Do Clownfish Sleep???

[forstral]

I got my 2 new little buddies yesterday around 11 am, and took my time acclimating them. The only lights on in the room were the blue leds from the tank and I didn't turn the main lights on until 4:30 pm so as to not overstress the little guys. I woke up about 2:45 this morning with a headache and looked over at the tank and the 2 nutz were singing that song "just keep swimming" and wagging their little furry tails like little puppies :smirk: , that might be why I woke up with a headache (they've got to quit singing). Are they still stressed or is this normal? Should I be feeding my Royal Gramma and the 2 B/W Clowns everyday or every other day? I have been feeding the royal every other day and he seems to be doing fine. I have had him almost 2 weeks and by feeding every other day my chemistry is staying at "0". Also, in the wild I don't think they get to eat everyday, do they?

So anyway, is it normal or are they stressed that they are not hiding in a cave asleep? Should I be feeding everyday? (I just don't want a lot of waste and then my chemistry start rising).

Thanks everyone.

 

[Techno-Vicki]

They are in constant motion all the time. I have a little maroon clown who uses one of my littles xenias as a sudo anemone. Because the xenia is so used to him using it as its bed at night and easy chair during the day, it still pulses with the lights on and him in it wiggling away.

I feed mine every day.

 

[CATALYST]

Mine totally sleep. Usually in the back corner in the cave. Sometimes they snuggle, sometimes separate. When I first got them they slept at the top of the water sideways. I thought they were dead. The boy sleeps up high and the girl sleeps by the sand. She sleeps kind of vertical with her tail to the sand. They turn really pale. I feed mine twice a day. Just a tiny little pinch. Feed them what they will eat in 3 minutes.

 

[leebca]

During acclimation, you may expect unusual or out of the ordinary behavior. Once acclimated they should 'sleep' in the fish sense of the term.

As for diet and nutritional needs. . .I'm quite insistant on taking good care of Anemeonfishes. They are ominivores, meaning they need about 35% of their diet to be vegetables. They should be fed about 3 times a day, but no less than twice. As for guidance on feeding, choice of foods, etc., you may want to look at this: Fish Health Through Proper Nutrition

For Anemonefishes I recommend going through a quarantine process and treatment for brooklynellosis whether it is evident or not.

Good luck!

 

[Cassette87]

They are in constant motion all the time. I have a little maroon clown who uses one of my littles xenias as a sudo anemone. Because the xenia is so used to him using it as its bed at night and easy chair during the day, it still pulses with the lights on and him in it wiggling away.

I feed mine every day.

one of mine does this exact same thing the other sleeps in the big 4" mushroom

 

[Athena AzMADEUS]

I found this post to find an explanation to my clown fish unusual sleeping behavior. I just got them a few days ago. They never seem to stop moving, even at night. At night they wiggle back and forth in place. Usually against the current, I guess so they can stay in place. I woke up around 3:30 am and found them still wiggling. So unusual.

More info

"just got my clownfish 3 days ago and this thing just seems to keep swimming day and night even right now its kind of swimming but its in place and it moves its head up and then its tail up kind of like a bucking bull" - SaleenS7Rs

"I have a percula clown, and I never see him stop swimming. I've checked in on him in the dark and he is constantly swimming. He seems to prefer the filter output at night, but still waddles back and forth. [...] My firefish just hides in a hole and my scooter blenny buries himself in the sand. But that clown, I never see him stop. Must be the Lance Armstrong of the fish world." - Ghostryder

 

[Reefmack]

My pair of Ocellaris clowns has spent over 3 years sleeping upside down, next to each other, about other halfway up the back right corner of my tank, always wiggling to stay suspended.

 

[tnwillia]

+1^ Mine are the same as Terry's.

 

[ChrisY]

Cool, so I don't need to worry about my new Occ. Clowns today then. I was wondering why since I added them today that have stayed in the front center of the tank. swimming and swimming. they ate earlier, but I figured they would go explore, but nope they are still in front center. When I setup the hydor pump, I thought it might be a flow thing or something, so I adjusted in various angles but didnt help that, but did blow a lot of detritus off the rock which was good!

Chris

 

[sasquatch]

all fish "sleep" not as we know sleep but a resting state is achieved, I think their autonomous system is far more reaching than ours, we breath,heart pumps etc, they maintain station, keep up their protective defenses etc, maybe the added element of relative weightlessness?

 

[dmatt88]

Until I bought a tempurpedic I'd not b able to visualize relative weightlessness.

Matt's DROIDX using Forum Runner since idiots hacked thru tapatalk.

 

[sasquatch]

Until I bought a tempurpedic I'd not b able to visualize relative weightlessness.

Matt's DROIDX using Forum Runner since idiots hacked thru tapatalk.

must be Monday... an actual sober comment from the peanut gallery lol

 

[Lemonpeel]

My clowns never seem to quit moving either. I've had all 3 for a year+. All my other fish find nooks and crannies but my clowns swim all over the place.

 

[brandon]

I have had my clowns for almost two years. They sleep under a big frogspawn but always swim next to each other. They never stop swimming.

 

[devind]

i have 4 Osc clowns, 2 in my 125 and 2 in my 29 cube...3 of the 4 sleep sidways at the top of the water at night, wiggling like always, but the 4th sleeps near the sand, head up, tail down. they all wiggle even while sleeping. they never stop wiggling.

 

[baggsy01]

my clownfish sleep right at the top on there sides next to eachother-scares the hell out of me when i wake up but they seem fine! they never explore the tank they just keep swimming against the powerhead, its like a running machine for them, they spend hours swimming against it then go behind it for a rest :/ such strange animals but so beautiful!

 

[Jerry]

When I first got my maroon last year, they showed the exact same behavior you were describing and it's like they were trying to find a way out to escape from the tank (I supposed that was my interpretation of their behavior). After a while like maybe after the week, they eventually started to acclimatize to the condition and seem settled down. When they were resting, you can still see their movements of the fins and tails as if they were occupied. Just make sure your current is not too strong.