Clown harrassing gobies, shorten qt?

[lkoechle]

So I have a very small clown and 2 hi fin gobies in a 10g qt.  They'll be in there a week on Sunday. The clown recently has taken to "cuddling" the gobies when they come out and hovering over their hidey hole.  

 

I don't know if this is aggressive or not, but I am wondering if I should shorten the qt time to 2 weeks.  I dont know if this is stressful to the gobies or not. 

 

Thoughts?

[RayWhisperer]

What is cuddling? 

If it just stays by them, they'll figure out it isn't a threat pretty quickly. Fish feel safer when other fish are present. Like adding a new fish to a tank. If it's the only one, you often won't see much of it for a few weeks. If there are other peaceful fish, it will often be out the same, or the next day.

[lkoechle]

He mainly just stays really close and some times bumps against the female goby(the male mainly stays hidden) kind of like a cat.  He almost herds the gobies around the tank. He will swim vertically head down and push his head against the goby until it moves and then follows it.  Kind of like he is intentionally manipulating their movements for some reason.

[RayWhisperer]

That doesn't sound like any aggressive type behavior. I'd leave it be. 

[Clown79]

Aggressive behaviour usually involves charging at them and into them. Nipping may also be involved 

 

Sounds like they are just hanging out

[tyg]

How much structure do you have for the fish? If you don't already, add a bunch of PVC pipes or plastic/ceramic decorations designed for saltwater that provide structure at all levels in the water column to hopefully induce the clown to explore other areas and reduce any potential stress the gobies are experiencing.