agressive clown

[Dusty44]

I have 2 clown fish we will call them A and B. Clown A came with the very neglected 20 gallon tank that was given to me almost 3 years ago. After 1.5 years I upgraded to my current 46gallon tank and moved clown A into it. One month later I purchased a wild caught true perc clown (clown B) because it looked just like clown A except clown A is approx.3/8 to 7/16 in larger. The first week they did not pay any attention to each other then B would follow around A and A would get all pissed and shake and chase B around. After a month of that A began to tolerate B chllin with him but at times A would bully B arould. example at feeding time A would bite B's pectoral fin and drag B to the bottom of the tank and let go within 5 seconds or less. After 6months of that the were getting along GREAT! Now the roles have reversed and for the past 2 days clown A has been on the other side of the tank opposite of A and B's usual hangout. Whenever A comes out B is all over him like white on rice. Big time too, A will go hide under a rock, behind my pumps or even behind my magfloat in the back corner. B is also swimming around the tank with his dorsal fin up which is unlike him its usually always down. The only other time B acted like this was when I added a Red Firefish and the B killed it within 1 hour and that was approx 4 or 5 months ago. Is B hitting puberty or something he looks like a little pitbull runnin around lookin for a fight. Im not sure what to do at this point B doesnt appear to be hurting A just runnin him all around. should I leave the lights off for a day and see if B calms down? When B destroyed the firefish the lights were off. B is still about 3/8in smaller than A

other fish yellow corris wrasse royal gama

nitrate 5
phosphate 0
nitrite 0
ph 8.3
calcium 480
KH 6.5
ammonia 0
mag 1350
sal 1.023

thanks, Dusty

 

[dcantucson]

Is this Déjà vu? I seem to remember an A & B fish story not that long ago. Right?

 

[cthegame]

B is not that much smaller for the two clowns to get along. It would have worked out better if one of them was significantly smaller than the other...I dont think this behavior will really change. What i suggest is to remove B and put him in a QT for a week or two. Change the rocks around in your main tank and give clown A a chance to reestablish itself.

But if i was you, i wouldnt buy a wild caught clown andget a diffrent clown much bigger or smaller than clown A.

Good luck, keep us updated on their behavior.

 

[Rcpilot]

They ARE members of the Damsel family............ so it's no surprise they are aggressive. B was wild caught and will always be the more aggressive one IMO.

You need to get rid of one of them and replace it with a significantly larger or smaller fish.

 

[ltljoker]

Great call Rc i agree with you. the fish needs to be removed :bowdown:

 

[Melosu58]

My only problem is that tank is too small for two clowns unless they are a mated pair. It doesnt always work when we try to be Mother nature.

 

[Al Vance]

My only problem is that tank is too small for two clowns unless they are a mated pair. It doesnt always work when we try to be Mother nature.

I don't think a 46 is too small for 2 clowns.

 

[Bifferwine]

The problem is you tried to get two clowns that were similar in appearance and size. They need to be different sizes to get along. If they are similarly sized, they will continuously fight over who is going to be dominant, usually until one of them dies. If one clown is big, and the other is really small, they usually won't fight because the small one knows he doesn't have a chance, and the big one knows that she's the boss.

And you should always try to avoid wild caught clowns. Always. There's absolutely no reason to buy wild caught.

 

[Dusty44]

behavior did not improve any so clown B was removed. Only took 5mins to catch. Clown A was out swimming around like normal within 5 mins of clown B's removal.