why do clowns stay on the bottom of the tank

[blubutterflyz]

Hi! I'm new to the board and have a question. I have a 47 gallon tank. It's only about 2 months old. I have 2 false perc clowns which have been in the tank for about a month. Lately they've been staying on the bottom of the tank most of the time. They only come up to eat and even then they eat very little. They look completely healthy. The salintity, pH, and all other things are where they are supposed to be. I have 2 large pieces of live rock which gives them plenty of hiding places.
We have larger fish in there with them including a yellow tang, assorted tang, clarki clown, velevt damsel, 4 blue damsels, and a royal dottyback. They were added more recently and all are doing very well. Could the small clowns be intimidated by the larger fish? None of the other fish bother them at all, but I thought they may stay on the bottom cause they fear the larger fish. Should I worry about this or is it just something clown fish do? Thanks!!

 

[ross]

Welcome to the board!
First of all we need to know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Are the fish breathing hard or do they have white spots on them?You have way to many fish in that size tank. You need to get rid of both the tangs because they need alot of room to swim around. With that many fish in the tank it won't be long before you start having problems. The fish will be very stressed out and probably get ick sometime in the near future. It would be much better to take the tangs and damsels back to the fish store now than too lose all your fish because of ick. The damsels may be picking on the clowns. A normal clownfish will not stay on the bottom all day. They are normally swimming all around the tank.

 

[bdhough]

Um. Welcome to the board but i got some harsh news for you.
Your 47 gallon tank is WAY overstocked. By my counts you have 11 fish in there? Not to mention two different kinds of clowns in such a small place is a NONO. Its very likely they are getting picked on and intimidated by the Clarkii. Do they have tears in their fins or scales missing? Or any of your fish for that matter? I would consider getting rid of one of the tangs, one type of clown, and 3 or 4 damsels..... I wouldn't put more than 6 fish in a tank that size and even then i would have made very different choices than you. There are bottom huggers, rock huggers, and fish that swim. You have mostly fish that swim and it just doesn't mix well over time. As Ross said you will run into problems later.
Test your water parameters when you get a chance. I woudln't be suprised if they are off some. We need to know specifically where they are at.

 

[blubutterflyz]

specific gravity=1.023
pH=8.1
ammonia=0
nitrites=0
The clowns have no white spots on them. There's no outward signs of problems. They just stay in the corner side by side. One of the clowns is breathing a little faster than the other but he's not gapsing. I watch the tank all the time and none of the other fish pick on them. There are no tears in their fins or signs of them getting picked on. The other fish will swim by them and not bother them at all. The damsels don't even bother anyone surprisingly, since they are usually more aggressive. The Clarki actually sleeps with the two of them at night. So since they are not being picked on, it probably has something to do with the water right?

 

[bdhough]

Its possible it is the water but it doesn't sound like anything is wrong. How often do you turn the water over. Maybe a lack of oxygen in the water because of to many fish? You'd be suprised how bad fish can squabble in 10 seconds.... Even if they look like they are getting along. They can get on eachothers nerves and go after eachother....I've seen it with my blue and yellowtail damsels. Do they eat?

 

[escape2thewater]

Another welcome to the board! Now for the bad news, prepare for some constuctive bashing. You DO have too many fish in that tank, especially the tangs. Tangs need lots of room to roam like 100gal +. You will prob catch some heat about your tank but everyone is just looking out for your fish' best interest. As far as the clowns they should be swimming around more then your describing, maybe due to overcrowing they are uncomfortable. Get rid of some of those fish and you will have better results IMO.
Good luck!
Kyle

 

[blubutterflyz]

Well I guess I'll just have to get rid of some of the larger fish. Hopefully that will help. Thanks for the advice and suggestions

 

[bdhough]

Ill second that intimidation factor. That can be the only thing i can think of. I've seen that behavior when we get used to get 10 clowns and put them in a 45 gallon at the lfs i used to work at. Two or three of them would stay in the corner on their own....