2 Maroons fighting

[Beats001]

I have 2 Maroons, Maroon 1 is a lightning Maroon just short or 2 Inches, while Maroon 2 is a Thunder platinum Maroon, who is about 1/3 bigger in length and girth. No.2 is nipping constantly at 1. I have caught 1 and put him in a clear container twice now. The first time for 2 days, the second for a week. Both had same result. Maroon 1 was first in tank, 2 came after, but possibly wasn't large enough. I'm wandering if anyone else has had success in any other way? I'm thinking just leave them at it and only intervene if really bad. Or try introduce an anemone.
Interested to hear peoples thoughts.

FYI its a 4 foot tank with only a goby a Tang and a file fish in it.

 

[James M]

The anemone won’t really help in this situation. Sounds like there working out who is the dominant one. If it gets really bad I would suggest a acclimation box to help with the aggression.

 

[Oscaror]

Clownfish fight at the start to determine who the dominant one is, and since yours are so close together in size it's likely neither will back down easily. Maroon clownfish are also more aggressive than other clowns so they may fight harder. If it gets too bad then I suggest an acclimation box as James M mentioned

 

[andrewkw]

I'm having the same issue with 2 lightnings only my size difference is much greater. My "female" is about 2-3x larger. I have a divider between them in QT but I was thinking of adding them to their new home (90g) and just hoping for the best since its a larger space. They would be the only fish. You post is giving me pause. Curious to see what the consensus is. When I had mine together they acted "weird" the male just stayed in the corner and the female would be more concerned with stopping the male from eating then feeding herself. Originally I thought he took that spot up as his host, but as soon as I placed the divider back both he and the female acted completely different. They eat better and swim around a lot more now that they are separate.

There is the possibility they will never pair which I did realize when I got my 2, but I'm hoping that won't be the case for me or for you.

 

[Beats001]

Hi Andrewkw, yes when I had the smaller one in the container the bigger one never left its side, it slept beside it, without aggressively trying to get at it. But as I said when released all hell broke loose. I really want it to work as they are my 2 favorite Maroons. I will leave them at it for a bit and see what happens. There are lots of hiding places. Will update here, let me know if you have any changes. Or if anyone else has tried anything else that I haven't already.

 

[Beats001]

The anemone won’t really help in this situation. Sounds like there working out who is the dominant one. If it gets really bad I would suggest a acclimation box to help with the aggression.

Thanks James, is this something you have tried?

 

[Beats001]

The anemone won’t really help in this situation. Sounds like there working out who is the dominant one. If it gets really bad I would suggest a acclimation box to help with the aggression.

The anemone I mean not the acclimatizing box, I have already tried that.

 

[Beats001]

Clownfish fight at the start to determine who the dominant one is, and since yours are so close together in size it's likely neither will back down easily. Maroon clownfish are also more aggressive than other clowns so they may fight harder. If it gets too bad then I suggest an acclimation box as James M mentioned

Tried that twice now, but thanks for the suggestion. Do you have any other experiences?

 

[Oscaror]

Tried that twice now, but thanks for the suggestion. Do you have any other experiences?

I only had perculas so I'm going off that, I can't really help much with maroons aside from what I've heard from others

 

[Coralreefer1]

Try introducing a couple more Clowns for the older ones to be able to find a mate. The rest I’ll have to be removed so that aggression doesn’t carry out.

 

[Oscaror]

Try introducing a couple more Clowns for the older ones to be able to find a mate. The rest I’ll have to be removed so that aggression doesn’t carry out.

Thing is these are designer

 

[James M]

The anemone I mean not the acclimatizing box, I have already tried that.

The anemone wouldn’t help....how long did you leave it in the acclimation?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Agree with above on the anenome it will not help. I introduced 2 maroon lightnings as well, the female was 2x the size. For several weeks it was ugly. The female would swim all the way to the other side just to beat up the male. I have a 144 with a pretty sizable scape with plenty of caves. I decided to let them figure it out and monitor. Now the aggression is finally slowing down and they can tolerate each other. Understand I got lucky and was prepared for a fast removal of one if need be. So far I am "lucky".

 

[Beats001]

I only had perculas so I'm going off that, I can't really help much with maroons aside from what I've heard from others

OK thanks

 

[Beats001]

I've had to separate them again. I may try the anemone, in the hope the bully sticks in the anemone and leaves the other guy alone. Failing that, one will have to go to the lfs.

 

[James M]

The anemone won’t help....save your self some money. Give them time to sort it out

 

[Susan Bates]

how do you go with a maroon and a normal clown???

 

[Beats001]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Its difficult to know when the little one has had too much. his fins are torn, he is still able to get away from the big one, but there was an attack, every 3 minutes or so, so i separated them for the 3rd time. I am going to give the little one a rest, he is just in the sump. I got a Caribbean anemone today, lets see if the big one shows any interest. @hdsoftail1065 How bad was the little lightning in your situation? was its fins torn? May I just shouldn't watch, but my little one, just didn't submit. Maybe its an idea to put them in a small container and hope the wee one does the submission move.

 

[Beats001]

how do you go with a maroon and a normal clown???

I have no idea susan, I haven't heard or seen anyone do that.

 

[andrewkw]

how do you go with a maroon and a normal clown???

What is "normal" Maroons are pretty normal...

An update on my pair. While doing a water change yesterday I knocked the divider off. They immediately went after each other. I separated again and they continue to look at each other through the divider. They basically just swim in circles around each other it's not just the female attacking the male, male tries for the female too. There is no medical reason for them to still be in QT but I am hoping seeing each other for a while will help them get along in the future.

Beats001 it should only take about 3 days for torn fins to heal assuming you are feeding high nutrition food. Your guess is as good as mine when to try again though..