newf99 Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I've been running a 30gal nano tank ever since August. Things have been going well and I added a pair of fish in early November. Two immature true percula clownfish. Aside from that the aquarium has nothing but corals and around 30lbs of liverock. There are caves and plenty of places to hide. For roughly two weeks now the larger clownfish has become extremely aggressive towards the smaller clownfish. When I got them one was just slightly larger than the other one. The smaller clownfish's colours are more pronounced than the larger clown. The larger clown's back is almost fully black but not the the degree that the smaller clown's back is. Anyway, the larger clown chases the small clown around the tank regularly and nips at the tail fins. The tail fins of the smaller clown are in rough shape. I'm worried that the larger clown is going to kill the smaller one. They were getting along fine up until recently. Not sure what to do. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Sex change? The smaller clown is now restricted to a small corner between the intakes of my hang on back skimmer. If it ventures out it is chased around the aquarium 3 laps and nearly jumps out of the tank. Link to comment
ndrobey Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I'd take the aggressive fish back to the fish store and trade it in for a small fish that will get along with the small one you already have. Link to comment
Azedenkae Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Sounds like it is turning female and imposing its territory. This is basically a situation where the remaining either grow a pair (relatively, in the end it would still be submissive) or die. It is very normal for this to happen to Clownfish, when two establishes pairing. Link to comment
HVani Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I would just let it run it's course. This is part of clowns pairing. Trading it for another clown will just delay the inevitable. They can be brutal to each other. My pair are currently working it out as well. If the little one looks like he needs a break, I would put him in a floating container or net breeder. That way they can still see each other but he can get a break. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 I would just let it run it's course. This is part of clowns pairing. Trading it for another clown will just delay the inevitable. They can be brutal to each other. My pair are currently working it out as well. If the little one looks like he needs a break, I would put him in a floating container or net breeder. That way they can still see each other but he can get a break. Yeah the little one's tail fin is pretty haggard now. No secondary infections yet but it has a few large chunks out of it. The female is absolutely relentless. The smaller fish runs most of the time...it does stand up to her a little bit she is missing a small chunk of her tail but she is most certainly dominating him. Link to comment
HVani Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 He needs to be submitting for her to let up. You should see him doing a little shaking dance. Sometimes my female will grab the male and shake him just to make a point. I feel bad for male clownfish lol. Link to comment
GokesReef Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Yeah the little one's tail fin is pretty haggard now. No secondary infections yet but it has a few large chunks out of it. The female is absolutely relentless. The smaller fish runs most of the time...it does stand up to her a little bit she is missing a small chunk of her tail but she is most certainly dominating him. Might have to return one - I had the same problem with my pair, ended up returning the female so other fish could be added without an over-aggressive fish in there. I felt like the male would have died if they were left together, I know the hierarchy but it was getting brutal. All went well. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Might have to return one - I had the same problem with my pair, ended up returning the female so other fish could be added without an over-aggressive fish in there. I felt like the male would have died if they were left together, I know the hierarchy but it was getting brutal. All went well. I went to the pet store today and the lady that worked there offered to trade me a pair of Clarkii clownfish for the percula pair. She said the clarkiis are not aggressive towards one another and that my only options are to trade the fish or try to remove the larger percula and re-structure the rock work in the tank. Comments? Link to comment
GokesReef Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 That's your personal preference at that point.. if you like the look of the Clarkiis, that would be a fine option. I don't think rearranging the rocks would do much at this point. The other option, which is the route I took, was to return the large aggressive (female) and got another fish. The theory being that the currently timid clown wasn't a threat to a new fish. Link to comment
sunburn Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Why don't you just take back the larger female and keep the smaller male? Why do you want 2 clowns? I have a mated pair of Oscellaris and I regret getting them. Now that they are mating and laying eggs, they get very territorial. I no longer have any other fish in my 36 gallon tank. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Why don't you just take back the larger female and keep the smaller male? Why do you want 2 clowns? I have a mated pair of Oscellaris and I regret getting them. Now that they are mating and laying eggs, they get very territorial. I no longer have any other fish in my 36 gallon tank. This is my first tank and I was just trying to recreate what I see when I dive in Malaysia. Clowns... I only wanted two clowns because I had no intentions of adding any more fish to the tank. MAYBE a sharp nose goby. I regret adding a peppermint shrimp. I want my tank to have two clowns, a cleaner of some sort (cleaner shrimp or sharp nose goby), and a ton of beautiful well cared for corals. I'm pretty much split between trading for the clarkiis or selling and going for a single tomato clown. I don't think that the large fish is going to tolerate the smaller fish for much longer. The smaller fish's fins (dorsal, pectoral, caudal) are in rough shape. It is restricted to the corner and the larger female will spontaneously leave where she is and harass the other fish. Link to comment
