Just moved my clownfish to the DT. Flow seems to be too strong for them. Thoughts?

[cybrook1421]

Hello! I just moved my two baby clownfish into my 75 gallon DT after a grueling 4 months of events, set backs and finally some hope. They are about 3/4 - 1 inch long. I feed them at least 3 times a day in the QT to help try and build up their strength. They had a tidal hob filter and a sponge filter for flow in the QT. They also mostly hid in the PVC pipes in the QT.

Now that they are in the DT, the flow seems too much for them to handle. They aren't getting blown around necessarily, but they aren't swimming around much. I have a MP40 and MP10 and a return. I set the flow to around 10% in anticipation for moving them and they don't seem to handle it well. I have since turned off the two powerheads and now its just the flow from the return. Now that the powerheads are turned off, they are swimming around much more and look more comfortable.

Should I just keep slowly raising the powerheads power until it is back up to normal? Or should I put it back to normal and hope they find a place that is lower flow and build their strength as they grow? I don't want to sacrifice the health of my corals more than I need to.

Any advice or thoughts are much appreciated!!!

 

[KrisReef]

Give them a break and keep the pumps off, or at low flow until they get used to the new tank.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

What corals do you have that need such strong water movement?

 

[Steve and his Animals]

Clownfish are generally terrible swimmers for a fish, so the lower the flow the better, generally. Especially when they're young.

 

[i cant think]

Hello! I just moved my two baby clownfish into my 75 gallon DT after a grueling 4 months of events, set backs and finally some hope. They are about 3/4 - 1 inch long. I feed them at least 3 times a day in the QT to help try and build up their strength. They had a tidal hob filter and a sponge filter for flow in the QT. They also mostly hid in the PVC pipes in the QT.

Now that they are in the DT, the flow seems too much for them to handle. They aren't getting blown around necessarily, but they aren't swimming around much. I have a MP40 and MP10 and a return. I set the flow to around 10% in anticipation for moving them and they don't seem to handle it well. I have since turned off the two powerheads and now its just the flow from the return. Now that the powerheads are turned off, they are swimming around much more and look more comfortable.

Should I just keep slowly raising the powerheads power until it is back up to normal? Or should I put it back to normal and hope they find a place that is lower flow and build their strength as they grow? I don't want to sacrifice the health of my corals more than I need to.

Any advice or thoughts are much appreciated!!!

Fish will adapt, if you think about currents in the wild they will be MUCH faster than the flow we give them in captivity. If you want then you can give them somewhere to seek refuge in when the flow is too much for them.
Yes, some people may put breaks in their pumps for the start but when you get more flow loving corals that break up areas for flow I personally find it useless keeping the break in the pump.

 

[cybrook1421]

Give them a break and keep the pumps off, or at low flow until they get used to the new tank.

That was my general plan. Thanks!

What corals do you have that need such strong water movement?

Never said I did. But I will have some in the future.

Fish will adapt, if you think about currents in the wild they will be MUCH faster than the flow we give them in captivity. If you want then you can give them somewhere to seek refuge in when the flow is too much for them.
Yes, some people may put breaks in their pumps for the start but when you get more flow loving corals that break up areas for flow I personally find it useless keeping the break in the pump.

That was my thinking. I'm going to try to up it by a percent every few days until we get back to the flow I had before introducing them. Thanks!

 

[HBtank]

Percula (true and false) clownfish swim like idiots and I don’t know if flow matters really, they will always look like they are struggling to swim.