Clowns and currents

I finally got around to adding some fish to my new tank.

Added four clowns yesterday. Two orange percs, one black perc and a maroon. (I understand the dynamics of the relationships between the clowns, and yes I'm experimenting a bit here.) Plus one cleaner shrimp and a purple dottyback.

The interesting thing is that when I got up this morning, all four clowns were laying on the bottom of the tank. Really snoring up a storm! I've had percs many times before, and I understand that they will sometimes sleep on the bottom of the tank, but this was exceptional. They were zonked out!

I turned on the CF lights and they did slowly rouse and within ten minutes were up and about, but I've never seen such behavior before. I think I should buy them all little blankets!

Anyway, my point is that I've never had a tank set up with as much circulation as this one, and I'm wondering if there might be a relationship between the current and this behavior. They did appear to be working harder than normal swimming in the current yesterday. And I'm a bit worried that the emerald crabs might ambush them if they sleep too hard.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to turn off the current pumps for a while?

Tank specs are:

40 gallon hex
50 lbs live rock
40 lbs live sand
6 pounds Garf Grunge
20 hermits
20 snails
Three emerald crabs
Skimmer
Sump with more live rock
UV
Mag 5 main pump
Three 400 gph circulation pumps

Thanks for the comments. Have you ever had Emerald crabs bother sleeping fish?

I suppose adding anemones would be the best way to eliminate any potential problem, but I hadn't planned on it. These are all tank bred fish and probably don't need them, but it sure would give them a nice place to sleep! As I recall though, don't clowns tend to pair up with anemones one to one?

Amphiprion said:

Adding an anemone may or may not present much protection and certainly isn't necessary. If you do want one in the future, just research their needs as much as possible.

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I'm beginning to think that anemones in general might not be such a good idea in any aquarium. I've had a number of them over the years, and they always seem to die in a year or two. I've been told that the life span of an anemone in the wild is many years, and that they propogate very slowly. And I'm not aware of anyone breeding and raising them.

Perhaps I'll try a toadstool coral for the percs. I've heard they like them.

waynecav said:

You may find you don't have 4 clowns for long. It's not advisable to mix different species, especailly in a tank the shape and size you have. Maroon clowns are the more aggressive species and you may find as it matures it will kill off the others one by one.

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As I mentioned in my first post, I am experimenting a little bit here. I've had the same experience you have probably had with Maroon clown aggresive behavior, but I do have a plan. I introduced all three types at the same time, with the Maroon being by far the smallest. The wild card here in my mind is the black perc. I figure the added color variety might get them to tolerate each other. Sort of a fish psychology experiement! Wish me luck!