Clownfish fighting... Still

[boosted chemist]

Ive waited two months and now im getting a bit concerned. I acquired a small black white clown from my gf's tank. She had two bw clowns and an orange one. One day the one bw clown paired up with the orange and the other bw was odd man out. The orange larger one kept on beating up the other clown. So i took this little clown, his fins where ripped and placed him in my tank.

Fastfoward, he got much better yet still small, so i got another bw clown same size. Well now the new clown is much bigger than the other one, she keeps him cornered ALL DAY. Sometimes at night its ok and they swim together, but most of the time he is not allowed to leave. There are no physical signs of abuse, but im starting to wonder if I should separate the two.

 

Any advice?

[Pickle010]

Problem was buying one the same size - the new addition should of been significantly smaller -

 

At any rate your best bet now is to pull the clowns - rearrange your scape - put back beat up little clown - let him get settled in and then reintroduce big abusive clown. She may think she is in a new territory and back off the aggression.

[boosted chemist]

Problem was buying one the same size - the new addition should of been significantly smaller -

 

At any rate your best bet now is to pull the clowns - rearrange your scape - put back beat up little clown - let him get settled in and then reintroduce big abusive clown. She may think she is in a new territory and back off the aggression.

 

 

I see, i have rearranged my tank a couple times, it calms down but soon little clown is in search of a hiding spot.

 

Maybe i should take the large clown back or trade him in.

[lakshwadeep]

Clowns are damselfish, with the ocellaris/percula species being rare for acting peacefully (at least to non-clowns). Clowns form a harem with one dominant female (the largest one) and her mate and many subordinate males and juveniles. However, damsels often are territorial with each other, which is why a trio was a bad idea in the original tank (since the aggression wasn't diluted among a large harem). It's somewhat normal for newly dominant female to start bullying the male, but it's not normal for this to happen indefinitely. Can you give any time scales of the additions of the clowns in your tank? Are you sure the two clowns in your tank are the same species?

[boosted chemist]

Clowns are damselfish, with the ocellaris/percula species being rare for acting peacefully (at least to non-clowns). Clowns form a harem with one dominant female (the largest one) and her mate and many subordinate males and juveniles. However, damsels often are territorial with each other, which is why a trio was a bad idea in the original tank (since the aggression wasn't diluted among a large harem). It's somewhat normal for newly dominant female to start bullying the male, but it's not normal for this to happen indefinitely. Can you give any time scales of the additions of the clowns in your tank? Are you sure the two clowns in your tank are the same species?

 

I want to say i added the little clown to MY tank early march and the now larger clown early april. I know they are both b &w clowns, i cant tell if one is a fake or true, sorry.

 

here is the larger one

and the small guy with her (before i moved to the 20l)

 

 

sorry the shots arent hte best

[ReeferJohn]

i was in the same dilemma that you are in. i had two orange ocellaris and the female always beat up on the male. Sadly nothing i did saved the little guy and he died of stress i presume as you couldn't see any real signs of abuse on him. I would try doing what others have suggested and take them out of the tank, rearrange aquascape, then put the male in and let him settle then follow up with the female.

[boosted chemist]

i was in the same dilemma that you are in. i had two orange ocellaris and the female always beat up on the male. Sadly nothing i did saved the little guy and he died of stress i presume as you couldn't see any real signs of abuse on him. I would try doing what others have suggested and take them out of the tank, rearrange aquascape, then put the male in and let him settle then follow up with the female.

What was your time scale? In going on a two week Hawaii vacation this Friday. My undergraduate assistant is going to be topping off and feeded.... I hope it stops asap

[ReeferJohn]

What was your time scale? In going on a two week Hawaii vacation this Friday. My undergraduate assistant is going to be topping off and feeded.... I hope it stops asap

I think a little less than a week. If you do rearrange and all that stuff let us know what happens!

[crewchef]

Similar situation but I actually purchased the first two fish at same time. They were in a tank with probably 10-12 others. Intentionally picked out two that were different size. Female was just mean, she kept the smaller male hiding in the rock work 24x7. I only tried moving aqua scape once. It didn't work. Finally gave up after 6-months. Caught both and returned to LFS and purchased another pair. And by pair I mean actually watched them in the tank swimming together and hanging out before purchasing. They've been in my tank for a week now and doing great. Having a pair is so much nicer than watching one bully the other.

[boosted chemist]

I see, maybe ill wait till I get back, move the little guy to my lab tank(still cycling) and get rid of the female and look for a pair. Well ill keep this sitiation updated. Thanks for your guys help.

[ajmckay]

What exactly is happening? Also, what size tank are these in? To me it looks like a 10g (which IMO is too small and could be part of your problem)...

 

IMO as long as both clowns are eating enough, and there is no physical damage to the male, then why mess with it? The stress of moving them around and re-arranging the tank too much can cause more stress to the fish than might be happening. Nature seems cruel to us in several aspects, but sometimes it's just the way things are.

 

If it's the case that the male isn't eating enough, or if there are physical injuries, then separating the male to QT every so often for recovery is necessary. But don't leave him in QT for too long, just a few days to bulk up and recover some.

 

If you want a hint on feeding, you could try this:

Since the female is more aggressive with feeding, lure to the other side of the tank as the male with 1 pellet/flake at a time. Then just alternate feeding 1 or 2 morsels at a time to the opposite sides of the tank. That way you can monitor how much the male is eating.

 

Good luck.

[boosted chemist]

I try to lure her away but she is quick to return. little guy gets some food when i toss in rods. He pays no attention to her then. That pick was my old 10g, they are both now in a 20l. The 10g is now my lab tank and i plan on little or no fish, but if i must ill remove the male.