Clownfish Harem Tank Agression

[MFear]

I have had a clownfish harem tank going for about 2.5 years now. I have 13 clowns (some kind of Picasso) and 50-60 green bta anemones. The clowns were all from the same clutch added at the same time as teeny tiny babies. All has been well until this week when I’ve been noticing quite a few nipped fins and one clown that’s got the most white on it than any of the others is CONSTANTLY being bullied by the big female of the tank. I’d love to hear from other members who’ve successfully had harems for some advice. They already get three auto feeds and a frozen cube every day. Daily Auto water changes and stable parameters. Is it just that they’ve gotten too big for their tank (3’x2’) or maybe just a phase. I’m leaning towards pulling some fish to decrease aggression. Should I pull the one that’s being bullied? Or should I pull the big female that’s in charge?

 

[blaxsun]

My (ex) female clownfish killed every other clownfish in the harem (~25 fish) except her mate, and I got the pair from the (understandably) very unhappy former clownfish keeper. So just based on that I'd say try removing or separating the large female.

 

[littlefoxx]

I have had a clownfish harem tank going for about 2.5 years now. I have 13 clowns (some kind of Picasso) and 50-60 green bta anemones. The clowns were all from the same clutch added at the same time as teeny tiny babies. All has been well until this week when I’ve been noticing quite a few nipped fins and one clown that’s got the most white on it than any of the others is CONSTANTLY being bullied by the big female of the tank. I’d love to hear from other members who’ve successfully had harems for some advice. They already get three auto feeds and a frozen cube every day. Daily Auto water changes and stable parameters. Is it just that they’ve gotten too big for their tank (3’x2’) or maybe just a phase. I’m leaning towards pulling some fish to decrease aggression. Should I pull the one that’s being bullied? Or should I pull the big female that’s in charge?

Female clowns are so mean sometimes! I always separate the aggressor in an acclimation box for them to chill. By the way this is a super cool tank! How big is it?

 

[MFear]

Female clowns are so mean sometimes! I always separate the aggressor in an acclimation box for them to chill. By the way this is a super cool tank! How big is it?

Thanks! It’s a Red Sea Max e260 with the in cabinet sump upgrade. So it’s 3’ wide about 2’ deep and 2’ tall. Total water volume I’d guess is around 75 gallons. All the nems come from my original green bta that a friend gave me in 2015 and they just keep splitting. It’s now a box of spaghetti and I regularly pull nems to supply my local lfs for store credit

 

[MFear]

My (ex) female clownfish killed every other clownfish in the harem (~25 fish) except her mate, and I got the pair from the (understandably) very unhappy former clownfish keeper. So just based on that I'd say try removing or separating the large female.

Thanks for the reply. I guess my female just hit the age of killer whale ‍. Luckily since she such a food hog it should be pretty easy to net her

 

[littlefoxx]

Thanks! It’s a Red Sea Max e260 with the in cabinet sump upgrade. So it’s 3’ wide about 2’ deep and 2’ tall. Total water volume I’d guess is around 75 gallons. All the nems come from my original green bta that a friend gave me in 2015 and they just keep splitting. It’s now a box of spaghetti and I regularly pull nems to supply my local lfs for store credit

Super cool! Ive got the same tank, looking into the sump upgrade! Mine has two maroon clowns, marine betta, dwarf fuzzy lion, 2 fire fish, mel wrasse, golden dwarf angel, 4 chromis, a damsel, and an engineer and watchmen gobies, and a target spot mandarin! Would love to have a clown tank down the road like that though beautiful!

 

[MFear]

Super cool! Ive got the same tank, looking into the sump upgrade! Mine has two maroon clowns, marine betta, dwarf fuzzy lion, 2 fire fish, mel wrasse, golden dwarf angel, 4 chromis, a damsel, and an engineer and watchmen gobies, and a target spot mandarin! Would love to have a clown tank down the road like that though beautiful!

That’s quite the stock!!

 

[littlefoxx]

That’s quite the stock!!

Yeah! They all get along so good with each other