Aggressive (single) clownfish

[ahiggins]

Hello everyone,
Not the typical clown aggression question but...
I have a single snowflake clown (you can see the other fish in my signature) in a 25 gallon. Parameters are all holding steady.
When I put my hand in to do any sort of maintenance or move coral around or even pipet feed, she is constantly nipping at me or whatever comes into the tank!! It has shocked me a few times lol but is there any way to fix that? I usually try to shoo her away but it never works.
She isnt aggressive towards any other fish (shes the nice one) its just me
Thoughts?

 

[kddunlap21]

I'm having the same thing with my female clown fish. She wasn't always like this. Ive read around and it seems like she in some words has simply chose her nest. It could mean that she has laid eggs but not necessarily for sure. No matter the fact i know its coming i always seem to splash water. haha

 

[reeferfoxx]

Mine did this for a few months. It was driving me crazy. So i decided i would stick with hand in tank maintenance prior to feedings. That way she knew the hand was okay because she knows she gets to eat right after. Fish seem to understand not to bite the hand that feeds you lol!

 

[ahiggins]

I'm having the same thing with my female clown fish. She wasn't always like this. Ive read around and it seems like she in some words has simply chose her nest. It could mean that she has laid eggs but not necessarily for sure. No matter the fact i know its coming i always seem to splash water. haha

hahahaha I KNOW! especially with my tank being rimless! I always splash

So i decided i would stick with hand in tank maintenance prior to feedings. That way she knew the hand was okay because she knows she gets to eat right after.

Ill try that going forward. She does the same thing to the pipet when i put it in to feed her too. or when I feed my acans

 

[ahiggins]

Can they lay eggs without a male? Mines only about 2.5 inches (dont know when they reach maturity.

 

[ahiggins]

I couldnt imagine having a ton of tiny clowns everywhere hahahah
The other fish would probably gobble them up

 

[reeferfoxx]

2 years old is when females are ready. 6 months for males. She might be frustrated, being all alone

 

[ahiggins]

Oh my....

 

[jpontier212]

I have a 24 gallon nano cube with a pair of snowflakes in it and the male is the aggressive one. I have to slowly ease my hand in. Any sudden moves and it becomes multiple nips party.

 

[OrlandoReefer]

Single Clownfish when dominant over an area are extremely territorial with no anenome to take as their territory they can choose to dominate the entire tank in most cases. By domnating the entire tank they see any entrance into their territory as a threat since your entire tank is their territory anytime you stick your hand in she will see it as a threat. She is my aggressive just territorial which is a natural reaction. For a clownfish in a nano aquarium they can usually be the biggest and most powerful fish in the tank any addition of new fish will be attacked and killed due to it entering your clowns territory. Ways to avoid this are by turning off your lights for 10 minutes before acclimation then turning the lights back on after ten minutes with the new fish inside the tank. This allows the clown to not visually see the new fish enter her territory and most of the time can help stir aggression away I've tried this method with all of my aggressive clowns and have never lost a fish. Feeding by hand can help stir aggression away from biting your hand I have seen this to be a possibility from testing it with a clown pair that was fed by hand and one that wasn't in both of my tanks the hand fed clowns never bit my hand or tools.

 

[Sistawolf]

I have a bonded pair of snowflake clowns and a small black and white ocellaris clown and every time I stick my hand in the tank she starts after me.. she nips at my hand all of the time.. no one else but me. I am the one that saved her after a velvet attack on my entire tank a while ago. And feed her.. yet i want to thump her in the head everyday. I can't move a thing in my tank without using a net for defense.. or like you guys.. water is all over the floor.. haha