New clownfish swimming sporadically

J2010701 · May 13, 2022

Hi, I purchased two clownfish two days ago. I did an 1 hour acclimation and added them to my quarantine tank. One of the clowns has been swimming back and forth since I got him. Has some discoloration. They both are eating but not sure what’s going on. See video. Thanks!

Ammonia - 1 (Did a 50% water change yesterday). I added Seachem Stability and Prime
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate- 0
Salinity - 1.018 SG

laezur · May 13, 2022

The video isn’t loading so we can’t see the behaviour, but clowns are fairly weird and take a while to settle down and do all sorts of crazy things. They’re usually fine.

How old is your tank though? If you have detectable ammonia and no nitrates it must be very new, I’d suggest it isn’t cycled

BobL · May 13, 2022

It really looks like he is fighting with the reflection to me.

Brucealmighty · May 13, 2022

My two clowns have always stayed in the back corner of my tank,

I'm supposed to feel lucky when the female one comes out, and I'm supposed to be like North Korean people in praise with banners flags and lots of waving and crying

when she brings her man out for show and walking time so don't fret it is just what they do in our tanks

vetteguy53081 · May 13, 2022

Any still pics under white lighting?

J2010701 · May 13, 2022

funny enough. He actually calmed down quite a bit. Not swimming as sporadically as before.

Ammonia is at 0.1, not 1ppm. Tank is about a week old. I was conflicted on cycling a quarantine tank since I may be dosing. I have a sponge and some ceramic media in a HOB filter. It was seeded from my display tank that was been cycling for about a month.

Jay Hemdal · May 13, 2022

J2010701 said:
funny enough. He actually calmed down quite a bit. Not swimming as sporadically as before.

Ammonia is at 0.1, not 1ppm. Tank is about a week old. I was conflicted on cycling a quarantine tank since I may be dosing. I have a sponge and some ceramic media in a HOB filter. It was seeded from my display tank that was been cycling for about a month.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Glad ammonia is only 0.1, I was starting to freak out.....

I would add an air stone to that tank, or lower the water level a bit to allow the filter to agitate the surface better....your fish need that for good gas exchange.

Here is a link to our quarantine protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

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