Clownfish Fighting

[mattiusthefishman]

I got 2 small clownfish (1 slightly bigger than the other) into a new 15g tank, didn’t put a mesh top on it and a week later the big clown jumped out and died. After a few more weeks I bought a new clownfish, basically the exact same size as the current one, and after about 2 days the new one chased the original one until it could no longer find it behind a rock or coral. I let this behaviour go on for a week or so, but the original clowns colour has faded and back fin seems a little bit nipped. I asked my LFS what to do and they said to put the one being harrassed into a breeder box so Ive done that today. Is this the right thing to do? The aggressive one has still been trying to nip the original one through the net. They are either ocellaris or percula clowns if thats important.

 

[mattiusthefishman]

heres some photos/videos of the setup. The breeder box also blocks some of the light to my zoas but i assume theyll be fine

 

[Jvesche20]

The older one has established territory. Introducing fish at the same time is what I would do but since that didnt happen you can do a few things. Try moving the rock scape so there are no territories, put a mirror against the glass (only worked with tangs for me) Take them both out for a while (days) and reintroduce them together. if you can remove or change the rock work is what I would do and see if that changes the aggression.

 

[mattiusthefishman]

The older one has established territory. Introducing fish at the same time is what I would do but since that didnt happen you can do a few things. Try moving the rock scape so there are no territories, put a mirror against the glass (only worked with tangs for me) Take them both out for a while (days) and reintroduce them together. if you can remove or change the rock work is what I would do and see if that changes the aggression.

But the one thats being aggressive is the one that is newer to the tank. I cant put them in another tank because I dont have other saltwater tanks and I cant rearrange the rocks because theyre stuck together. Once one of them gets larger than the other wont that one become a female and theyll pair?

 

[Zerobytes]

Mine haven’t resolved their differences after 3 months. It hasn’t gotten physical yet so I’m still letting them try to hash it out. I kind of thought they would have by now. But I’m pretty much ready to take bully back to be honest.

 

[Jvesche20]

But the one thats being aggressive is the one that is newer to the tank. I cant put them in another tank because I dont have other saltwater tanks and I cant rearrange the rocks because theyre stuck together. Once one of them gets larger than the other wont that one become a female and theyll pair?

Oh my bad thought it was the other way around.