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Clownfish fighting, normal or too much?


Mauricio Lacerda

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Mauricio Lacerda

Hey guys, hi.

 

i have 2 ocellaris clownfish (or percula, i cant thell the diference) for 2 months, got them really small, almost 1'' . i'll call them stripes and almost-stripes.

 

Stripes was a little bigger than almost-stripes when i just got them, but not much. 

 

they used to almost never fight and almost-stripes always showd submissive. (that wired shaking move that all girls love.)

 

they grew up really fast (moving to 1.5'' to 2'' category of fish fight), and now almost-stripes is the one bigger. And chases stripes a lot. Stripes sometimes fightback but almost-stripes is unstoppable.

So, stripes is now who got some shake moves. i know that clownfish love is weird and all, they are just saying who is who.

But today I looked closely, and both of them got damages on side fins, not much and just on non-color fins.

 

they swim along when are not fighting, and both are active goofy fishs. eating like pigs.

ps. this name are fictionary, just to ilustrate. the real names are peter and pepper.

should i be worried? how can i tell if they need a time from this realationship?

 

pics for you guys to guess how is how. (sorry for the blueish pic, cant figure how to take pics in this light.)

 6422a167-195f-4169-b1de-dc72996db908.thumb.jpg.b0519e7107386b65e54989691324d2e9.jpg

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Newtothehobby

Hey my clownfish did this too. It is for the most part normal until fins are being ripped up. I solved this problem in my tank by catching the more aggressive fish and keep it in the net, but have the net and the fish stay in the water. I would do this for about 15 minutes. This will give the other fish time to find hiding spots and for the agressive fish to learn that its ok to have another fish swimming around the tank. Also what size tank do you have. If they are percula clowns they will grow to be large in size.

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I have a Fluval evo 13 and my female clown turned on my male and killed him when she hit about 2.5 inches. It happened insanely quickly as well. I was out of town for one week, and She started to relentlessly chase/attack him to the point where he was jumping out of the water smacking against my lid  to escape. My girlfriend tried to save him by putting in a small make shift tank but it was to late, he was pretty screwed up, torn fins and bruised body, and despite being isolated he died a week later.  While i think this is normal behavior for clowns dominance, i think the small tank size amplifies the agrression. 

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5 hours ago, makingfilms said:

I have a Fluval evo 13 and my female clown turned on my male and killed him when she hit about 2.5 inches. It happened insanely quickly as well. I was out of town for one week, and She started to relentlessly chase/attack him to the point where he was jumping out of the water smacking against my lid  to escape. My girlfriend tried to save him by putting in a small make shift tank but it was to late, he was pretty screwed up, torn fins and bruised body, and despite being isolated he died a week later.  While i think this is normal behavior for clowns dominance, i think the small tank size amplifies the agrression. 

And that is why I have given up on clown fish. No matter what I would do, how old or young I got them one would either kill one eventually or one would jump to it’s death. They are fascinating fish and I love watching them swim in their Nems but they just got to be to much of a burden for me.

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Newtothehobby

Try the net meathid I said already. I would say their growth depends on how often you feed them. Mine are 6 months old and about and inch and I feed them once a day. I would get a larger tank soon though and set up lots of hiding places for them I hope everything turns out ok.

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SantaMonicaHelp

Have you noticed anymore fighting and/or damage since you posted this Mauricio?

If you try the net method, let us know how it goes.

 

-Kamran

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Mauricio Lacerda

Less fighting!,

some times they chase but way less frequent than last week. Today they are getting along just fine , even swimming together more.

 

sometimes i think that i worry way too much, :haha:

  • Haha 1
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How are your clown fish doing ? I’m having the same issue .. have a ocellaris clown and a black ocellaris and the orange one chases the heck out of the black one .. they go at it all day long . Just today I seen the orange one twitching but still is the aggressor.. I’ve even arranged the rocks but that doesn’t help .. 

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Mauricio Lacerda

Sometimes they fight, but less chase then last week. Still, keeping an eye for damages but for now they are fine. My tank has alot of hidding places, and the small one hide well... i check for fin damage everyday, and for now they are not hurting each other... you can try net method for "teaching" leasons, i'll try it out in case chase happens again

 

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The net method has to be only for the most expierenced reefers . It’s basically impossible for me to catch him/her .. 

I mean I’ve stuck my hand in the tank fix a frag they dropped due to the chasing and the orange clown always bites me and attacks my hanD so I flick at  him back :lol:

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From my experience if either one clownfish are doing the submission(shaking) then they will pair up. If none of them want to do the shaking then they will never pair up and one will die. The dominate one will keep the other one in check to make sure he get very little food so he won't grow , sometime it look like fighting but it's not. So when feeding time and one guy is bulling the other thats a sign it'll pair up.

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Let me get this right....

 

the one clown fish that has the seizure is the one that is being submissive? 

but in my case the aggressor is also the one who at times has the seizure dance . he also does go after the other clown during feeding

 

but either way im excited this is all ending in a paired set .. hopefully they get it together before they are transferred to their new home 

 

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Yes sometime the aggressor is doing the seizure. The aggressor will get more food and will be a female. I used to have a pair where the aggressor turn to male due to the other one is smart during feeding time and grab most of the food while the aggressor is busy chasing. It’s all depend who grow bigger faster during the pairing process. That’s why when getting one bigger than the other make pairing a lot easier. 

