Is my clownfish sleeping or sick??

[clownfishowner225]

Hi, I’ve had my clownfish for a couple days now and I noticed he was at the top of the tank on his side. I’ve looked at other postings and some say their sleeping and others say they could be sick, don’t know what ones to believe/follow. Please let me know if I should be worried or not

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I tried a number of players, but couldn’t get your video to work.
Clownfish don’t sleep at the surface, so something else is going on.
Are there other fish in the tank that could be harassing it?
Is it breathing fast?
Is it eating any food?
What are your water quality measurements?

Jay

 

[Apollo7235]

Hi there!
Welcome to R2R!

It may just be because my eye is untrained, but your tank looks really new.

Do you mind if I ask how you cycled your tank?

 

[clownfishowner225]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I tried a number of players, but couldn’t get your video to work.
Clownfish don’t sleep at the surface, so something else is going on.
Are there other fish in the tank that could be harassing it?
Is it breathing fast?
Is it eating any food?
What are your water quality measurements?

Jay

Salinity is 1.023, clownfish require around 1.020-1.025. Nitrates are both at very low and ph is around 8.0. Temp of the tank is 75. Two clownfish live in the tank and the other one is acting completely normal and does not bother the other, they swim around together and do not fight. This morning the clownfish does swim around the tank and will go to the bottom or middle of the tank but then goes back to the top on his side.

 

[Jekyl]

My clowns sleep on their side at the surface every night. Have done so for the 2 years that I've had them.

 

[clownfishowner225]

Hi there!
Welcome to R2R!

It may just be because my eye is untrained, but your tank looks really new.

Do you mind if I ask how you cycled your tank?

Hi, the tank cycled for about a week and a half to two weeks.

 

[Gioyang]

Salinity is 1.023, clownfish require around 1.020-1.025. Nitrates are both at very low and ph is around 8.0. Temp of the tank is 75. Two clownfish live in the tank and the other one is acting completely normal and does not bother the other, they swim around together and do not fight. This morning the clownfish does swim around the tank and will go to the bottom or middle of the tank but then goes back to the top on his side.

If your clownfishes are eating normally, I would not bother too much. I have been keeping my clownfishes for a year now, and they also swam on the side at the top corner of my tank for awhile. Usually they will settle down after certain time, and they will start to swim around the tank. However, they will take a corner, and start to stay in that corner during the night. If you are lucky, they will host an anemone. Unfortunately, I never had the luck…Tank breed clownfishes are wired IMO.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Salinity is 1.023, clownfish require around 1.020-1.025. Nitrates are both at very low and ph is around 8.0. Temp of the tank is 75. Two clownfish live in the tank and the other one is acting completely normal and does not bother the other, they swim around together and do not fight. This morning the clownfish does swim around the tank and will go to the bottom or middle of the tank but then goes back to the top on his side.

What is your ammonia testing at though?
Jay

 

[victor818818]

butt long butt they are eating I wouldn’t worry only worry if they don’t eat

 

[thecouch]

My ones sleep at the top. One sleeps above the return nozzle on its side almost out of the water. The other one sleeps up against the curved overflow to back chamber

 

[hsn izd]

hi i have seven clownfish and i think its a normal behaviour cause when they were two one of them or even sometimes both of them go near the surface near the return pump
bt that time i didnt have anemone
even now with seven clowns and two anemones there is one little clown which goes near the return pump at night

 

[Lerequin]

Hi there. I'm glad you ask because my newly introduced clowns do the same and I got a bit worried.
They seem to "float" more than swimming near the corners at night.
This morning one was just next to the wave maker
Maybe there is too much flow and not enough soft surfaces for them to "relax"?
But wait, in the wild, the tides and the waves do not switch off at night right?