STUPID CLOWNFISH!

[mconklin]

Background: 1 Ocellaris in a 10g, did fine for over 1 week. Bought him a buddy, slightly bigger. He looked a lot bigger at the store, I thought they'd pair up easily. They did fine for about three weeks.. started twitching in front of each other and started sleeping on top of each other. I thought that's what "pairing up" meant. Today I look at the clownfish that was first in the tank and he took quite the beating. His fins are nipped, tail fin looks like it was sent through a blender. He's lost a lot of color around the tail too. He has stringy "white poop" hanging out and he's swimming vertically/not eating. The bully clown is going up to him and twitching as he's swimming for the ceiling. All I've done is put stress coat to "Help repair damaged skin and fins and to replace slime coating."

 

Is this clown a sitting duck? Clowntrigger/Eel food?

 

Oh man, as im writing this he almost fell backwards from his "vertical swim."

 

Let me know something. Please.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Koral krazy (reefer 365)]

It's all part of clownfish behavior. As juveniles, all clownfish are born as males. When two pair up, the larger and more dominant fish assumes the role as female while the smaller one remains a male. The twitching and fin nipping is agressive behavior just to show "who's the boss," and this is a sign that they have paired up.

[mconklin]

It's all part of clownfish behavior. As juveniles, all clownfish are born as males. When two pair up, the larger and more dominant fish assumes the role as female while the smaller one remains a male. The twitching and fin nipping is agressive behavior just to show "who's the boss," and this is a sign that they have paired up.

 

 

The one that has been nipped, doesn't look like he's going to make it.. The swimming up and flopping/flipping all over the place seems bad. He looks like a leaf in a breeze most of the time. He's restless. He won't just sit and try to recover. How are they gonna pair up when this fish has "a foot in the grave and a foot on a banana peel?"

[Koral krazy (reefer 365)]

wow.... didn't know it was THAT bad. If it's possible, try to quarantine the picked clown.

[clifford513]

Could be both have already turned female, in which case, they will never pair and one will eventually end up dead if they are left together.

[Tentacles]

just wanted to clarify, clowns arent born male, theyre born sexless

 

id seperate them, that sounds a bit brutal, usually its best to add a smaller clown to an existing clown because the existing clown will have claimed its territory in the tank most likely and like clif said, you could have two battling females on your hands, and that wont stop until one is dead. now i dont think your little one could have turned female in a weeks time but it could still fight for its territory regardless and the big one will still probably kill it. if you wanted to do a pair where the second one was going to be the attempted female it would have been best to take them both out of the tank and qt them or have them somewhere they were both unfamiliar with

 

and if anything in here helps: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=108767

 

good luck

[Six]

just wanted to clarify, clowns arent born male, theyre born sexless

 

Word.

 

How long was the first fish in the tank before you added the second? My guess is that the initial fish turned female and you added another larger and thus more brutal female. They cannot revert back to male or "drone" so, you're stuck with two ladies.

 

I'd QT to repair the damage then trade the fish in for a smaller "drone". When you buy your next clown, buy a much smaller one than your existing one and ideally froma group, then you'll know the fish is a drone or male, and def not female.

 

gl

[mconklin]

It was just over a week that it was left alone.

 

as for QT/trading/ whatever else.. (S)he didn't make it more than an hour after my first post. Wish I would have been home to catch it earlier. Stupid job.

 

I learned some things. [1]My tank was overstocked for a 10g. I knew this, I was planning on adding a sump to take care of any bioload since I have LFSs that don't trade fish. If I make a mistake i'm stuck with it. [2]I can't take any more deaths. The toll over the past five months is up there. [3]I have a hard enough time with my 55g fowlr.. I shouldn't be messing with lives in a 10g "nano."

 

On top of that, I have 2 crazy hitchhiker crabs that "F" with everything and I can't catch them, my zoas look like hell, I had to take out some mushrooms that were looking like crap, and after a few months everything has taken a turn for the worse in the past 24 hours.

 

My 10g is coming down.

 

Hopefully with some more research, betting planning, help from N-R, I can keep fish alive in a bigger tank..

[Tentacles]

sorry to hear all that, good luck, and when you catch the crabs, look them dead in their eyes then throw them on the ground and stomp on them

[allenspidey]

I have to say, I agree with you about clownfish. I have had more problems with them than they are worth. I have nothing but bad luck with them. Good luck man!

[debbeach13]

I have a pair that are almost eight years old and I think they are the best. Always lively and they look like they are smiling to me.

[Uploadead]

About the crabs, I wouldn't burn them alive. Its only fun with worms. I did that with a fireworm I found a couple of weeks ago. Satisfaction of the squirm and the burn

[Tentacles]

alot of people seem to have problems with percs and ocys lately

 

solution: get a maroon, my pair is bada$$ and they eat like pigs so theres no eating problem

[Uploadead]

although you will need a 30 gallon atleast. go with tomatos if you want a 30 gallon pair, theyre alot more colourfull, althought maroons have 'the fins'.

[mconklin]

I was thinking of a pair of yellow striped maroon clowns and my jawfish(30 gallon). I also have green clown goby that might have to go in there since I don't have anywhere to put him(like i said, LFSs here suck and probably wouldnt take him for free.)

 

Would it work?