Fish Hiding

[Tfish7]

I have a 36 gallon saltwater tank that has been running for about 9 months. Stocked with a Clownfish, Firefish, Royal Gramma, and a few inverts.

Recently, my Clownfish started hiding behind filtration equipment at the top of the tank. This was always his sleeping spot but now he spends a lot of time there during the day. If he does come out during the day, he usually goes right back to the hiding spot if I walk past the tank. He was the first fish I added to the tank and he has been fine until 1-2 months ago when he started hiding like this.

The Royal Gramma also just hides in his cave all day and is rarely seen. He used to swim around more too but now he never comes out, except to grab some food that falls right in front of him.

So the firefish is the only one now that regularly swims around the tank. Needless to say, the tank looks a little boring.

There have not been aggression issues, other than when someone tries to go in the Royal Gramma's cave. Ammonia and nitrite are 0. Nitrate has been around 10 ppm and I am working on bringing that down. All of the fish have been in the tank for at least 4-5 months.

Looking for some suggestions to get my fish swimming around again. Thanks!

 

[Iowa Clown]

In my experience, some gammas hide a lot more than others, and I don't know what to tell you to do about it. Sorry! However, with clown fish, I had one that hid for quite awhile, and then when I got another (to make a pair), it came out of hiding and starting swimming with the other fish. Perhaps adding a clown could help?

 

[beth]

Even though you have not seen aggression, doesn't mean that it's not occurring. Keep a closer eye out, and see if you can view details on your fish for signs of aggression or disease. Magnifying glass is useful.

 

[lagatbezan]

In addition to what Beth said above, were the fish treated for parasites or quarantined?
If not aggression, fish hiding could sometimes be sign of flukes. Any flashing/scratching, head shaking or yawning?

 

[jay0705]

I've had my clowns for 5 yrs now. They never move far from the top 1/3 of the tank. Clowns get a territory and stay in it lol

 

[geridoc]

Be glad if your anemone fish picks a small area to be its territory. I have a very large ocellarus clown who has declared the entire 220 gallon tank as his territory. I am allowed to occasionally put my hand into his territory, but not always. Sometimes i get punished with a quick nip. All the other fish in the tank give way to this guy but, thankfully, he isn't a bully and doesn't harass anyone.

 

[Tfish7]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I added a second clownfish and now my first one doesn't hide as much!

 

[Jesterrace]

I had/have a similar problem with my Purple Firefish (it finally died) and my scissortail dartfish in the same size tank (probably the exact same Aqueon 36 bowfront). My Goby and Melanurus Wrasse are the only ones that hang out in the tank. My snowflake clown would also be out and all over the place all the time, but wasn't playing nice with the others so I removed it. The Scissortail still hides almost all the time and it is the last fish I need to remove before upgrading to a larger tank. Needless to say the little fish will not be going to the larger tank. I am done with dartfish.