[DocG]

I just purchased a new ocellaris clownfish 4 days ago.

I have him in a 10 gal quaranitine tank with a pengiun mini filter and ~ 5 lbs of live rock from the display tank.
I have been monitoring the water levels and I am getting mildly elevated nitrIte levels - 0.3 to 0.8 mg/L. The levels fluctuate some due to the fact that I am doing daily 10% water changes from the main tank. There has never been any detectable ammonia in the water. I am under the impression from my research that this level of nitrItes should not be extremely stressful to the fish.

The clownfish is acting very odd. He is always swimming at the surface of the water such that his dorsal fin is basically above the water. He is generally straight up and down but is occasionally tilted very, very slightly. He likes to hang out around the top of my heater. It very much looks like he has chosen to host with the top of my heater.

He is breathing fine, there are no visible signs of parasites or wounds, his eyes are clear. I have very lightly feed him twice and both times he ate like a pig.
At the fish store he was not behaving this way.
I acclimated him using the turkey baster method for over an hour.

At this point I'm not to concerned, I figure that it is still early and that given some time he should calm right down (after the nitrItes are down to zero). I am just wondering if anybody else has seen this happen before?

Thanks

Don

[Penguin]

My clown does the same thing with the heater. He'll also just hover in the top corners of the tank at night. He even hosted temporarily in a patch of cyanobacteria that had grown on the back tank glass at one time. I think yours is probably fine. Clownfish are masters of odd behaviors. Just keep an eye on him.

[Tervill]

Mine do the exact same thing. They seem to be attracted to the front right hand corner of the tank. They probably spend half of the day there, and the other half swimming amoungst the corals and live rock. I wouldn't worry about it as this seems to be normal behavior for the clowns.

[MISTERFIXIT]

Originally Posted by DocG

I just purchased a new ocellaris clownfish 4 days ago.

I have him in a 10 gal quaranitine tank with a pengiun mini filter and ~ 5 lbs of live rock from the display tank.
I have been monitoring the water levels and I am getting mildly elevated nitrIte levels - 0.3 to 0.8 mg/L. The levels fluctuate some due to the fact that I am doing daily 10% water changes from the main tank. There has never been any detectable ammonia in the water. I am under the impression from my research that this level of nitrItes should not be extremely stressful to the fish.

The clownfish is acting very odd. He is always swimming at the surface of the water such that his dorsal fin is basically above the water. He is generally straight up and down but is occasionally tilted very, very slightly. He likes to hang out around the top of my heater. It very much looks like he has chosen to host with the top of my heater.

He is breathing fine, there are no visible signs of parasites or wounds, his eyes are clear. I have very lightly feed him twice and both times he ate like a pig.
At the fish store he was not behaving this way.
I acclimated him using the turkey baster method for over an hour.

At this point I'm not to concerned, I figure that it is still early and that given some time he should calm right down (after the nitrItes are down to zero). I am just wondering if anybody else has seen this happen before?

Thanks

Don

My clowns do the same thing,and wait till you see him wiggle and convulse,Kinda like dancin.Pretty strange.

Marc AKA Mr fix it