Are clownfishes bullies?

[Slayer]

Hi all,

I bought a strawberry pygmy basslet from my LFS on Friday. I asked a few questions about him first and his tank mates and was told it would all be fine. If anything the basslet may be a little bossy in the tank but nothing major.

However over the last 2 days I have seen my clownfish terrorizes the basslet. The cownfish has nipped his fins and everytime the basslet tries to come out the clownfish chases him back into hiding around the live rock.

I tried taking the clownfish out of the tank, bagging him up for a few hours out of the tank and re-introduced him after 2-3 hours hoping that would solve it but this has not worked. The clownfish has been in the tank for a year now.

Any ideas?

 

[supernatureal]

take the clown fish out and rearrange you rocks usually helps with fish bully. Leave you Clown fish out for a while. It is like they moved and are in a new territory.

 

[Waddi]

My clowns bully me!! Whenever i stick my hand in the tank and they want food. They will bite my hand and arm, little scheißerei.
But super has you covered.

 

[Slayer]

Will try this shortly, is this normal behavior for a clownfish though, I am quite surprised by it...

 

[Wes888]

Wonder if the mirror method works for clowns as well.

 

[Slayer]

Well the fish is bagged up and in a dark cupboard, the rocks are all re-arranged. How long is normal to leave him bagged up?

 

[Bifferwine]

Not long -- you just need to rearrange the rocks so that he doesn't have his old territory to defend. Clownfishes can be aggressive, especially in smaller tanks.

 

[Slayer]

It is only a 24 gallon, he didn't seem to have a set territory though and chased the basslet wherever he went. Hope this works!

 

[Reef Nutz]

Clown fish are one of the most aggressive and territorial fish you can have. Mean lil buggers.

 

[Jmck]

Yea, clownfish are pretty bad, they are good to have with predator fish because they can defend themselves. So he is probably seeing that this new fish is aggressive itself and is making sure it stakes its claim. My Clown hated the damsel when i put it in, but the damsel quickly learnt where not to go and it was all fine.

 

[little_fish]

In such a small tank, the clownfish considers the whole tank is territory. But rearranging the rocks should help.

 

[Slayer]

Hi all, just to let you know this seems to have currently solved the problem, thanks for the fantastic advice!

 

[Bifferwine]

Good! Let's hope they stick with the good behavior.

 

[beeguiles]

I have two clowns in my 29 gallon. A pair. With a six line wrasse and a blue spotted jawfish and everyone gets along but my female clown is very territorial of her man lol. She bites my arm from time to time but I just wave my hand at her and she goes away after a few mins.