Clownfish habits?

[Gaia]

Hi

I have some purple barnacle shells on either side of my tank, which I put in as I saw that some fish in the shop liked to hide in them, and sure enough, my lemon watchman goby now lives in one.

However, my clownfish have never shown any interest in them until a few days ago... They've started going in an out of them regularly, sometimes both clownfish in the same hole, and one was asleep in there when I left for work this morning.

I was just wondering if this is just them deciding to explore, or if this is significant behaviour of some sort. Could they be thinking of mating, or is that unlikely? Not worried, just intrigued!

 

[Anonymous]

Many species of fish will relate to some type of structure for shelter and security, most clownfish are no exeption in the absence of an anemone.
As far as determining if this behavior is related to spawning, no way to know until it happens.

Keep us posted. :wink:

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

My occ clown plays in the flow. He doesn't want to host an anemone. Not sure why. Bought 2 and he dislikes both.

 

[Anonymous]

I have one that used to host in the sandbed when I first got him.. - Goofy creatures sometimes.. - Well deserved common name too.. - CLOWNS..

They show some pretty odd behaviors sometimes. - Even after they've settled into new surroundings they'll pop up with wierd activities.

Do they sleep in the same spot at night?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think mine sleeps.

 

[Gaia]

Do they sleep in the same spot at night?

Pretty much, yep. As soon as the lights go off they'll both swim side by side in the middle of the tank, almost touching the sand. But sometime in the middle of the night they always seem to split up, as when I get up in the morning, one will be asleep in the top left hand corner of the tank, with the other still in the middle, although occasionally they'll both be up there.

However, this morning I noticed one was top left corner as usual, and the other asleep in the barnacle. Been watching them this evening, and they've barely moved from the barnacle except at feeding time. Both of them in the same barnacle together, flipping their tails around, really funny to watch.

 

[Meloco14]

It's possible they are nesting in the barnacle, instead of in an anemone. But it's also very possible that they decided to randomly like the barnacle. Clowns are weird like that.

 

[Anonymous]

My occ clown plays in the flow. He doesn't want to host an anemone. Not sure why. Bought 2 and he dislikes both.

my percula clowns play in the flow too. i don't think it's a species think as when i had my freshwater tank, my penguin tetra's did it too.

were your clowns captive bred? mine were, and i have been told by my LFS it might take them a few months to work out what an anemone is for

 

[Anonymous]

oh, and just to say it's not just yours, here is one of mine doing the same!

i have a video of them swimming in and out of it too

 

[Gaia]

Aww, nice pic! Still keeping an eye on them just in case though, as the male keeps shimmying in front of the female, which I read somewhere was part of courtship, so fingers crossed!

 

[Anonymous]

yeah, they're really sweet together sometimes, if you look closely you can see that the stripe in the middle of him isn't quite complete. he's my new one in the tank, (i'm assuming he's a he, anyway, seems to be the less dominant of the two) after i had a nasty accident with the original.......

mine are shimmying too, so fingers crossed here as well, could be a good sign, if the do breed, i better act quick as i have the feeling the other guys in the tank will use the eggs as a tasty snack.

another thing i need to think of is how to eep the fry, as they're tiny! will definately have to set up some kind of 'Fuge

 

[trwells]

I have a pair of true perculas. They sleep at the surface of the water and fight the flow all night. One swims mostly upright but the other is always laying on his side and I hear him flopping at the surface sometimes in the middle of the night. A few times I have gotten concerned and shown a flashlight on him only to find him swimming completely upside down. When the light turns on in the morning he flips over within seconds and begins eating pods off of the glass. They are pictured in my avatar. The darker one is the inverted swimmer. During the day they spend a lot of time laying on a red open brain.

 

[SnowManSnow]

strange fish. mine will host ANYTHING in the tank should my BTA be absent.

B