Lonely clown fish

[parker313]

Well, after a few days of acting more normal, my lonely little clown fish has resumed his "headstand in the corner" position. He's very responsive when I come near the tank and is eating just fine, but other than that, he just hangs out in the corner.

Do you think he would benefit from having a clownfish buddy (yes, I know this means I wouldn't be able to add in anymore fish) or maybe from another coral?

ETA - The little guy is only a half inch long, so he's not full grown and set in his ways yet

 

[Navarre]

I always prefer to add clowns as pair and very small. If you are going to add a 2nd clown to the tank then you need to do it fairly soon IMO> At this size its almost definately a male and by adding a 2nd clown of the same size will almost certainly gaurentee you will get a pair. (All clowns start as male then the dominant one turns to female).

Im not sure how much rockwork you have in the tank but adding some rock might get it to choose a different are to "hang out" in.

Dont worry too much though, both my clowns stay rigidly close to my central 2 pillar rocks in the tank and wont stray from from this. It just looks a bit worrying for yours because its decided to choose a part of the tank thats unusual thats all. If it feels safer there then there is little taht can be done to change that.

More rocks or a partenr may well help though.

 

[parker313]

Thanks, as always, for the input

I've got a good amount of rockwork in there now, but could definitely use more.

I do like the idea of having a pair of clowns, which is why I was kinda hoping that would be a good option and why I made sure to specify the size.

Maybe I'll make a trip up to the lfs for at least some more rock tomorrow morning (closed on Mondays). Last time I was there (oh, about 3 days ago ), they were out of the little bitty clowns, so maybe they'll have some more in.

 

[Navarre]

Mine started ot the same size but slowly one grew slightly larger than the other so I now know which on eis the female. They always swim together, sometimes they have a quick "spat" at each other but they kiss and make up real quick Its just the way they reinforce their dominance over each other and nothing to worry over should you see this behaviour in your own tank at some stage.

 

[parker313]

Good to know

Would this, in fact, mean that I'm all stocked on fish, or on down the road could I still get a small goby?

ETA - It's a 10g tank.

 

[Navarre]

If you want the clown then go aherad and get it along with adding more liverock. Try to provide an upright flat surface for the clowns as they seem to like this... A glass side of the tank or a flat upright rock is the same to a clownfishi guess.

If the tank perameters are fine after 6 months then perhaps you canadd a small goby but this is your limit to be honest. Corals are a different matter. they dont add to the bioload to cause enough problems.

 

[parker313]

OK, thanks I'll see about getting the clown and more LR tomorrow