Clownfish Agression

[LifesaFish]

Hello All,

 

I have 2 juvenile clownfish in my fluval 13.5 for about 2.5 - 3 months now.

 

I purposely chose 1 that was larger than the other and so far they seemed to be getting along just fine.

 

However tonight I noticed that the smaller one is missing one of its bottom fins.

 

I don't see the smaller one hiding and he often follows the larger one around the tank. In fact, the 2 often play together in water stream coming from the return pump. 

 

I feed every 2nd day (as per advice from a few people more experienced than me) and they seem to get their fill but read that if fish are hungry they can start to act aggressive. 

 

So my question is should I feed every day and when is aggression too much?

 

I don't see any other bite marks and my parameters seem stable. I do a weekly water change, not added anything new to the tank except for 3 snails.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

BTW I have ordered a new im 25 lagoon as I know they will eventually need a bigger home but was hoping that I would have a few months to properly set it up.

[M. Tournesol]

Feeding more is always better. The only problem with feeding more is the risk of water fouling. If your clowns eat all the food put in the tank every day without your parameter going out of whack, you should do it. 

However, I would start to add more food slowly. Example: food 4 days a week, then 5 days a week, ...

[Bigals-nano-1]

I would try feeding more regularly and see if that stops the aggression. I feed my evo tank with two juvenile clowns, one yellow watchman goby, one dot dash blenny, two cleaner shrimp, one pistol shrimp, 5 sexy shrimp and some snails twice a day, about 3 pellets crumbled up in the morning and 1/3 cube of frozen brine or mysis in the early evening. Everyone seems happy and thriving. 

[Clown79]

I fed my fish daily and often twice a day alternating different foods.

 

Just feed them what they can eat within a minute.

 

With regular proper maintenance, feeding daily with the proper amount, should not have a significant effect on water quality.

[LifesaFish]

Ok thanks everyone. I will try feeding more.

 

They always get fed at least 4 days per week as I always feed on a water change day (even if I fed the day before).

 

I was told to feed as much as they can eat in 3 min but will go down to one minute. That way they are fed more often and should not upset the bio load too much.

[M. Tournesol]

6 hours ago, LifesaFish said:

I was told to feed as much as they can eat in 3 min but will go down to one minute

🤣, in this case, you will not feed them more. 3min *4 = 12 and 1min *7 = 7.

 

 

 

[gena]

Sounds like classic clownfish behavior as far as the aggression.  I'm not sure feeding more will make a difference.  But I would definitely suggest feeding daily regardless :).

[rough eye]

i feed daily and there have been times when i've fed twice daily. i do notice the blenny gets tempermental at feeding time and tries to scare off the clown, who hardly seems to notice most times. as for feeding i try to judge based on how hungry they seem as far as how long to feed, as i add food little by little over the course of a few minutes.