Clownfish pair attacking new mandarin gobies

[yOyOYoo]

I’ve had this beautiful pair of black clownfish for about 3 months now. The tank is a 75 gallon Innovative Marine. They were re-homed from another reefer who had them for about 7 years. They are pretty aggressive and often bite at my arm when I have my gloves in the tank. They also tail whip any snails and hermit crabs that get near their favorite spot in the back corner of the tank. I’m pretty sure the female clownfish killed one of the smaller hermit crabs. The pair recently started spawning in this same corner and laid about a hundred eggs on the glass.

I’ve been harvesting copepods with the Poseidon Reef System PhytoTank over the last few weeks and I have thousands of pods everywhere. Copepods, isopods and amphipods are all over the rocks, sand and glass. I figured it was finally time to add a pair of mandarin gobies. I added them earlier tonight and the clownfish instantly became insanely aggressive. At one point, the female clownfish grabbed a goby the tail and shook it like a rag doll! It ripped a small chunk of the fin off.

I tried over-feeding, which distracted them for about 5 minutes. I also put up a mirror for an hour but that didn’t help much. While the clownfish don’t usually move more than 6 inches from their “home”, they were out on the hunt to torment the mandarin gobies. I ended up putting the clownfish pair in the sump. With this amount of aggression I’m afraid they may not tolerate any other future fishes. Is there any chance to get these clownfish to calm down or is it hopeless?

 

[fish_collector]

Clownfish are buttholes. Get rid of them.

Brea huh? You go to the new Phoenix club? Good beer.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Do you have an acclimation box? You could try putting the mandarin in an acclimation box to allow the clowns to get used to the fish being in there. Also, try to feed the clowns more, as this can sometimes help curb aggression.

 

[yOyOYoo]

Do you have an acclimation box? You could try putting the mandarin in an acclimation box to allow the clowns to get used to the fish being in there. Also, try to feed the clowns more, as this can sometimes help curb aggression.

I do have a small acclimation box but I was afraid I would stress out the mandarins if the clowns kept pecking at it and they didn’t have anywhere to hide. Also I heard that mandarins can jump when stressed and I didn’t want them jumping out of the tank. I can try over feeding again but just concerned the clownfish will kill the mandarin gobies when I’m not looking.

 

[yOyOYoo]

Clownfish are buttholes. Get rid of them.

Brea huh? You go to the new Phoenix club? Good beer.

I’ve never had aggressive clownfish before.

The Phoenix club is on my list of places to check out!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I do have a small acclimation box but I was afraid I would stress out the mandarins if the clowns kept pecking at it and they didn’t have anywhere to hide. Also I heard that mandarins can jump when stressed and I didn’t want them jumping out of the tank. I can try over feeding again but just concerned the clownfish will kill the mandarin gobies when I’m not looking.

@OrionN can provide you with more insight and alleviate some of your concerns!

 

[Anna K]

I'm not familiar with aggressive clowns (knock on wood), but I wanted to say I love your rock work and you've got a gorgeous tank you're building.

 

[yOyOYoo]

I’ve decided to move this pair of aggressive black clownfish into my other smaller tank. Will add a small single clownfish to this big tank in the future.

 

[OrionN]

You can try to isolate the clowns instead of the mandarin. Several weeks before you let them out one at a time. The male first.
That would be your best chance. If not work and you really want the mandarin the you are going to need to get a younger clowns.
Appropriate host anemone will also decrease, at least localized, the aggression a lot. However, very aggressive clownfish often drag other fish and feed them to the host anemone.

 

[Dom]

I’ve had this beautiful pair of black clownfish for about 3 months now. The tank is a 75 gallon Innovative Marine. They were re-homed from another reefer who had them for about 7 years. They are pretty aggressive and often bite at my arm when I have my gloves in the tank. They also tail whip any snails and hermit crabs that get near their favorite spot in the back corner of the tank. I’m pretty sure the female clownfish killed one of the smaller hermit crabs. The pair recently started spawning in this same corner and laid about a hundred eggs on the glass.

I’ve been harvesting copepods with the Poseidon Reef System PhytoTank over the last few weeks and I have thousands of pods everywhere. Copepods, isopods and amphipods are all over the rocks, sand and glass. I figured it was finally time to add a pair of mandarin gobies. I added them earlier tonight and the clownfish instantly became insanely aggressive. At one point, the female clownfish grabbed a goby the tail and shook it like a rag doll! It ripped a small chunk of the fin off.

I tried over-feeding, which distracted them for about 5 minutes. I also put up a mirror for an hour but that didn’t help much. While the clownfish don’t usually move more than 6 inches from their “home”, they were out on the hunt to torment the mandarin gobies. I ended up putting the clownfish pair in the sump. With this amount of aggression I’m afraid they may not tolerate any other future fishes. Is there any chance to get these clownfish to calm down or is it hopeless?

Clown fish are extremely territorial, particularly if they are already paired. That tank belongs to THEM. Any additions after them will get a hard time.

This may also explain why the original owner re-homed them.

 

[yOyOYoo]

Clown fish are extremely territorial, particularly if they are already paired. That tank belongs to THEM. Any additions after them will get a hard time.

This may also explain why the original owner re-homed them.

You’re right! This pair has been placed into my other aquarium, where they will not have any fish roommates. There are 6 sexy shrimp that are hosted by an anemone but so far the clownfish don’t pay any attention to them.

 

[BryanM]

Glad you already had another tank for them!

 

[FishLvR]

Ugh so is my B word clown going to kill my mandarins I want to get?