Clown acting strange

yankeeboy · Apr 3, 2016

Good morning! This is my first post, I'm new to the hobby but very serious about learning as much as possible to ensure I have a strong ecosystem that thrives for many years to come.
On Friday, I purchased an already created NanoCube 28g from LFS...they're a very highly rated LFS and brought everything to my house and set it up for almost 3 hours. I have pictured the tank in no light, white light and blue light.
Yesterday evening when the blue light was on for about an hour, the Clown started swimming sideways near the middle back of the tank kind of moving up and down like he's excited. No sign of disease looks like he's breathing fine, eating well.
I've been reading other similar posts and people are saying that he could be hosting? I've also posted a video so you can see what I'm referring to. Please let me know if you feel I'm looking at something different here, or I'm just worrying needlessly

Duke4Life · Apr 3, 2016

First thing is your tank is 2 small for several fish I see. That tang needs some running room and that young flasher will need more space soon. I'd get rid of the tang asap.

marine2463 · Apr 3, 2016

He looks fine to me . Looks like he is just swimming against the power heads .

Eric81 · Apr 3, 2016

I think he looks fine. Definitely not hosting, just probably getting settled in, in his new place. Clowns can act a little neurotic sometimes, especially when they are new and not yet hosting an anemone. Just be sure and keep the water params stable. Stable salinity (sometimes hard to maintain with a smaller tank) and proper alkalinity levels will help fish cope with the stress of a tank move. Just feed them nutritious food (but don't overfeed) and they should do fine.

Cheers and welcome to the hobby!

yankeeboy · Apr 3, 2016

Thanks Eric81 - I've been feeding them once in the morning/once in the evening - 4-6 pellets and 1/2 brine shrimp cube. Would you feel that is a good diet/frequency?

Pura Vida · Apr 3, 2016

That's a bit much in food imo, you do want to get a seaweed clip for the tang and wrasse though and the clown looks like he's just clowning around

Eric81 · Apr 3, 2016

Yeah, I would say that is about the right frequency! Might be a tad heavy if you are feeding a 1/2 cube in the morning and 1/2 in the evening. If you start noticing some algae starting, I would back off to 1/4 cube in the morning and evening. I had a 28g nano cube for several years. Great tank, but doesn't allow for proper nutrient export over the long run.

I would highly recommend switching to Mysis shrimp though. Brine shrimp are ok every once in a while, but actually provide minimal nutrition value to the fish. It is kind of like cotton candy to us....they love it, but get little nutrition from it. Mysis is much better, and is about the same price.

Your tank looks great by the way.....especially for your first one! Enjoy the hobby!

If you are like most new reefers that I know (myself included), you will be upgrading to a bigger tank within 6 months....

yankeeboy · Apr 3, 2016

Eric81 said:
Yeah, I would say that is about the right frequency! Might be a tad heavy if you are feeding a 1/2 cube in the morning and 1/2 in the evening. If you start noticing some algae starting, I would back off to 1/4 cube in the morning and evening. I had a 28g nano cube for several years. Great tank, but doesn't allow for proper nutrient export over the long run.

I would highly recommend switching to Mysis shrimp though. Brine shrimp are ok every once in a while, but actually provide minimal nutrition value to the fish. It is kind of like cotton candy to us....they love it, but get little nutrition from it. Mysis is much better, and is about the same price.

Your tank looks great by the way.....especially for your first one! Enjoy the hobby!

If you are like most new reefers that I know (myself included), you will be upgrading to a bigger tank within 6 months....

lol I'm already looking into several options for a 2nd and it has only been a few days. This is a good size for my apartment now, but I have room for another. Thanks for the tips on feeding/food type. I'll grab some of the Mysis today.

Techie_ · Apr 3, 2016

Everything looks great, the tang may need to be removed once he gets large. In the meantime also grab a veggie clip to hang some nori on for your tang. You can pick this us for significantly less at an Asian market, roasted seaweed is what you'll be looking for. My clowns used to all flip out once my lights changed from color to color, they eventually stop and swim normal.