Can a clownfish be taught NOT to bite the hand that feeds it?

[revhtree]

If you have clownfish chances are they have bit you or tried to bite you! I've been very fortunate over the years to have clownfish pairs who don't really bite that often or ever really. BUT from what I've read over the years it's pretty common to have biting clowns! It's annoying because things get wet, corals get accidentally fragged and so on and so forth. What I'm wondering is, is there a way to teach them not to bite? Let's chat about it!

Have you ever turned a biting clownfish into a docile clownfish and if so how?

image source

 

[blaxsun]

The other two clownfish took care of the third biting one, so I didn't have to even do anything.

 

[A Young Reefer]

One thing I did that massively reduced the aggression of my maroon clown;
I used to tame and train aggressive and scared parrots for a living, without going over all the boring details. In short; it’s gonna try to bite you to get what it wants (you stepping away from its territory). If you keep freaking out and removing your hand you are basically going to give it what it wants and it’s only going to get more aggressive from there. Wear a glove when working in the tank and leave it to bite until it gets bored, this will hopefully show that your hand is not a threat. When I moved it to the bigger tank the purple tang showed her who is the boss around the tank and it stopped showing any signs of aggression towards my hand or towards any of its tank mates.

 

[Paul B]

No you can't. It's what clownfish do and their "area" on a reef is about as big as your kitchen.

This guy is about 30 years old and I have to wear double gloves to put my hand in the tank

 

[WhitePanther93]

My female used to nip at my elbows ( I have no idea why) when she did this I “fought back” or just ignored her and kept doing what I was doing. eventually she just stopped haven’t been nipped by her in a while.

They’re not yet fully grown (bigger one is about 2.5 Inches the little one is probably shy of 2)

 

[Ashy]

not yet

 

[SlugSnorter]

Im waiting for a mention of Luxo.

 

[SunshineNinja]

Mine bite when I'm not wearing my full length water gloves. But if I'm wearing gloves they leave me alone. They know when I'm vulnerable :/

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

We need to start an evil clownfish support group. Mine were biters, and would make messing around in the tank a dangerous task. I found that the best thing to stop them was to just ignore them, or chase them around with your hand for a few minutes until they give up.

 

[Alexraptor]

Oh god, yes! My Maroon was such a nasty piece of work, I actually ended up trading him in for store credit. My current "old" Ocellaris clown also gets a little nippy when I have my hands in the tank for too long. And if I try to put any new corals in the tank, he WILL attack them.

Astonishingly enough he does respond to finger wagging. He was particularly troublesome with my A. efflorescens, and it got to the point I saw him preparing to charge it, and I simply turned around and wagged my finger at him, from across the room, and shouted NO, and he actually backed down!

 

[HBtank]

My late Tomato clownfish, baby pic in my avatar, was a sweetheart. 15 years and not one bite.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Im waiting for a mention of Luxo.

Is luxo a well known terror around here?

 

[SlugSnorter]

Is luxo a well known terror around here?

I think she's become like some sort of communal boogeyman who represents the evil that dwells within the evil soulless abyssal horrors known as "clownfish"

 

[konatown]

My two original clowns that I still have are about a year old and still like puppy dogs, sticking their faces out of the water for food

I have a third clown in her own tank that I inherited from someone, a blood orange, and she used to bite me, and smack into me a lot lol. Now she will just charge me and splash me, but hasn’t bitten in a while! She’s pretty and loves anemones so that’s why I kept her.

 

[DannoOMG]

Ya my clownfish lunges at me when I have my hands in the tank.

What ya gonna do.

 

[WhitePanther93]

My two original clowns that I still have are about a year old and still like puppy dogs, sticking their faces out of the water for food

I have a third clown in her own tank that I inherited from someone, a blood orange, and she used to bite me, and smack into me a lot lol. Now she will just charge me and splash me, but hasn’t bitten in a while! She’s pretty and loves anemones so that’s why I kept her.

That anemone is gorgeous. What kind is it?

 

[MamaP]

If you have clownfish chances are they have bit you or tried to bite you! I've been very fortunate over the years to have clownfish pairs who don't really bite that often or ever really. BUT from what I've read over the years it's pretty common to have biting clowns! It's annoying because things get wet, corals get accidentally fragged and so on and so forth. What I'm wondering is, is there a way to teach them not to bite? Let's chat about it!

Have you ever turned a biting clownfish into a docile clownfish and if so how?

image source

I must be very fortunate, because this is my second pair of clowns, and none have ever tried to bite me. Mine are always super sweet and will even gently nibble food from my hand at feeding time!

 

[Karen00]

No you can't. It's what clownfish do and their "area" on a reef is about as big as your kitchen.

This guy is about 30 years old and I have to wear double gloves to put my hand in the tank

Wow! 30 yrs old? That is amazing!!! I find it incredible that so many aquatic creatures can live longer than our dogs and cats. What type of clown is that? It looks different or maybe that's what they looked like 30 yrs ago.

 

[SPS2020]

@Sharkbait19 where are you? LOL

 

[Bpb]

My 18 year old clarkii has bitten chunks off my knuckles. It really stings when she gets the skin between the fingers. She strikes faster than a snake and is ridiculously accurate. Every time it bleeds quite a bit and stings like heck. There’s no dodging it either she’s so fast. She will zip out from under a rock and be back in hiding before I know what hit me. Now if I need to work around where she likes to hang out, I’ll move quickly and often will have to just drop a net in the water which is usually enough to keep her scared into hiding.

The anthias and big foxface swarm my hand as well but not from aggression, I’ve got them trained to feed from my hand so every time I put my hand in the tank they think I have a pinch of food to nibble