Best amount of flow for clownfish?

[Sink_or_Swim]

Just added my first fish - a pair of "iced mocha" clownfish from my LFS. They seem to be doing great! (Fingers crossed, knock on wood...)
I had to turn the flow down on my Jebao wavemaker to the lowest setting. Before doing that, it wasn't even high, but they were struggling to fight their way across the tank. I was exhausted watching them!
They seem happier with the lowest flow, though in my 32 gal tank, that is still a good amount. Do I need to reconsider wavemakers/powerheads? Does anyone have clowns that enjoy a lot of flow?
(Pics tomorrow after I turn the lights on - wanted to let them settle in).
Thanks!

 

[ReefSlice]

Fish will adapt to high flow just fine. Clownfish always swim very erratically. I have 2 Jebao sow-8's on 75% running in my 40 gallon breeder and my clowns are just fine. I turn the wavemakers up to 100% when they get dirty too. I've never had a problem with flow being too high for a fish, just make sure your flow is right for your corals and the fish will adapt to it.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

Fish will adapt to high flow just fine. Clownfish always swim very erratically. I have 2 Jebao sow-8's on 75% running in my 40 gallon breeder and my clowns are just fine. I turn the wavemakers up to 100% when they get dirty too. I've never had a problem with flow being too high for a fish, just make sure your flow is right for your corals and the fish will adapt to it.

Ok thanks, that's pretty much what I was thinking, but wanted to check. It's definitely way more than they were used to at the store but they don't seem stressed. I don't have any corals yet, but I bought the Jebao purposely for the adjustable gyre flow so I could hopefully make it work for softies and LPS. I have some experience with saltwater fish years ago, but am completely new to corals. Took me 2 months of staring at an empty tank of rock to get up the nerve to even add fish, lol. I'm just so scared to mess up and kill anything! (My husband thinks I'm nuts being this nervous because I've kept freshwater tanks for 30 years and never accidentally killed a fish... but it feels very foreign to me regardless!)

 

[ReefSlice]

Ok thanks, that's pretty much what I was thinking, but wanted to check. It's definitely way more than they were used to at the store but they don't seem stressed. I don't have any corals yet, but I bought the Jebao purposely for the adjustable gyre flow so I could hopefully make it work for softies and LPS. I have some experience with saltwater fish years ago, but am completely new to corals. Took me 2 months of staring at an empty tank of rock to get up the nerve to even add fish, lol. I'm just so scared to mess up and kill anything! (My husband thinks I'm nuts being this nervous because I've kept freshwater tanks for 30 years and never accidentally killed a fish... but it feels very foreign to me regardless!)

Going slow and being careful is a good thing in this hobby! Basically, with flow I aim to have no spots in the tank where detritus or food settles, that way it stays suspended and makes it's way to your filtration. Multiple smaller powerheads work better because you can break up the flow and have it going in different directions without blasting a single area to provide the tank with enough flow. When you feed your fish, watch the food float around for a few minutes or watch for areas where detritus builds up to identify dead spots, and adjust flow accordingly. The fish will make due just fine. Good luck!

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

Going slow and being careful is a good thing in this hobby! Basically, with flow I aim to have no spots in the tank where detritus or food settles, that way it stays suspended and makes it's way to your filtration. Multiple smaller powerheads work better because you can break up the flow and have it going in different directions without blasting a single area to provide the tank with enough flow. When you feed your fish, watch the food float around for a few minutes or watch for areas where detritus builds up to identify dead spots, and adjust flow accordingly. The fish will make due just fine. Good luck!

Well I am definitely taking things slowly, that's for sure. At the rate I'm going, maybe I'll have my first coral by summer, haha. That's a good idea to watch where the food settles - I'll do that when I feed them tomorrow. There is a 10 minute "feed mode" on the powerhead which I assume pauses it so the food doesn't get blown all over - do you suggest using that?

 

[ReefSlice]

Well I am definitely taking things slowly, that's for sure. At the rate I'm going, maybe I'll have my first coral by summer, haha. That's a good idea to watch where the food settles - I'll do that when I feed them tomorrow. There is a 10 minute "feed mode" on the powerhead which I assume pauses it so the food doesn't get blown all over - do you suggest using that?

I never found it necessary to use, but it all comes down to personal preference. Some people turn everything off to feed, and then there's people like me that just shoot the food in and let the fish chase it down. This is a bit of a stretch, but I'm an avid fisherman, and when the tide isn't moving/there is no current, wild fish just do not eat. Typically the stronger the tide, the better the fish feed. I have observed something similar in my tank, where if I turn the flow off and the food is just sinking, the fish tend to spook very easily over nothing and ignore most of the food, and if the food is being blown all around the tank they will happily chase it down and gobble it all up within a minute or two. The feed mode on the powerheads is better left for feeding corals, when you want to spot feed and not risk the food blowing away from the coral.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I never found it necessary to use, but it all comes down to personal preference. Some people turn everything off to feed, and then there's people like me that just shoot the food in and let the fish chase it down. This is a bit of a stretch, but I'm an avid fisherman, and when the tide isn't moving/there is no current, wild fish just do not eat. Typically the stronger the tide, the better the fish feed. I have observed something similar in my tank, where if I turn the flow off and the food is just sinking, the fish tend to spook very easily over nothing and ignore most of the food, and if the food is being blown all around the tank they will happily chase it down and gobble it all up within a minute or two. The feed mode on the powerheads is better left for feeding corals, when you want to spot feed and not risk the food blowing away from the coral.

Makes perfect sense! And now that I think about it, I feed my boss's fish at the office sometimes and have never turned the powerheads off. The fish do chase it all down pretty quickly (he has a much larger tank and more fish though - I'll have to feed pretty small amounts for now with just the 2 clowns). Didn't even think to start a CUC now that a little food may hit the sand... doh! Maybe heading back to LFS tomorrow.