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  • 8 months later...

Hi, 

My clownfish have started the same thing.  Both of mine are still very small and less than 2 inches.   I bought them together at the local fish store.   They used to inseparable and got along so well.   However,  recently, the bigger one has started to chase the small one a lot.  It happened only at the feeding time before but today, the bigger one is chasing the other one for all day long.  The small one is not doing the submissions (shaking) yet and hides and runs away when the aggressor starts to chase him.  

 

I am thinking to try the net method tonight because it is impossible for me to catch the bigger one now but I think that I can when it is half sleeping.  

 

I hope this works.  

 

The little one does not have any damage or injury yet but he is now always hiding and the bigger one is very bullying him.   Is it the process of pairing and once it has passed this period, will they be a couple without fighting?  

 

Could anyone give me any advice on how to pair them smoothly?  

 

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2 minutes ago, MK1623 said:

Hi, 

My clownfish have started the same thing.  Both of mine are still very small and less than 2 inches.   I bought them together at the local fish store.   They used to inseparable and got along so well.   However,  recently, the bigger one has started to chase the small one a lot.  It happened only at the feeding time before but today, the bigger one is chasing the other one for all day long.  The small one is not doing the submissions (shaking) yet and hides and runs away when the aggressor starts to chase him.  

 

I am thinking to try the net method tonight because it is impossible for me to catch the bigger one now but I think that I can when it is half sleeping.  

 

I hope this works.  

 

The little one does not have any damage or injury yet but he is now always hiding and the bigger one is very bullying him.   Is it the process of pairing and once it has passed this period, will they be a couple without fighting?  

 

Could anyone give me any advice on how to pair them smoothly?  

 

They are like teenagers...trying to establish a pecking order amongst themselves.  Eventually they should settle down.  

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2 minutes ago, specore said:

They are like teenagers...trying to establish a pecking order amongst themselves.  Eventually they should settle down.  

Thank you very much!!!

 

So, is it better to leave them without seizing the aggressor in a net?  Will they settle down soon so that I should not worry too much?   

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25 minutes ago, MK1623 said:

Thank you very much!!!

 

So, is it better to leave them without seizing the aggressor in a net?  Will they settle down soon so that I should not worry too much?   

How big is your tank?  If there is ample room I would lean towards yes.  Generally the net thing works for aggression; however, IMO this is different than aggression between species.  Your clownfish will need to sort out who is going to be dominant, and they aren't likely to do that with a net between them.  Just my two cents...could be wrong.  

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Don't forget that clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites. They all develop into males first and the largest, most dominant becomes the female. If you get two females, they will likely fight to the death in a small tank. If you get them really small, you stand a good chance of one female and them pairing up even though you you get a bit of fighting. If you get clowns that were previously paired and move them to a new tank, they still might fight for a while. Clowns have a really strict hierarchy and fighting is the only way to establish that and maintain it.

 

I got mine as babies and even now after 7-8 years, every time I move or re-scape, the lady clown smacks the guy around for a bit until they resettle.

 

Edit: Also, I see your clowns look like they are really close in size, so they are going to fight more until one pulls ahead in size. Even though my clowns are almost 8 now, my male is the same size as your clowns, maybe even smaller, and my female is probably 3x the size of him.

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1 hour ago, specore said:

How big is your tank?  If there is ample room I would lean towards yes.  Generally the net thing works for aggression; however, IMO this is different than aggression between species.  Your clownfish will need to sort out who is going to be dominant, and they aren't likely to do that with a net between them.  Just my two cents...could be wrong.  

My tank is 60L nano tank.  So, not many spaces but they are only fish in my tank.  

I may need to get a bigger tank eventually.  

 

1 hour ago, specore said:

 

 

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1 hour ago, jservedio said:

Don't forget that clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites. They all develop into males first and the largest, most dominant becomes the female. If you get two females, they will likely fight to the death in a small tank. If you get them really small, you stand a good chance of one female and them pairing up even though you you get a bit of fighting. If you get clowns that were previously paired and move them to a new tank, they still might fight for a while. Clowns have a really strict hierarchy and fighting is the only way to establish that and maintain it.

 

I got mine as babies and even now after 7-8 years, every time I move or re-scape, the lady clown smacks the guy around for a bit until they resettle.

Thank you.


Yes, I got them both very small and I think that they need time and fights to decide which one becomes the dominant one to pair up.  

I will see how things go and hopefully they will pair up soon!

 

 

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20 minutes ago, MK1623 said:

Thank you.


Yes, I got them both very small and I think that they need time and fights to decide which one becomes the dominant one to pair up.  

I will see how things go and hopefully they will pair up soon!

 

 

I think they'll be fine.  60l is a little tight, but they are most likely just trying to establish dominance and usually this doesn't result in one or the other getting bullied to death. 

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