[pete york]

i need to know whats happening to my clownfish i bought him today and when i put him in he started to seize and go sideways but then swam perfectly fine and then started doing it again i have no clue what is going on maybe some of you fish geniuses do!!

[e_baer]

how did you acclimate him?

[rlcline76]

Mine do this and it is normal. Mine reminds me of a shimmy, more than a spasm.

[jvharding]

I believe it to be a flexing of the muscles! They are shooing off other fish from their space. Just my thoughts on the subject because my clown does this to my damsels and they do it to each other. My clown usually wins! It's cool to watch because no one gets hurt! Must be a polite way to say get lost LOL!

[glasta]

my clown did that too and i was told its sort of a domanace thing.

[e_baer]

My clown kinda does that.

It will look like a dog shaking the water off itself, but doesnt swim sideways like pete said.

[rlcline76]

My clowns do that at each other, I always thought it was an invite to get a piece of tail....

[pete york]

hahahhaa that may be i read somewhere that its like a dominance thing the less dominant fish usually the male will shimmy so that the more dominant one knows that the less dominant one is not attacking or something like that

[NATIVEVAMAN]

GASP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Becky?????????????lol

[rlcline76]

I don't know, both of mine were shaking it one day...

[glampka]

Here we go again!!!!

[DoLceNBeLLa]

I think they're just trying to get their jiggy on.

DO THE HUSTLE! doo doo doo doo doo

When I had clownfish (damn that godawful hurricane that killed the loves of my life) they also did the same thing, but I don't think you need to worry about it.

[glampka]

What kind of music are you providing for him? Disco, hip-hop, rap, rock? You have to find out what he likes.

Most clownfish like to play in the current & will bob & weave, or shimmy or whatever you want to call it.

[Dustin1300]

I've had my male do that to the female and from what I've read this is a type of flirtation called shimmering...

[55gal]

im new to this salt thing when i first got my clowns one of them would do it and i freaked out thought they where going to die was ready to give up after 2 hours. they still do it a little .. just added some yellow tail blue damsels and the ydo it to. they just dont look aas cute as the clowns.

gotta love the clowns

[reefnoob1991]

Spasming/shaking it/seizuring is all part of a territorial gesture...doesn't mean they are paired up or anything at all it just means that one is showing territorial dominance over the other.

[Dustin1300]

You might want to watch those damsels...they might look small but they can be quite aggressive and really become a pain...If I was you I'd take the damsels back to the LFS and buy something else because once they are in with all the live rock and all they are going to be really hard to catch cause they are so quick!