can you tell me what my fish are doing?

[Lindsey1984]

Hello Everyone,
I got this pair of saddleback clownfish a while back from petco. If you look at the video, in between 15-20 sec you can see it rub it's face up against things. I asked them at petco and they said clownfish do that sometimes and it can be marking their territory, however I see some of my other fish doing it now too and petco's answer was they teach each other. Have any of you seen this behavior? Is it normal? I dont see any Ich so i really dont know what's going on.

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(i posted it two ways to make sure it works.

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[cdness]

I got this pair of saddleback clownfish a while back from petco. If you look at the video, in between 15-20 sec you can see it rub it's face up against things. I asked them at petco and they said clownfish do that sometimes and it can be marking their territory, however I see some of my other fish doing it now too and petco's answer was they teach each other. Have any of you seen this behavior? Is it normal? I dont see any Ich so i really dont know what's going on.

hmm... Well there are two things it can be...

1. The clown is cleaning a space for possible breeding tendencies...
2. Parasite like ich

So I will ask, did you QT your clown before adding it to the tank? Also how long did it take for the behavior to show up? If your clown started doing this and after adding the clown all of the other fish started doing this too, I am leaning toward parasite of some sort. Whether it is ich or something else I am not sure, but ich is highly contagious to other fish and can quickly spread through an entire tank. I only saw one of the saddlebacks, but are both of them doing the same thing?

"they said clownfish do that sometimes" - Yes, typically due to parasites or breeding behaviors. Typically it is the parasites as they try removing them by itching.

"it can be marking their territory" - Clownfish do not "mark" territory. They are in water so even if they tried to mark something it would just be in the water column. They protect their space by using physical violence and aggression displays.

"petco's answer was they teach each other." This made me laugh! I have heard of schooling fish, but not fish SCHOOL. They are not learning each other's behaviors and I would have a VERY hard time trusting the person who said this. Sounds like a car salesman saying the engine light is on only to tell you the engine is still running correctly...

 

[Lindsey1984]

fish school,omg Hahaha! I thought what they said seemed a bit "fishy"....sorry I had to do it! lol

I dont have a QT tank and they did it as soon as they came home and I've had them in there about 3 weeks or so. Ive been checking all of my fish and pretty much staring them down trying to find a spot, but i dont see any on any of the fish. I'm just not sure what to do, If i dont know what it is, i dont know how i need to treat it.

As far as them breeding, i highly doubt it. Like i said, i just got them from the store about 3 weeks ago, they were in with a few other saddlebacks so the chances of them being sexually mature yet are slim to none.

 

[cdness]

Ich is not always 100% apparent especially if it is still internal. I don't remember what the gestation period of Ich is, but the only time it is visible is when the parasites become suspended in the water column to breed... The marks are scars from them exiting the fish's body

I will say over and over, a QT is the best investment you can make in this hobby. It falls right next to an RODI system and coral dips... It is just too hard to treat a tank once it is in the system. You need to catch it before introduction or it will be a pita Keep watching the fish and feed a good amount of nutritious food (PE Mysis or the like) treated with vitamins and garlic. Selcon and Kent Garlic Extreme work very well. It may keep it at bay long enough for the fish's immune system to fight it off...

 

[jedimasterben]

The marks on the fish aren't scars, they are the parasite .... en-cyst-ing(??) (basically making a cyst) and then the cyst falls off and the parasite goes dormant. Typically up to 24 days, but can be as long as 72 days.


Garlic and supplements don't do anything at all to the parasite - ever.

 

[KJAG]

The marks on the fish aren't scars, they are the parasite .... en-cyst-ing(??) (basically making a cyst) and then the cyst falls off and the parasite goes dormant. Typically up to 24 days, but can be as long as 72 days.


Garlic and supplements don't do anything at all to the parasite - ever.

Nice info Ben. Reminded me to pay more vigilance to reading up on my fish knowledge instead of focusing on coral all the time.