Clown Fish Mania ...

[jpython]

well i have a 18 G Nano tank with some soft coral, Bubble tip ananome and LPS ... and 3 clown fish live in the same tank ... they are all different sizes ... now the biggest one is bullying the others really bad .. i know that three is a bit much but this is what the local market has ....

i rearranged the tank today to remove any teratories that might caused this .. but i guess the tank is to small to make a different ... i am working on a 172 G tank and will move the big one to it when its done ... however i am still starting the tank and it wont be ready for at least two weeks.

any temporary ideas ... not including returning the fish to the LFS as it out of business and saltwater tanks are really rare in my area.

 

[Kelz88]

I personally would take out the middle sized fish...

Perhaps some kind of divider?

 

[wontonflip]

+1 kelz...a divider sounds ideal.

 

[jpython]

well its to small to add a divider ... i will wait a couple of days and see what happens ... and i will do my best to speed up the other tank ...

i might use the baby fish hatchery if he was to aggressive as a naughty coroner and try to discipline him lol ... worse case scenario he goes back to the red sea although i think he was captive bread

 

[ErinCahir]

Once a fish (or any other animal) has been in your tank you CANNOT release it into the wild.

Hatchery is your best bet.

 

[wontonflip]

Big +1 o Erin -- if you release it, you could cause serious damage to the local waters by introducing tank-bourne diseases. Plus if it is tank bred, he'd just die in the ocean. I don't know how the Craigslist market is there in Saudi, but it would be worth putting an ad up. If you have to, give it away for free.

 

[bjohanson1234]

+1 erin
The breeder net is the best bet.

+1 Kelz
What is happening is that the larger one is becoming the female and fighting the next larger one to become dominant. If you remove the middle sized one, the chances of the smaller one submitting to the larger one without fighting will be greater.

 

[Bifferwine]

You could even set up a temporary tank for it in a bucket or container. :)

 

[jpython]

well after week my new tank is still not ready ... well i added the floating breeder in the tank and quarantined every one at a point of time ... when i quarantined the large one everything was fine for a couple of days then the medium one started bulling the young one ... to teach him a lesson and to give the small guy time to rest i added the small one to the breeder ... strangely everything went fine for a while however the larger one became a lot more aggressive and really picked on the medium one it looked really stressed so it went to the breeder and the small guy went back to the breeder as he is my Fav.

I know that it wont work ... however the new tank is much bigger 172 G ... so what are your recommendation on introducing them to the new tank? who should move and who should stay?

 

[Kelz88]

Leave the middle in the small tank. The big and small will have the best chance of pairing off. The little one will figure out who is boss real quick.

 

[jpython]

And i guess the new aquarium is much larger and the aggression may be less due the space fact alone ..

 

[cvcdrk]

You shouldn't be trying to keep three in the same tank, first. ESPECIALLY in a tank that small.

As people have tried to explain to you, the first are currently fighting for dominance. This will more often than not end with at least one fish being killed. If you do not separate at least one of them now, you will be disappointed.

The largest fish is becomming a female and will kill the next largest fish (the medium). As people have said, it has the best chance of pairing with the smallest fish. These should be the two you attempt to keep, especially after you described the aggression.

These fish should not be in this tank. 18g is too small for two clownfish, let alone 3. It doesn't matter if you're upgrading, either, because it's irresponsible to have three clownfish in the same tank. As some point, it's likely one will be killed.

And do not release things into the wild. If it comes down to euthanizing the fish, that is unfortunate but better than releasing them.

 

[jpython]

well i am aware of this ... sadly the LFS had no ideia and that is what i am currently stuck with ... they will be kept separately till the tank in completed ... the small one will go in first and after a week or 2 the large one will be introduced ... and hoping for the best

 

[jpython]

well this just came to my mind .... what if i added the medium and small one to the new tank ... the large one looks aggressive with everyone even the hermits ...i am afraid that i move it to the big tank and start stocking a bit by bit and it starts on picking on every one in the new tank ... or will the 18 G vs 172 G make a difference