# My fish won't come out of hiding



## nicolemarie30 (Apr 11, 2013)

I just put my first fish (a clown fish) and an anemone in my tank. The anemone is moving but not as much as he was at the store and the clown won't come out from behind the plant. He is just swimming vertically in place. Is this normal? How long should I expect before he comes out?


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Welcome to the forum :wave:

If they are new to the tank today then give them a few days to get acclimated to their new home.


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## RSully (Nov 22, 2012)

How did you acclimate them to their new tank?


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## nicolemarie30 (Apr 11, 2013)

RSully said:


> How did you acclimate them to their new tank?


I floated them in the bag for 20 minutes...that is what the fish store told me to do, then I emptied most of the excess water from the bag into a bowl and emptied the rest along with the fish into the tank


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

nicolemarie30 said:


> I floated them in the bag for 20 minutes...that is what the fish store told me to do, then I emptied most of the excess water from the bag into a bowl and emptied the rest along with the fish into the tank


Not a great method for acclimating, because sometimes stuff from the fish store water can get into your tank such as parasites and bacteria. The best method is to quarantine the fish in another tank to make sure that the fish is not diseased and will not be bringing infection into your display tank. If you don't use a quarantine tank, I would drip acclimate. This is where you empty the bag into a bucket, and drip in water from your display tank over a period of time, say a half hour. During the process, you empty some of the water out and keep adding tank water. Once the water is a large percent tank water, net the fish and add him to the display.

But like Taz said, he probably just needs a few days to start showing his face. He needs to get comfortable with his new home.:-D


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