Nocturnal ?

[mary.burns3]

I still can't work out if my new 4 clowns around 4.5" are classed as nocturnal or just prefer an unlit tank. They have settled in well, eating, good colour. They come out when the tank is lit if they hear the clicking of algae wafers from my younger ones, grab some, stay around for 30 mins and then come out as soon as lights go off. As we go into longest day here, daylight is around 4am, so I can turn lights on around 6am till 2pm, trying to get 8 hours for the plants everyday. I can see the big ones looking out of their hiding places, almost willing the lights off. I have turned them off as early as 2pm as they were all looking out, and they come out instantly.
The tank is busy with my 10 all morning, all 14 out and about from 2 or 3pm, all fed together around 6pm. My 10 are staying up longer and longer with the big ones, all still up around 10pm and always up again before me in the morning!!!

The extra water changes and food has made a real difference to my 10, 3 have really had a growth spurt, my 6th clown last year has absolutely doubled in size with the blackest markings ever. The new big ones have very little red colour on their tail fins compared with mine, can it increase again in good water conditions or is that normal for bigger clowns?

[Emma Turner]

Hi Mary,

I really think you should try adding a blue moon tube (or similar) to your tank. I'd be very surprised if you didn't see more of your Clowns under this lighting.

You can put all your lights on timers so that the blue moon switches on an hour or so before your main lights come on, then once the main lights are on, the blue moon swicthes off. Then later on have the blue moon come on a short time before the main lights go off, and leave it on for a couple of hours to observe them under this type of dim lighting. There should be a lot of activity! I really do think it will make a difference, particularly as you have a few larger Clowns now that do tend to be a little bit more shy.

Glad to hear that they are all growing well. As a general rule, many of the larger specimens do have less red colouration, but you do get exceptions every now and again.

Emma