Black clown fish chasing and cornering my orange clown fish

[Oiseaufeu]

Hi,

My black clown fish has started to chase and corner my orange clown fish. I got another clown after my first black clown died in my power head. He was slightly bigger than my orange, but not as much as the other ones at my lfs.

He didn’t start doing this until I got home. I don’t know hif it’s just a dominance fight or it’s going over board, but I don’t want to lose another fish after my blenny passed away. How do I know if it’s a dominance fight or if it’s just bullying? I’m feeling really sad if I have to rehome my orange clown fish and keep my black as a lonely clown fish.

I wanted 2 clowns in my tank, but I guess it will be a lonely clown if it doesn’t pair. I’ve had my clowns for months as well. Now, my clowns stays near the surface of the water because my black clown is keeping him there. The strange part is that my orange clown is sometimes fighting back. What should I do?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

What size are both clowns and how did you introduce them to each other?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sounds like standard clown harassing - generally you want the new clown to be much smaller than the current one for ease of submission. It also helps if they are similar breeds.

 

[jabberwock]

Clowns are just that way. Evil.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Sounds like standard clown harassing - generally you want the new clown to be much smaller than the current one for ease of submission. It also helps if they are similar breeds.

Thanks! I had them for months and they barely picked at each other until now. I tried to get the black one as small as possible from my lfs and a bunch of them were too big for my orange clown fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

My first pair was fine together for months before my female (a mocha) decided she didn’t like her mate (standard ocellaris) around anymore. As they near maturity they just get mean. The black clowns seem to be worse than the orange and white morphs.
Thank size can help, in smaller tanks there’s less room for the male to escape.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

My first pair was fine together for months before my female (a mocha) decided she didn’t like her mate (standard ocellaris) around anymore. As they near maturity they just get mean. The black clowns seem to be worse than the orange and white morphs.
Thank size can help, in smaller tanks there’s less room for the male to escape.

Thanks! I have a 33 gallon tank.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Thanks! I have a 33 gallon tank.

That should be enough for a pair to figure things out - you can try separating out the aggressor for a bit and see if they do better afterwards.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

That should be enough for a pair to figure things out - you can try separating out the aggressor for a bit and see if they do better afterwards.

Thanks! My orange clown sometimes fight back and swims around a bit. Though, I just saw my black one turning and twiching on her side. It looked like she wanted the orange clown to do the same thing.

 

[Leemus]

they be like that

 

[Oiseaufeu]

they be like that

Surprisingly, the orange one is starting to face the black one. And they sleep near each other (saw them twice after turning on my bedroom light). They have calmed down on the chasing now.