sunburn Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 This is my first tank and I was just trying to recreate what I see when I dive in Malaysia. Clowns... I only wanted two clowns because I had no intentions of adding any more fish to the tank. MAYBE a sharp nose goby. I regret adding a peppermint shrimp. I want my tank to have two clowns, a cleaner of some sort (cleaner shrimp or sharp nose goby), and a ton of beautiful well cared for corals. I'm pretty much split between trading for the clarkiis or selling and going for a single tomato clown. I don't think that the large fish is going to tolerate the smaller fish for much longer. The smaller fish's fins (dorsal, pectoral, caudal) are in rough shape. It is restricted to the corner and the larger female will spontaneously leave where she is and harass the other fish. I would take both of them back. It doesn't seem like the female is accepting the male and could kill him. I would try to find a mated pair. I bought my pair off Ebay. They were bred at Sustainable Aquatics. You can also find people who occasionally sell their mated clowns because of aggression towards other fish. I think Kat might be interested in selling her pair of clowns. And if you buy a mated pair make sure they are "mated" or a "breeding" pair. The difference between them is the mated pair hasn't bred yet, while the breeding pair have been laying eggs. Someone may try to sell you just a "pair" of clowns which probably aren't mated yet and you'll be in the same situation you are now. I'm don't know much about Clarkiis, but I think all clowns can become aggressive. I've read were Percs. and Ocellaris are the least aggressive. Link to comment
HVani Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Clarkiis are much more aggressive than occelaris. You will not be able to add any other fish. They can also be pretty brutal towards each other. No need to spend a lot more money for a mated pair. Just get 2 clowns with a size difference. The bigger will become female the other will become male. Simple as that. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Still some aggression...But I have noticed that the larger clown also has some chunks out of it's caudal fin. They did the "dance" a few times this morning. At one point both were wiggling. No idea what this means. Link to comment
sunburn Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Looks like things might be settling down. Is the male still hiding? If the male is wiggling then he's becoming submissive to her and she may accept him. Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Still fighting. Occasional wiggling by both parties. Smaller clown definately more tore up than larger fish. Link to comment
NISMO703 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I would just wait it out a little longer. I have a pair of clowns and going through the exact situation right now. The larger one was constantly biting the smaller one despite him twitching/shaking/being submissive. He was always hiding in the rockwork and I think she even scared him into hosting my duncan. It's been about 2 weeks since all this aggression began and I felt bad for the smaller clown but I just left them alone. Past couple days he has been swimming right by the larger one twitching and I see him a lot more in the open. She still bites him every now and then but as long as the smaller one is still eating, he should be good. Just speaking from what I'm going through now, good luck! Link to comment
newf99 Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 It's strange for sure. They have been fine for months and suddenly the larger fish (less pronounced colours than smaller fish) wants to kill the small one. The large fish looks physically different with a large hump on its back...it HAS to be morphing into a female. i placed the smaller fish into a breeder box today to give it some time to heal up; it looks like it may be starting to develop a mild case of lympho (one small white module on underside). The larger fish is trying to attack the clown in the breeder box. Two fish of the same species, with a good track record, one larger than other and dominant; and one is still getting raped... >.< Link to comment
Azedenkae Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 It's strange for sure. They have been fine for months and suddenly the larger fish (less pronounced colours than smaller fish) wants to kill the small one. The large fish looks physically different with a large hump on its back...it HAS to be morphing into a female. i placed the smaller fish into a breeder box today to give it some time to heal up; it looks like it may be starting to develop a mild case of lympho (one small white module on underside). The larger fish is trying to attack the clown in the breeder box. Two fish of the same species, with a good track record, one larger than other and dominant; and one is still getting raped... >.< Like everyone said, that's just the way things progress as they grow older. Two kids play together since they were a child. At 16, the boy has raging hormones and suddenly realize 'geez, this girl I have been friends with is REALLY hot'. He then starts hitting on her. A bit too much. She wants to move to a different neighbourhood, but unfortunately the block is barricaded. So she keeps on running around the block and he chases her. She either have to give in, or die. Okay that was a bad real-world analog, but basically that. XD Oh and of course the sexual roles are reversed here. Link to comment
GokesReef Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 It's strange for sure. They have been fine for months and suddenly the larger fish (less pronounced colours than smaller fish) wants to kill the small one. The large fish looks physically different with a large hump on its back...it HAS to be morphing into a female. i placed the smaller fish into a breeder box today to give it some time to heal up; it looks like it may be starting to develop a mild case of lympho (one small white module on underside). The larger fish is trying to attack the clown in the breeder box. Two fish of the same species, with a good track record, one larger than other and dominant; and one is still getting raped... >.< In the wild, the female would have multiple males to bully.. all of her aggression is now being focused on just 1 fish and it may be too much. Link to comment
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