Dying clownfish ?

nathanthomas · Jun 22, 2016

I came home tonight after putting two clowns in my tank earlier in the day checked them out and I find them laying on the sand kindof just pushing each other around . Is this ok ? Are the clowns sick ?

Water Dog · Jun 23, 2016

Looks like they're squaring off to establish a pecking order. When I got my clowns, they squared off in the same way, pushing each other around in circles, although mine didn't do that on the sand but in the water column. They've since become a bonded pair and the dominant one will eventually become female.

nathanthomas · Jun 23, 2016

Ohh okay thank you ! Ya they seem to be swimming around fine now just was weird to me

td3025 · Jun 23, 2016

I have to agree with the above comment. They look to be having a dispute over territory and establishing dominance, never really seen them do it in the sand though. Mine would chase each other around a bit throughout the entire tank, not down on the bottom. When feeding do they eat well?

They don't physically appear ill, but being off to the bottom in the sand is a little odd.
Just keep an eye on them! If these are your only two in the tank they should establish dominance quickly. Sometimes it takes a little longer for two clownfish of the exact same size but it shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure they are eating and active. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't injure each other.

Long story short, most likely just establishing dominance

Diesel · Jun 23, 2016

@Humblefish and @melypr1985 can tell you more than I can.

Humblefish · Jun 23, 2016

Looks like they are sniffing each other's butt or something.

The establishing dominance part is normal, but laying on the sand like that is a bit odd. Do you have a nem for them?

melypr1985 · Jun 23, 2016

I'm concerned with why they are laying on the sand and doing their dominance thing. At the end when the one sideways to the camera finally settles down it looks like he's got some labored breathing there... hard to tell, but that's how it strikes me. I'd like to know how they were acclimated, what salinity they came from and how long the acclimation was. Were they quarantined at all first?

nathanthomas · Jun 23, 2016

I do not have a nem for them . They were temp then drip acclimated for about an hour . Yes they were qt for about 20 days did really well . At the lfs I bought them from they were swimming around each other the whole time , while one other was in the tank on the opposite side . The owner told me they are very healthy and that these two are very healthy he has had them for about 2 weeks himself . Idk salinity at store but my qt was at 1.22 and my dt is at 1.25 . Shortly after I made the post they were doing ok swimming around like normal . Although they were together for more than a month they would still need to prove dominance just because of a new tank ?