Clownfish bullied to death

sam2110

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I lost a clownfish today, a bit gutted as I only had him a year. He was paired with a female and they never had any issues until 2 weeks ago.

Nothing changed in the tank and they were the only fish in there. The female started chasing the male and nipping at his fins, she then became relentless in chasing him. A Couple of times I saw him jump straight into the jump gaurd. She started chasing him away from food and today she finally killed him. It goes without saying I will not put another clown in there with her.

Has anyone had any experiences with things like this.
 

Fish Think Pink

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I lost a clownfish today, a bit gutted as I only had him a year. He was paired with a female and they never had any issues until 2 weeks ago.

Nothing changed in the tank and they were the only fish in there. The female started chasing the male and nipping at his fins, she then became relentless in chasing him. A Couple of times I saw him jump straight into the jump gaurd. She started chasing him away from food and today she finally killed him. It goes without saying I will not put another clown in there with her.

Has anyone had any experiences with things like this.
I am sad for you. Guess you had a clownfish divorce, though vows too serious "till death do us part."

I had a lightening clown that couldn't be with other clown fish. Did not know that until I bought more. Lightning was sentenced to sump before any died but not before he wore color off his nose and lip from biting so many so often. Once he healed up, sold locally with understanding could not be with any other clown. He was beautiful and tons of personality. I miss him. I had like 13 anenomes at the time with this 1 clown fish, so I bought 8 clowns. It is possible he killed one; we don't know where it went. Because there were 7 others left to chase, he managed to severely stress ALL but aggression was spaced among any that went near any anenome - ALL were HIS ONLY. Had there been fewer clowns introduced, it all would have been worse. It was sad.
 

muggle0981

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I had a clown i pulled after 3 years-became a jag to all tank mates, when i would feed or put my hands in tank would nip at my fingers
 

Azedenkae

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I lost a clownfish today, a bit gutted as I only had him a year. He was paired with a female and they never had any issues until 2 weeks ago.

Nothing changed in the tank and they were the only fish in there. The female started chasing the male and nipping at his fins, she then became relentless in chasing him. A Couple of times I saw him jump straight into the jump gaurd. She started chasing him away from food and today she finally killed him. It goes without saying I will not put another clown in there with her.

Has anyone had any experiences with things like this.
Yeah clowns do that. I have not experienced it personally, but I heard of it. Kind of a bummer.
 

Fish Think Pink

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I had a clown i pulled after 3 years-became a jag to all tank mates, when i would feed or put my hands in tank would nip at my fingers
Once clowns get acclimated, they all seem to bite during anenome feedings & cleanings of their area... we call clowns "peaceful" but they are not. I scream when bitten - every time. My family thinks my screams hysterically funny.
 

Sebastiancrab

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I guess I am wondering why, when you noticed the aggression only getting worse, you didn't get the fish out and rehome him? I currently have a FW tank also running and recently put in a new male guppie. I already had another older guppy. The new one ran down the old one until I put him in a breeder acrylic holding box. I may have to rehome him.
 

Rjramos

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Yes. This happened to me some years ago with a pair of ocelaris clowns. They had been together for several years and the female suddenly went crazy on him. I pulled him out and put him in the refugium below. Two days later before I could re-home him, he jumped out of refugium and I lost him.
This pair had never spawned. I suspect that for some reason, the male was either sterile or unable to do his part. Was your pair spawning prior to this happening?
 

DeniseAndy

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Probably ready to spawn and something was wrong. The female killed off the dominant male hoping another to take its place. So sorry to hear. In the wild, she would have multiple to choose from.

I understand that sometimes we cannot get the fish out in time to save them. Sorry for your loss.
 
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sam2110

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I wish I could get him out, I did try but the tank is so full of rock and coral it's impossible to even get a net in there let alone a fish trap.
 
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sam2110

sam2110

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Yes. This happened to me some years ago with a pair of ocelaris clowns. They had been together for several years and the female suddenly went crazy on him. I pulled him out and put him in the refugium below. Two days later before I could re-home him, he jumped out of refugium and I lost him.
This pair had never spawned. I suspect that for some reason, the male was either sterile or unable to do his part. Was your pair spawning prior to this happening?
They never spawned, I had them for just over a year and I know they were around 6 months old when I got them. They had been together since 4 months old from what I can work out.
 
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sam2110

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I had a clown i pulled after 3 years-became a jag to all tank mates, when i would feed or put my hands in tank would nip at my fingers
This female has started biting my hands every time I go in the tank, she even attacked the glass cleaner
 

vetteguy53081

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This can unfortunately be typical and the female generally the aggressor. This is where an acclimation box can be handy in saving the one picked on, or giving the aggressor a time out.
This occurs when the clowns have changed their relationship as well as the male doing a lot more "shivering" and the female will then chase him down and bite him or until he thunks into a wall. The shaking you are seeing is just clownfish communication and showing dominance and submission, both females and male clownfish do it, although males tend to do it more.
Female clownfish are much more dominant than their male counterparts. They greedily try to eat most of the food that gets into the tank (which is one reason the males don't grow as large). They will often aggressively protect their "home", whether that be an anemone, a nesting site, a clay pot or the entire fish tank. If it attacks your hand when you're trying to clean the glass or it won't let any other fish near its spot, you most likely have a female clownfish.
 
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sam2110

sam2110

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This can unfortunately be typical and the female generally the aggressor. This is where an acclimation box can be handy in saving the one picked on, or giving the aggressor a time out.
This occurs when the clowns have changed their relationship as well as the male doing a lot more "shivering" and the female will then chase him down and bite him or until he thunks into a wall. The shaking you are seeing is just clownfish communication and showing dominance and submission, both females and male clownfish do it, although males tend to do it more.
Female clownfish are much more dominant than their male counterparts. They greedily try to eat most of the food that gets into the tank (which is one reason the males don't grow as large). They will often aggressively protect their "home", whether that be an anemone, a nesting site, a clay pot or the entire fish tank. If it attacks your hand when you're trying to clean the glass or it won't let any other fish near its spot, you most likely have a female clownfish.
Will it be possible to attempt to introduce another clown? Or do you think I am better moving her on and starting again with a new pair?
 

Rjramos

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Will it be possible to attempt to introduce another clown? Or do you think I am better moving her on and starting again with a new pair?
I actually paired her again. Using an acclimation box for 1 week before releasing the smaller new fish. It worked out, but they haven’t spawned and don’t know if they will. This is the new pair of mis bars. Over 3 years together, no spawning.

C087E528-6D19-48DC-B212-BBFA027B2CB1.jpeg 744D1105-BA3F-4A0E-970A-34C27CB0CFC5.jpeg
 
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