Clownfish biting and now I want to bite back! What have you done?

[CJRIZZOTTI]

What?!? That's crazy!

He felt horrible cause she was a breeder! Taught me never to wear jewellery in the tank

 

[paul barker]

Lol I have a golden nugget clown he bites everything it's funny when I clean the glass

 

[BigJim]

I go on the offensive and chase it around the tank until it loses its desire to chase me. Usually only takes a few seconds of chasing it around.

I tried this but not because I thought it would help. I just wanted revenge.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Like some have mentioned, I start chasing the clown with my hand, including into the anemone. Doing that a couple of times definitely changes how aggressive she is towards me. Did the same with my trigger fish, which has significantly decreased his overall aggression. Something about a fish thinking they are alpha makes them go bananas. Once they realize they are not it becomes a friendlier environment for everyone.

 

[easternreefer]

female ocellaris would bite me only between my fingers.. and would hold on.. pulled her out of the tank on more than one occasion. the pair I have now have not started biting yet.. but I expect them too.

 

[blkhwkz]

My gold stripe maroon bit me pretty good last week while I was trying to relocate one of her many anemones (they keep splitting.) Have a pair of DaVinci in my wife's nano and the female always bites me, my wife thinks it's very funny since it's not her hand in the tank. None of them really hurt, except when the DaVinci got me in the webbing between fingers, that one stung a bit. My couple of other pairs in other tanks leave me alone. I did try chasing the DaVinci, it just thought it was a game, and got me harder a few seconds later.

 

[davocean]

Back when I had a nasty maroon, I accidentally discovered a trick that helped me.
One day mounting frags I happen to be wearing my stainless dive watch, and apparently she saw her reflection in that watch, so she hit the watch, over and over.
The cool thing is she went straight at that, and never bit skin, so that became a regular part of my tank maintenance from then on.
After a while, she seemed to slow down, and just mostly stared at her reflection angrily, maybe that watch dulled her teeth!
Anyway, maybe something similar will work for you.

 

[davocean]

I go on the offensive and chase it around the tank until it loses its desire to chase me. Usually only takes a few seconds of chasing it around.

Usually this just makes them meaner

 

[711reefer]

i bought those shoulder length rubber gloves. my clowns wont go near them when i am working in the tank. if i as much as put a bare finger in the tank they are trying to attack me

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Tank top as in shirt or as in the top of the fish tank? I'm sorry, I just got a comical vision of a person jumping around with a clownfish down someone's shirt and biting eveything in reach.

As in my shirt. It seriously was continuing to try to bite me.

 

[theblackpearl]

Use the coralife shoulder length reef gloves. Works for me and it keeps you tank protected from lotion and cologne

 

[FredsNJReef]

I am hoping I don't wake the clown Gods, but my female skunk clown runs when I go into the tank. Maybe cause she's the only clown there? But truthfully I did avoid the Maroon clown because I heard of these horror stories. I mean I swear I'm not afraid of a little clown! ;Blackeye;Nailbiting

 

[FredsNJReef]

double post!

 

[cracker]

Toughen Up Man ! lil Nemo fish ? LOL

 

[rcmike]

I have several pairs for breeding and some of them bite and some don't. When I am feeding LRS I will pinch off a piece and kind of grind it between my fingers under water so it breaks up. Most of them don't bother me when doing this but one will shoot up and hit my finger as soon as it hits the water. After it gets one bite it stops though.
My pair in my reef tank will attack me ruthlessly. They have drawn blood more than once. I found out I can take a net and place it over their BTA and they will stop. Don't know if it will work for you but it's worth a try.

 

[Vince57]

I try to fight back.....some day I might get a lick in

Homie don’t play dat!!!

 

[siggy]

be careful not to wear rings my buddy's clown went to go bite him hit his ring so hard the poor thing died

KISS the ring or sleep with the fishes.

 

[Flexin]

When I need to go on THEIR side of the tank, I turn my scraper around and place the handle (plastic rod) between me and them, then I move it back and forth gently and it keeps them at bay. So now, they normally don't go for my hand or the softest spot on my arm that I had no idea existed And if they do, I just use the handle and they stay distracted.

 

[Hogan]

My friend had a mean clown fish that he hated but could never catch. Then, one day he went downstairs and the clown had gone carpet surfing. He was so excited. He picked it up and pinned it by it's tail on his fish bulletin board where it still hangs today.

I had a clown fish that hated my wife for some reason. It was in our frag tank and if she went by the tank it would swim to the surface and splash water at her with it's tail. If her hand was in the tank, it was constantly after her. But it only didn't like her. Anyone else, it never gave them a second glance. My wife named her Beasty.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

My clowns are notorious for this, I do not even have to put the fingers in the water and the female will jump, she has only hit the ground three times. My buddy has a similar issue. What I have found to work is putting a net on the rim of the tank or hanging in the tank as you work. The clowns go to their corner or their nem and will not try anything as long as the net is present.