Hi!
I think my new clownfish are acting weird.
Im new to saltwater and just got the tank up and running about 3 weeks ago. I used Dr tims one and only and ammonium chloride for the cycling.
I still had readings of nitrite when I added them, but I read @brandon429 thread "how to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle" and figured my cycle was complete.
My Salifert tests was reading 0.25 amonnia (hard to read), nitrite 1 (probably higher, this is max) and nitrate 50-100 (not correct because of nitrite?)
Brandon, maybe you can confirm? Also did the smell test and no cloudy water
So I added the fish last night. Bought them from a local fish store (15min drive), that had just taken them out of QT this weekend.
I acclimated them for 15mins or so to match temp, and did 40+ mins of drip.
They were acting fine, swimming around and exploring when I turned the room lights off and heading to bed.
When I wake up I notice they are in the bottom corner of the tank, looking stressed. One of the clowns was laying on the sand, also sideways for a while, looked almost dead.
I instantly checked ammonia with the salifert test and thought I could see a hint of yellow, closer to 0,5 than 0.25. I added some Prime, and they suddenly started swimming around.
They have been acting fine (I guess) for the whole day. Been eating twice. The smaller one have been chased and bullied a bit, looked stressed and breathing more than the other.
This evening they would stop swimming around and stay in each their own place. I turned off the wavemaker for the night, to give the small one a chance to relax,
and then they would go back to the corner/side of the tank. Suddenly they are friends, swimming together, looking a bit stressed. I checked ammonia again and I believe it could be 0.5. Added some more Prime, but didnt give same result as this morning.
I don't know if this is an ammonia problem. Might been completely random that they started swimming again this morning (after Prime).
Could it be that this corner/sidewall is where they go to rest for the night? I haven't turned on my lights yet, only the room lightning.
If so, they went to bed before I turned the room lights off. Maybe they have an inner clock from the schedule of the store? If thats even a thing.
45G tank
Temp 25,6C/78F
8.1 PH
Salinity 35ppt
Good surface agitation
Anyone with similar experience or any advice so I can sleep comfortably tonight?
I uploaded the videos here as well, incase it didnt work: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MDOtwZG8CuCH6ttTXR88kp8RVL5hdM4l?usp=share_link
Thank you!
I think my new clownfish are acting weird.
Im new to saltwater and just got the tank up and running about 3 weeks ago. I used Dr tims one and only and ammonium chloride for the cycling.
I still had readings of nitrite when I added them, but I read @brandon429 thread "how to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle" and figured my cycle was complete.
My Salifert tests was reading 0.25 amonnia (hard to read), nitrite 1 (probably higher, this is max) and nitrate 50-100 (not correct because of nitrite?)
Brandon, maybe you can confirm? Also did the smell test and no cloudy water
So I added the fish last night. Bought them from a local fish store (15min drive), that had just taken them out of QT this weekend.
I acclimated them for 15mins or so to match temp, and did 40+ mins of drip.
They were acting fine, swimming around and exploring when I turned the room lights off and heading to bed.
When I wake up I notice they are in the bottom corner of the tank, looking stressed. One of the clowns was laying on the sand, also sideways for a while, looked almost dead.
I instantly checked ammonia with the salifert test and thought I could see a hint of yellow, closer to 0,5 than 0.25. I added some Prime, and they suddenly started swimming around.
They have been acting fine (I guess) for the whole day. Been eating twice. The smaller one have been chased and bullied a bit, looked stressed and breathing more than the other.
PXL 20230208 093836845 TS
youtube.com
This evening they would stop swimming around and stay in each their own place. I turned off the wavemaker for the night, to give the small one a chance to relax,
and then they would go back to the corner/side of the tank. Suddenly they are friends, swimming together, looking a bit stressed. I checked ammonia again and I believe it could be 0.5. Added some more Prime, but didnt give same result as this morning.
PXL 20230208 221019536 TS
youtube.com
PXL 20230208 220949497 TS
youtube.com
I don't know if this is an ammonia problem. Might been completely random that they started swimming again this morning (after Prime).
Could it be that this corner/sidewall is where they go to rest for the night? I haven't turned on my lights yet, only the room lightning.
If so, they went to bed before I turned the room lights off. Maybe they have an inner clock from the schedule of the store? If thats even a thing.
45G tank
Temp 25,6C/78F
8.1 PH
Salinity 35ppt
Good surface agitation
Anyone with similar experience or any advice so I can sleep comfortably tonight?
I uploaded the videos here as well, incase it didnt work: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MDOtwZG8CuCH6ttTXR88kp8RVL5hdM4l?usp=share_link
Thank you!
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