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

[Sharkbait19]

Its only a matter of time until she devours whatever is dropped into the water.

It certainly is….
At this point, she owns the whole tank!

 

[OrchidMiss]

It certainly is….
At this point, she owns the whole tank!

Luxo and Felicia would be good friends.

 

[i cant think]

Luxo and Felicia would be good friends.

Now that’s a combo I’d die to see!

 

[Sunny in Miami]

My clownfish are gentle little guys. I use my Tunze arm length gloves yo work in my aquarium anyhow. So they can take their vengeance out on me and it won't hurt the least bit. Haha

 

[OrchidMiss]

Just staring at the surface waiting for something to attack....

 

[i cant think]

Just staring at the surface waiting for something to attack....

Is she a lightning?
Absolutely beautiful and if I were to set up an anemone tank I’d do one for a female. Maroons may be aggressive but they’re stunners, do they only get hosted by BTAs or are there other anemones that will host the maroon species? I know certain anemones host certain clowns but I have no idea which hosts which species.

 

[LPS Bum]

I have the world's meanest Tomato clown. I mean this thing rivals Mama Fratelli.

She got so bad with the biting (routinely drawing blood) that I had to take her out of my reef and put her in my large FOWLR. Every time I do a water change, I put a large net next to the ara that I'm working. She still attacks the net, but doesn't get my hand.

 

[DJMCB35]

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.

My female used to nip
at me too. We were dating though. It virtually stopped when we got married.

 

[mandyvan]

Look at those cute little teeth. Love bites, if you ask me. But, mine are so new I think they are “visiting” and not biting yet in the 3 months or so, 2 different kinds in 2 different tanks. You look as tasty as their food.

 

[vlangel]

I voted no because the 2 clowns that I have currently do not bite me. One is a True Percula and the other is an Oscellaris.

However I had a mated pair of Tomato clowns for probably 13 years before I rehomed them and the female was a terror. They were in a 4 ft tank but I had to always keep a big net between her and my hand when I cleaned the tank. They spawned twice a month for years and years. I guess that is why she was so protective.

 

[OrchidMiss]

Is she a lightning?
Absolutely beautiful and if I were to set up an anemone tank I’d do one for a female. Maroons may be aggressive but they’re stunners, do they only get hosted by BTAs or are there other anemones that will host the maroon species? I know certain anemones host certain clowns but I have no idea which hosts which species.

She's a gold dot maroon. I don't know if they will be hosted by other types of anemones.
This is her tank. She tolerates Maria the YWG and Mr. Snippy Snappy the pistol shrimp, Lorna the purple firefish was evicted to the overflow and I haven't been able to retreive her.

 

[Blknovass]

I had a percula that any time my hand was in the tank she would bite me right in between the fingers and draw blood. Let’s just say I was not sad to see her go.

 

[i cant think]

She's a gold dot maroon. I don't know if they will be hosted by other types of anemones.
This is her tank. She tolerated Maria the YWG and Mr. Snippy Snappy the pistol shrimp, Lorna the purple firefish was evicted to the overflow and I haven't been able to retreive her.

She’s got one of the nicest anemone tank for sure! I’d love one if I could have a different species of anemone other than BTA such as a sebae anemone.

 

[OrchidMiss]

She’s got one of the nicest anemone tank for sure! I’d love one if I could have a different species of anemone other than BTA such as a sebae anemone.

Thanks! all 6 of those started as 1.... lol and there are 2 others in my 110g and 2 in my 55g as well all from one that I paid $25 for from a local reefer!

 

[Mark Goode]

She's a gold dot maroon. I don't know if they will be hosted by other types of anemones.
This is her tank. She tolerates Maria the YWG and Mr. Snippy Snappy the pistol shrimp, Lorna the purple firefish was evicted to the overflow and I haven't been able to retreive her.

I had a fish get stuck in the overflow box once. All rescue methods failed. Finally, in desparation, I put one end of a 1" pipe into the overflow and blew as hard as I could down the other. That worked.

 

[codenfx]

My 2 clownfish runs when I put my hand/arm in, I'm lucky to not experience the biting... yet.

 

[OrchidMiss]

I had a fish get stuck in the overflow box once. All rescue methods failed. Finally, in desparation, I put one end of a 1" pipe into the overflow and blew as hard as I could down the other. That worked.

Technically it's the return chamber of my AIO.... but she darts and hides under the skimmer.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

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.

Being that I help run a Parrot rescue, I'm curious how you 'trained' aggressive birds. I agree that by reacting, you are re-enforcing the biting behavior.

 

[i cant think]

She's a gold dot maroon. I don't know if they will be hosted by other types of anemones.
This is her tank. She tolerates Maria the YWG and Mr. Snippy Snappy the pistol shrimp, Lorna the purple firefish was evicted to the overflow and I haven't been able to retreive her.

Also, I’ve not really looked into maroons as much in the past (After being bitten by a juvenile I did go off of them quite fast) but do all maroons have that stunning flame orange marking around their fins? I assume not but as I said I’ve never really looked into maroons too much.

 

[OrchidMiss]

Being that I help run a Parrot rescue, I'm curious how you 'trained' aggressive birds. I agree that by reacting, you are re-enforcing the biting behavior.

Do you mind if I also send you a message?
LOL Peas is being more than just his "cheeky" green cheek self.