybe serious health issues to him. You will know when one shows submisson, he will roll on his side when she approaches him and shake violently like a seizure. This is common and its a sign of submission. After that its all good. HTH.

sorry to jump in with a question, but i was thinking of doing the same thing and your response left me with a question. so when one shows submission and its all good does that mean that things will be ok once one has given the dominant position away or that the submissive one will die off or you need to take it back.

 

[nuro]

submission is a good thing in this case, with pairs one is always dominant. its when there is a dominance struggle that you worry.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by armywife1314
http:///forum/post/2591733
sorry to jump in with a question, but i was thinking of doing the same thing and your response left me with a question. so when one shows submission and its all good does that mean that things will be ok once one has given the dominant position away Yes or that the submissive one will die off or you need to take it back. No and No

Clownfish are all born as male, when you buy them from your LFS they are usually all in one tank together. Unless paired in a tank by them selves and it is noted that they are a pair, the assumption is they are all still male. However its recomended that when you buy them you should get one smaller than the other. This makes the dominance scenario that they will play out end quicker. 2 of equal size they may tend to fight longer and possibly hurt eachother. The smaller of the 2 is expected to submit. Once this is done you can safley say they are paired. What happens next is the dominate male will turn to female and grow larger than the submissive male. Once this happens and they reach sexual maturity, they may become a mated pair or they may not. They just might stay paired and not mate at all. There is no guarantee. In rare instances they may not ever get along and then its time to get one out and try another. This maybe because they just didnt get along or you aquired 2 females and didnt know it. Once they change to female they cannot go back and 2 females will fight constantly. HTH.

 

[brad pitt]

Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/2591678
its only a 55, so too small to have two clowns. If it looks like thier nipping at each other how long should i give them before returning one or both?
i have a mated pair in my 10gal and they are in love with each other.

 

[nuro]

i vant figure mine out. im thinking they dont like my rock work because again last night they were both kinda huddled together in the corner top of the tank. wierd. what do your clowns do at night?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/2593120
i vant figure mine out. im thinking they dont like my rock work because again last night they were both kinda huddled together in the corner top of the tank. wierd. what do your clowns do at night?
Ocellaris often swim outside the rock work and wont swim in or around it. At night its very common for them to be at the top of the tank in a corner and swim/sleep.

 

[nuro]

very cool, thanks. I googles it and didnt find any good resources.. are their any suggested books that have common aqaurium fish's behavior? I'd love to read soemthign like that and bone up my knowlage

 

[payton 350]

my clowns sometimes sleep together or will sleep up in the corner of the tank on the power head....sometimes they lay sideways, almost looks like their dying(that takes a while to get used too). SOmetimes they are together, sometimes they're not. From what you wrote all seems normal....and the seizure thing is weird.

 

[nuro]

haha ya, i just witnessed the seizure yesterday.. crazy lookin.