2x Clownfish Questions from a Noob...

[SE7ƎN]

I got 2x Clownfish 6 days ago. Black one is bigger than the orange one and both about 6-7 months old. The LFS owner said they were together for several months prior, so they were buddies and already used to each other. That was the case as well when I introduced them into my tank at first; huddling together and swimming around together while getting settled in. On Day 3, I introduced a PVC cover for them to use as home, which they immediately loved (and hosted?). They both hung out there and slept in there all the time, however, in the last 2-3 days, the black clownfish won’t let the other one inside anymore at all. So the orange one took to the top on the outside to hang out and sleep, however, the black one won’t even let him hang around there either whenever he ventures outside the house. Also, when feeding, the black one doesn’t let the orange one eat as either. Luckily, the black one is always slow to come out of the house, so I’m able to get some pellets in for the orange one beforehand, but after the black one comes out, he will block the orange one from getting any food at all. Even after the black one is full and doesn’t eat anymore.


1) Today I noticed a torn fin (or at least what I think is) and attached the pictures below. Any advice on what to do?

2) I also posted a video from when they first went in to the home and were doing something like a dance or rubbing - Is this hosting?

 

[fishguy242]

hi normal clown dominace behavior,remove cup,watch close for aggression,chasing,dancing ,lil nipping ,ok,lip locking,fin grabbing ,extreme aggresion ,put bully in acclimation box

 

[Hugh Mann]

+1 to what fishguy said, beat me by a minute. Clowns are jerks.

Pretty much them showing the other who is boss, which unfortunately can sometimes lead to damaged fins. Keep an eye out for further aggression and be ready to put the bully in the penalty box. This will allow the other clown to establish his own territory, to which the other will have to claim a slice of, rather than the other way around.

 

[malas_reefer]

+1 to what fishguy said, beat me by a minute. Clowns are jerks.

Pretty much them showing the other who is boss, which unfortunately can sometimes lead to damaged fins. Keep an eye out for further aggression and be ready to put the bully in the penalty box. This will allow the other clown to establish his own territory, to which the other will have to claim a slice of, rather than the other way around.

Whats the penalty box? I like the sound of that ha! I also have 2x black and white clowns... my tank is about 2 weeks old now... the female seems to swim about like she owns the place while the male sits up top next to the pump quivering.... she even goes out her way to swim up to him and tell him to dance b****... absolute bully. Is this ok and normal behaviour?

 

[SE7ƎN]

Thanks @malas_reefer @Hugh Mann @fishguy242.

I swear these clownfish are just like children. Give them a new toy, one becomes possessive and begins to fight for it and not share, and you have to take it away. One starts bullying the other and they need to go to the acrylic box for a “time-out”...

I took the home out and the black one is now swimming around with the orange one and being nice again. Will keep monitoring, but for now, he is playing nice.

1) To build up from your advice, when is it OK to introduce the home again? Or will he just become a little gremlin again? I would like to up my wave-pump flow higher, and the home was nice as it gave a little “quiet zone” for them to relax in.

2) If he does becomes overly-aggressive again, how long do I keep him in time-out for?

These fish are fun and interesting, yet complete basket cases...

 

[fishguy242]

if have too,leave in box 3-5 days,be ready if not enough,do over

 

[SE7ƎN]

Whats the penalty box? I like the sound of that ha! I also have 2x black and white clowns... my tank is about 2 weeks old now... the female seems to swim about like she owns the place while the male sits up top next to the pump quivering.... she even goes out her way to swim up to him and tell him to dance b****... absolute bully. Is this ok and normal behaviour?

Similar situation as well. 5 week old tank. Introduced them in 6 days ago, and they are complete spazzes. While Drip-Acclimating, the black one was freaking out while the orange one was calm. When putting them into the tank, it was the exact opposite with the black one calm, and the orange one freaking out. He even hit the tank sides really hard a few times while zipping around. The black one settled in within minutes, but the orange took him 2 days of swimming up and down in a corner to finally calm down. The first night, I woke up in the middle of the night to check in on them, and the orange one was upside down and barely moving. I thought he was dead, but then he must have woken up and got startled by me, and then began swimming up and down again, but at least he was alive. The black one freaks out whenever I change the lighting. Going dark to Blue-Light, he freaks out for a few min zooming everywhere, then 1 hour later, I turn on the full light, to deal with it all over again, and vice versa when it’s time to turn all the lights off. It’s like this everyday. This past week made me re-check my sanity with these 2...

 

[SE7ƎN]

Update: Left the house for 1.5 hours and came back to see the orange one even more busted up (with more busted fins). Dangit.

So I put the bully in isolation for 3-5 days.

I put in the house again for the orange one to enjoy, and he moved right on in and started rubbing himself all over it (like the black on did before) making it his home for the time being.

 

[SE7ƎN]

He’s a bit busted up and swimming a bit weird, but does this mean he is happy? He keeps rubbing himself on the home. With his busted fins, do I just let mother nature run its course and give it time to heal, or do I need to do some sort of first-aid on the wounds?

 

[fishguy242]

video won't play for me ,will heal on own

 

[SE7ƎN]

video won't play for me ,will heal on own

Thanks for all your help. I truly appreciate it. I don’t know why the video won’t play for me as well, but I think he looks happy, so I won’t worry.

 

[fishguy242]

keep us updated as time goes by

 

[Fezbearer]

I've had a pair in the DT for a couple weeks now. No aggression from either of them, but for the first week my gladiator, if he saw me, would patrol the front of the tank going back and forth. I'm pretty sure he's still ready to kill me for netting him and taking them away from the PVC they slept in.

 

[SE7ƎN]

With me, as soon as I walk into the room, they both dart up to the top corner to beg for food where I normally feed them. Funny thing is, they will only do it for me, and not for my wife and kid, who also feed them.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Video played for me. Looks like pretty normal clown behavior, happy little guy. In a couple days release the Kraken, hopefully she'll settle down. Odds are your clown will heal on its own. They are tough buggers.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Whats the penalty box? I like the sound of that ha! I also have 2x black and white clowns... my tank is about 2 weeks old now... the female seems to swim about like she owns the place while the male sits up top next to the pump quivering.... she even goes out her way to swim up to him and tell him to dance b****... absolute bully. Is this ok and normal behaviour?

Pretty typical, yeah. Female clowns definitely wear the pants, so to speak. By penalty box I meant any sort of container like a critter keeper or breeding box to isolate the aggressive one for 3-5 days. It's common at my lfs to see plastic cages floating in their tanks. The usual culprits are clowns, damsels and sometimes angels.

 

[SE7ƎN]

The Thug-Clown was released after 3 days “In the Hole” and now playing nice again. Thanks again for the great advice.

While on a time-out, I stuck a fake anemone in there and he really took on to it, as opposed to not caring about it at all before. They are playing nice in there. It seems like they liked the PVC too much for their own good, and brought out the cookie-monster inside them.

 

[Cole.mormon]

Nice will be following

 

[Cole.mormon]

Qt bully

 

[SE7ƎN]

Qt bully

I am glad I came here because I would have done the opposite, and stuck the orange one (smaller) inside thinking it would have given him time to heal in the calm water inside. The Bully seemed to have really liked it in there, except during feeding, so it didn’t seem like punishment at all for him.