clownfish behavior change

[Bamzam]

Posted in r2r also but havent gotten much advice yet. I have a 4 year old tank with 2 clowns as the only fish. One has been there all 4 years and the other for about 3.5 years. Just yesterday, the bigger one all of a sudden got really aggressive and is constantly chasing/attacking the smaller one everywhere. There are a few events that have happened...

 

Beginning of May, I added a six line wrasse. That lasted about 3 weeks. Not sure who started the fighting, but the six line was beating up on both clowns and trying to kill them. Rehomed the six line at the end of May.

 

Some time in June the smaller one started hosting in a zoa colony out of nowhere. Then a couple weeks ago, the bigger one took over and is hosting in the zoa colony, and the smaller one moved out and sleeps in their old spot. 

 

Yesterday my ac went out and the tank got as high as 83 degrees for a few hours. I put a clip on fan on the tank and got it back down to 80 and the. Finally 78 by end of the night. Has been steady at 78 since then.

 

Could the heat be causing the aggression? Or anyone heard of a sex change happening 3.5 years later? Or after the six line wrasse moved out, could they be figuring out territories again even though scape has not changed?

 

I netted the smaller one last night and put it in a breeder box in the same tank to give it a break, and he slept in there overnight. Today, I let him out and the chasing started again immediately. Big one is not just defending the zoa colony, he's chasing the small one all over non stop. So i just netted the big one and put him in time out in a breeder box (within the same tank) but not sure how long I can leave that box in there before the corals get upset. 

 

Any advice?

 

Pic of the smaller one with fins all torn up

[TerraIncognita]

Can you post a photo of the bigger clown too?

[Bamzam]

Can't get any great photos bc of the breeder box, but here's a few. Even in the breeder box its trying to charge at the smaller one when it swims by, until it realizes it cant get through. Not sure why its so mad! I also dont know if either is a he/she, they have never tried to breed. 

 

The smaller one has been there longer. It was still tiny when I bought it and it lived alone for a few months, so not sure if that's long enough to turn it female. The bigger one was added after and I purchased it as a larger one intentionally and it has always been more dominant. 

[Tired]

How big are they? They seem kinda small for 4 years old. 

 

How big is the tank? 

 

I wonder if the sixline wrasse may have kicked off some sort of stress/hormone issue. 

[TerraIncognita]

6 minutes ago, Tired said:

How big are they? They seem kinda small for 4 years old. 

 

How big is the tank? 

 

I wonder if the sixline wrasse may have kicked off some sort of stress/hormone issue. 

yeah that's what I was about to say, for 4 years they're TINY! 😄

 

seems like they were too stressed to ever mature possibly or in whatever environment that they never felt at home so never got triggered to mature.

 

Something happened with the wrasse making the bigger one start maturing and becoming VERY territorial.

 

If you want to keep them both you're going to have to get a 2nd tank. I'd let the Bigger one FULLY mature, and calm down, establish a home again, and then maybe introduce the mini one, the only problem with that is basically now you're mini will probably start to mature and then they will never bond.

 

You can keep them separated like this for a couple months or return one to the LFS and get another one later. As cruel as it sounds I'd leave the little one in the breeder and let the big one get established and mature more.

 

Unfortunately, based on what you're saying, even if we don't know what's going on, I can gurantee that little guy will be dead in 2 weeks kept together.

 

He's super super beat up. Also unfortunately, because it's hard to get much info about clowns until you open them up and look at their insides and bones, it's hard to say if they both started becoming female. It's rare that the female would try to kill a juvenile unless it felt really threatened even still.

[Bamzam]

Tank is a 12 gallon long. This is my first reef tank so the first 2 years the tank went through all sorts of changes. Experimented with different salts, dosing, equipment, etc, so I think what you're saying makes complete sense.

 

Thanks for the advice. I really don't have room to set up a 2nd salt water tank, so I guess I'll have to rehome him.

[Tired]

If it were me, I'd rehome the aggressive one, and keep the male. Less stress on the poor battered male, and you still wind up with 1 clownfish, which will likely turn into a female anyway. 

[TerraIncognita]

 

22 minutes ago, Tired said:

If it were me, I'd rehome the aggressive one, and keep the male. Less stress on the poor battered male, and you still wind up with 1 clownfish, which will likely turn into a female anyway. 

agreed.

 

also LFS wont take him like that. no way jose. but might take her for a small credit. Let the little one heal and grow, then try another very little one and see how it goes.

[Bamzam]

Found a taker for the bigger/aggressive one. Thanks all for your help!