Weirdo clown

[Mariette]

got a secondhand 20g I plan on converting to a display refugium. Guy I got it from seemed pretty in knowledgeable and done w the hobby. Came w 1 clown (percula I think), and 1 engineer goby. Got the tank home. Have it a thorough cleaning and reassembled it. Clown ate within 1/2 hr of being reintroduced. Wow. That’s gotta be a good sign. But it’s now swimming back and forth along the glass up top. Is this fish exhibiting dementia or is it just cookey clownfish behaviour. FYI, I plan to qt both fish, get them each a mate, and release them into my 110g DT.

 

[James M]

Have you tested the water ? Assuming that the tank has sand and it was taken out and put back in it could have released bad things

 

[Aardvark1134]

Clowns are often like a 5 year old after 3 cans of Mnt dew. But checking the water is always a good move after a major change.
Are you sure their water has plenty of oxygen ?

 

[Mariette]

Have you tested the water ? Assuming that the tank has sand and it was taken out and put back in it could have released bad things

Did not test water for most things just yet. ammonia is at 0. Sand was THOROUGHLY rinsed.

 

[Xam]

If I'm reading right, what you're seeing is called pacing, glass surfing, etc etc but I've seen this mainly when one of three things are happening:

1. The fish is in a new environment -check

2. Hes hungry/begging

3. Something is off with the water parameters - you have a 110 gallon also, so I'm assuming your parameters are good.

My ocellaris clowns did this the moment I brought them home, and again when I transferred them to the 75 dt. It took a few days before they settled down.

My flame angel did this as well as my copperband... again just for a day or two.

I would wait it out.

Side note: clowns are crazy by default and do a lot of really weird things. I wouldn't worry about it unless it looks painful or continues for days on end.

 

[Mariette]

Clowns are often like a 5 year old after 3 cans of Mnt dew. But checking the water is always a good move after a major change.
Are you sure their water has plenty of oxygen ?

Good point. Added an air stone just in case.its 10pm here. Clown has gone to bed in a crevice. Breathing normally from what I can see

 

[Mariette]

If I'm reading right, what you're seeing is called pacing, glass surfing, etc etc but I've seen this mainly when one of three things are happening:

1. The fish is in a new environment -check

2. Hes hungry/begging

3. Something is off with the water parameters - you have a 110 gallon also, so I'm assuming your parameters are good.

My ocellaris clowns did this the moment I brought them home, and again when I transferred them to the 75 dt. It took a few days before they settled down.

My flame angel did this as well as my copperband... again just for a day or two.

I would wait it out.

Side note: clowns are crazy by default and do a lot of really weird things. I wouldn't worry about it unless it looks painful or continues for days on end.

Ok thx he’s sleeping now. Appears to be breathing normally from what I can see. She ate so I don’t think she’s hungry

 

[James M]

Did not test water for most things just yet. ammonia is at 0. Sand was THOROUGHLY rinsed.

Ohh okay. My first thought was ammonia because of the sand

 

[Mariette]

Ohh okay. My first thought was ammonia because of the sand

I’m paranoid about ammonia too. Don’t have a badge for it yet. Sand was absolutely filthy. I found remnants of a 2 inch crab of some sort, long spine urchin, and tuxedo urchin. Plus about 20 snail shells. In a 20g

 

[Aardvark1134]

Maybe they watched pet cemetery and thought if you bury it then it will come back to life

 

[Mariette]

Maybe they watched pet cemetery and thought if you bury it then it will come back to life

Maybe it had previously died and the previous owner already buried it and it HAS now come back to life

 

[Xam]

Maybe they watched pet cemetery and thought if you bury it then it will come back to life

Lol sometimes it's better that it stays dead. Love that movie. I heard they wrote a book about it... seriously though, that's a lot of snail shells... but who knows maybe the guy had it running for 10 years. Or had snail fights, with betting and everything.

 

[Mariette]

Lol sometimes it's better that it stays dead. Love that movie. I heard they wrote a book about it... seriously though, that's a lot of snail shells... but who knows maybe the guy had it running for 10 years. Or had snail fights, with betting and everything.

Nope. Just over a yr. says he can’t figure out why snails kept dying.
Snail fights? Now there’s a thrilling sport lol