Question about clown fish. Is something wrong or not?

[jgonier]

I just bought two clown fish today. Aclimated them for 1 1/2 hours before adding them to the tank (first fish in there). My question is this....
I see clowns in pictures on the site where they lay sideways inside anemonies (literally on their sides) I believe when they are sleeping. I have no anemonies in my tank as of yet, but one of my clowns (perc.) is lying half on his belly and half on his side on the bottom of the tank with the other one hovering above him. Is he just sleeping or is there a problem starting already?

The other thing I was wondering is , when mine swim throughout the tank, it's like there on speed or something. Zipping around real quick (sometimes banging into things). I know they are active fish, but is this also normal?
20 Gal.
PH = 8.2
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 20
Sal. = 30
S.G. = 1.023
2 Perc. Clowns
2 astrea snails
1 scarlet hermit
1 blue leg hermit
6# LR
10 # LS
20# Dry white powder sand
Stress Zyme (bacteria) added as directed on bottle during cycle.
Tank cycled about 4 days ago and has been up for about 3 weeks I believe.

 

[elfdoctors]

Slow down. That's a lot of life in a very young, small tank.
Clownfish do not need an anemone. They will sometimes host in other lifeforms (e.g. corals). What sort of lighting do you have? If you do not have high intensity lighting the anemone will die. Clownfish can often survive a young tank but anemones cannot. Don't buy anything without researching it. These forums are a good place to get information.
Were your readings done before or after you added the fish? There is a good chance that you are having a mini cycle right now.
The behavior of your clownfish is not normal. They sound like they are under stress. Some of this is related to the transition into a new tank. When I added mine it would tend to hide in my live rock. You have very little live rock in your tank. (20-30 pounds of live rock would be better for a tank your size). The lack of live rock will affect your filtration as well as limit the places they can hide.

 

[jgonier]

Originally posted by elfdoctors
Slow down. That's a lot of life in a very young, small tank.
Clownfish do not need an anemone. They will sometimes host in other lifeforms (e.g. corals). What sort of lighting do you have? If you do not have high intensity lighting the anemone will die. Clownfish can often survive a young tank but anemones cannot.
I never said I have an anemonie. What I did say was I have seen clowns sleep lying sideways in them and was comparing that to what mine was doing on the sand. As far as lighting, I currently have a 15W 50/50 bulb.
Don't buy anything without researching it. These forums are a good place to get information.
I always read before hand. I spend so much time on this site my wife is starting to get P!ssed off. 6 hours yesterday. 8 hours the day before and days when I work, about 3 to 4 hours a day. Not to mention other sites I visit for information. I think I have the reading thing down pat.
Were your readings done before or after you added the fish? There is a good chance that you are having a mini cycle right now.
I do reading on my tank every day and sometimes twice (morning and night). Tank shouldn't be mini cycling because I cycled my tank with mollies. I just removed them and added the clowns, so no bio-load change. The hermits and snails were added about 5 days ago, towards the end of my cycle.
The behavior of your clownfish is not normal. They sound like they are under stress. Some of this is related to the transition into a new tank. When I added mine it would tend to hide in my live rock. You have very little live rock in your tank. (20-30 pounds of live rock would be better for a tank your size). The lack of live rock will affect your filtration as well as limit the places they can hide.
I figured this was mostly stress. As far as live rock goes, yes I only have a small amount however, I do have other decor in the tank for hiding like caves and slate rock and plants. I am using an emperor 280 bio-wheel and a Mag. 350 for added filtration. Skimmer is next on my list.

 

[elfdoctors]

It sounds like you have covered the major issues. Just watch the fish for now.
You definitely do not have enough light for an anemone. These usually require ~10x the light you have. One might survive a few weeks or months but it will eventually die in a setup like yours. 17 years ago I had my first attempt at saltwater end when the entire tank died after my anemone died. I hope you can learn from that experience. Fortunately, clownfish do not need to host in anything.

 

[jgonier]

I wan't to get an anemonie, but I need to get the lighting first. I was looking at a 65Watt PC the other day. It had one day light bulb and one actinic bulb and two LED moon lights for $139.00.
Lucky for me, I drive a cab and can make that in about 5 hours. I hope to get one soon.

 

[elfdoctors]

That lighting (~3.2 watts per gallon) is considered only moderate. You can have more lifeforms with that including many soft corals. Anemones should have at least twice that. Usually you are looking at metal halides to keep them healthy.

 

[jgonier]

Originally posted by elfdoctors
That lighting (~3.2 watts per gallon) is considered only moderate. You can have more lifeforms with that including many soft corals. Anemones should have at least twice that. Usually you are looking at metal halides to keep them healthy.
The stores by my house do not have that high power of lights on there tanks. How do they keep them so nice looking without them? I realize they only have them in stock for short times, but what happens when they don't sell them right away. I believe most of the LFS only run NO lights on there tanks, unless they have coral and anemonie only tanks, then they may have MO.

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by JGonier
How do they keep them so nice looking without them? I realize they only have them in stock for short times
Anemones can survive on stored energy for a while. They will certainly last long enough for most LFS to sell them which is all they care about.
With the moderate light PC light that you are looking at purchasing, an anemone may last a year. This is not considered good stewardship for an animal that should last at least a century in the wild. Natural populations of these organisms are also starting to be depleted because they are not replaced quickly the way most fish are. There is a lot more information about this on the new hobbyist and reef forums. I am not an expert on this topic but I know enough so that I chose not to have anemones even though I have a little more light (240 watts of PC) then you are looking at purchasing.

 

[jimmy g]

hey JGonier if you want a light for an anemone then i can sell you my old one. Its only been used for 2 months and its a coralife 72 watt light that is 24 inches long, I had it on my old 20 gal. tank. If you are interested then E-Mail me at jamesgrumbos@yahoo.com

 

[jgonier]

Originally posted by Jimmy G
hey JGonier if you want a light for an anemone then i can sell you my old one. Its only been used for 2 months and its a coralife 72 watt light that is 24 inches long, I had it on my old 20 gal. tank. If you are interested then E-Mail me at jamesgrumbos@yahoo.com
If elfdoctors is saying that a 240W PC is not enough than a 72W most likely would not be enough for sure. I'll just wait to get an anemone when I can get HO lights I guess.