Had to go to the hospital because of a clown fish, how embarrassing.

[2Wheelsonly]

I was doing my typical Sunday coralline scrape on my tank and was leaned over trying to reach the side walls. I usually have to stretch really far on the step ladder to get the corners and end up usually looking directly in the tank.

For the first time ever, one of my orange clowns got aggressive and kept going after my hand. I lost track of him and he decided to shoot up out of the water and nipped me right in my eye and managed to actually cause damage to my cornea. He must have jumped about 10 inches out of the water to hit me in the eye; and I had no idea that could ever happen. Luckily I was told it will heal but my vision is currently blurry.

I don't want to remove the little guy from the tank as he was just defending himself; I guess the next time I clean the tank i'm going to wear rubber arm gloves and acrylic glasses.

I feels silly to wear armor against a clown fish. I had NO idea these things can be aggressive like that.

 

[tdileo]

That's crazy! I had no idea that was even possible. I've had a clown jump 4" out of the water and smack into my cheek but 10" and hit you in the eye? I had no clue they had power like that behind their jumps

 

[Big G]

Wow! Sorry, hope your eye heals nicely.

 

[erk]

I don't keep clowns any longer due to their aggression. My single clown would attack me constantly. Thankfully I was never in a position for it to jump and attack me like yours did. Hopefully your eye heals cleanly and you don't get an infection.

 

[Jason mack]

Ive heard of a fox face jumping out of a tank and sticking his spines in my friends shoulder , he had a reaction To iT went into toxicshock spent 2 days in hospital

 

[savetheocean]

Hope your eye heals! Thats CRAZY

 

[DeniseAndy]

Ouch. I am sorry you got that hurt. Clownfish can be quite vicious. I did not have them for some time, but now I have four pairs and one spare (lost his mate). Even they can be a real pain, I love them.

You should start a safety line of gear for aquatics people called clown armour.

 

[RyanCSGO]

clownfish 1 - 2wheels 0


sorry to hear.
I service a buddies tank that has a 5" maroon clown. hate the little bugger. I'll have my hand in the tank 4 feet away from him and he charges me every time.
granted its a Maroon so its almost expected lol.

 

[siggy]

they Paint eye's on fishing lures for a reason, but really feed your fish more.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

they Paint eye's on fishing lures for a reason, but really feed your fish more.

I feed 2x daily, could the fish not eating enough cause that level of aggression? This is the first time it's done this in over a year of being in my tank.

 

[savetheocean]

How big are your clownfish?

I feed 2x daily, could the fish not eating enough cause that level of aggression? This is the first time it's done this in over a year of being in my tank.

 

[Reef Able]

Wow wish u a quick recovery

 

[Greybeard]

Wow.

I've heard of scary clowns, but going out of the water after your face? Just... wow.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'd keep the little guy. He sounds awesome, no offense. That said, my female used to be aggressive during maintenance. I started giving her treats after every cleaning and eventually she stopped being aggressive.

 

[Idoc]

As an eye doctor, i thought i had heard of everything... until now! I've never heard, "hey doc, my fish bit my eye" in over 20 years of practice, lol. Hope it heals well...keep an "eye" on it.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

"Time to clean the fish tank..."

 

[jsker]

"Time to clean the fish tank..."

LOL

 

[Justin84]

Wow! Sorry to hear! I've heard of clowns being aggressive but geez! I have 10 in a tank and every time I stick my hand near the top they scatter like roaches! Hoping for a speedy recovery and yeah if a little clown can go "eye to eye" with you it's definitely worth keeping!

 

[GQuinn]

I had a pair of clowns for about a year. No problems from them, then one day they started attacking my hands. Every time I put my hands in the water they were going after me. I couldn't take it anymore, took them to the local pet store. No clowns for me.

 

[Big G]

I'll never "look" at a clown fish the same way. EVER!