Clown fish behavior

Bradley Keck · Jan 31, 2019

Hey everyone! I purchased my first bonded pair of snowflake clowns about 4 weeks ago. I LOVE THEM! I do not have a Nem for them. I have noticed that they do not go into the rock work at all. They hang near the glass usually near a front corner. They do this even at night! All my other fish (Kole tang, melanarus wrasse, mystery wrasse, flasher wrasse, midas blenny, and orange diamond goby) all sleep somewhere in the rock. The melanarus goes in the sand of course. But these two don't at all. They stay towards the surface in the front corner all night long. Sometimes the male is somewhere else for a while, but ends back by her.. They are healthy, eating, and very friendly. they are having no aggression issues at all. Tank is a 5ftx2ftx2ft 150g mixed reef. Parameters all good. Is this normal for clowns?

ReefEngr · Jan 31, 2019

That's normal. It's nothing to worry about. Once you have a nem that will host them, they will hang around the nem all day/night instead.

NotFishyFishGuy · Jan 31, 2019

Bradley Keck said:
Hey everyone! I purchased my first bonded pair of snowflake clowns about 4 weeks ago. I LOVE THEM! I do not have a Nem for them. I have noticed that they do not go into the rock work at all. They hang near the glass usually near a front corner. They do this even at night! All my other fish (Kole tang, melanarus wrasse, mystery wrasse, flasher wrasse, midas blenny, and orange diamond goby) all sleep somewhere in the rock. The melanarus goes in the sand of course. But these two don't at all. They stay towards the surface in the front corner all night long. Sometimes the male is somewhere else for a while, but ends back by her.. They are healthy, eating, and very friendly. they are having no aggression issues at all. Tank is a 5ftx2ftx2ft 150g mixed reef. Parameters all good. Is this normal for clowns?

Hey Bradley, I am new to the hobby therefore may not know much, but my clownfish do the same and I think that is normal. Is it only at night? Do they go anywhere else during the day or just stay there? Maybe they are still getting used tothe tank, my two clownfish have beeen in there for a month and still hang around the glass at night and sometimes during the day. My clownfish are healthy and eating so I don’t worry much anymore.

NotFishyFishGuy · Jan 31, 2019

ReefEngr said:
That's normal. It's nothing to worry about. Once you have a nem them will host them, they will hang around the nem all day/night instead.

You have anemone? I don’t for my tank cuz I’m scared they will grow to be too large.

MombasaLionfish · Jan 31, 2019

Yes very normal. Clownfish are weird as long as their eating don't worry.

ReefEngr · Jan 31, 2019

NotFishyFishGuy said:
You have anemone? I don’t for my tank cuz I’m scared they will grow to be too large.

I don’t have a nem in the display tank with clowns. My clowns like to make their home in a giant toadstool

Arcticfirefighter · Jan 31, 2019

My clowns host in a wall hammer. Unfortunately, the female has now taken a liking to my new open brain. I'm going to have to figure out how to redirect her attention to something else.

davocean · Jan 31, 2019

Pretty normal, clowns will usually pick an area to sort of "nest", and if there is nothing to host they will just pick a spot.

If you have frogspawn or hammer that can be a good host alternative if you are not ready for or don't want an anemone.

Bradley Keck · Jan 31, 2019

NotFishyFishGuy said:
Hey Bradley, I am new to the hobby therefore may not know much, but my clownfish do the same and I think that is normal. Is it only at night? Do they go anywhere else during the day or just stay there? Maybe they are still getting used tothe tank, my two clownfish have beeen in there for a month and still hang around the glass at night and sometimes during the day. My clownfish are healthy and eating so I don’t worry much anymore.

Hey there! I too am new to saltwater. You know, they will swim around the tank during the day and are very active. By far the most active of the bunch. They will swim from one end to the other all the time and go up and down the glass too. I'm just amazed at the different personalities of all my fish. Those two are what I thought they would be. They look right at you when you come up to the tank and are not shy at all. They seem really happy, but I thought it was weird they did not pick a spot to go to at night like all the others. There is plenty of room for sure. I have a hammer and two torches that are about 3in each. I also have a toadstool that is about 5-6in wide. I have not seen them even check any of those out. which is fine, since I have read sometimes they irritate the coral they try to host in. I have not been set on getting a Nem. Although my parameters have been stable and in good ranges, I have assumed my tank is too new (6mo) for one. If I did get one, it would have to be a BTA because I am cwertainly no expert at keeping the other types that are more difficult. Plus, I don't think my PAR would be nearly high enough on the sand bed. The other thing that has me hesitant is I have read that there is not that great of a chance that they will even host in a BTA if I get one. So, not sure what to do there. Thank you everyone for your reassurance. I thought they were probably OK, just thought it was weird and thought man, don't they need to rest a little?