I need some motivation

Ocean’s Piece

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This is a little long btw:
So I have had my tank running for 5 months now and everything has gone smoothly until I added my clownfish. I bought a royal gramma a month before. After adding the clownfish a week and a half ago, they are bullying my gramma. It has gotten bad where he doesn’t sleep in his spot anymore (he will sometimes but he will hide between powerheads and on the sandbed) and in random places. The clownfish haven’t found a spot in the tank that they like yet. Really considering an anemone but I don’t want it to take over. Considering going fishless, but I want fish. Considering giving my clownfish back to the fish store. I want clownfish, I just hate these. They’re beautiful but they’re bullies to the gramma (the smaller one more than the larger one). I feel like from all of this, I just find myself more stressed then actually enjoying this hobby. Because of my living situation, I only see the tank half the time (15 days throughout of month) and it’s really hard to monitor the tank without a controller (too expensive) and relying on other people is never the same. I feel like this hobby sucks the life out of me and stresses me out. Don’t forget the money part too (doesn’t bug me as much but still). I want to have all these fish and all, but I also don’t want my clownfish be the reason why I don’t get all the ones I want. I’m just in a dilemma. If anyone can offer me some advice, please comment. Anything helps.
 

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I had a lot of problems stocking fish in my 20gallon small tank. I ended up with 5 fish in the end, 4 of which are semi-aggressive. I think especially for small tanks you need either all super peaceful or all semi-aggressive to make it work. IMO. Fish stock - YWG, 2 clowns, yellowtail damsel, striped blenny. Order of intro YWG first, striped blenny for a few weeks, then damsel, then a quick 1 week later clowns. All going well so far...
 
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Ocean’s Piece

Ocean’s Piece

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I had a lot of problems stocking fish in my 20gallon small tank. I ended up with 5 fish in the end, 4 of which are semi-aggressive. I think especially for small tanks you need either all super peaceful or all semi-aggressive to make it work. IMO. Fish stock - YWG, 2 clowns, yellowtail damsel, striped blenny. Order of intro YWG first, striped blenny for a few weeks, then damsel, then a quick 1 week later clowns. All going well so far...
I put the royal gramma in first because of the clownfish aggression problem which seems like it didn’t work. What do your clownfish host and how long did it take? I just want them to find their territory and stay there and not pick on the gramma
 

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The majority of clowns I've know are fairly decent tankmates. But there are always exceptions and individual behaviour always trumps a species reputation. I've had clowns that not only don't want any other fish in their space they will attack my hand when doing maintenance. If you got an esatblished pair I would rehome them if they are already that aggressive. If you just got a random two clowns I would try just rehoming teh more aggressive one.

On a more serious note, the impression I have from your post is you didn't QT. It's possible you introduced a parasite your clownfish is resistant to but your Royal Gramma isn't. Again, based on your OP I think you should be prepared to deal with a parasite problem.
 

BostonReefer300

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Sorry for your stress. You’re right, this hobby should be fun otherwise why bother? Life is short. K.I.S.S. and get rid of at least the one clownfish that’s the bully. Buy a couple colorful and peaceful fish and start having fun
 
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Ocean’s Piece

Ocean’s Piece

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The majority of clowns I've know are fairly decent tankmates. But there are always exceptions and individual behaviour always trumps a species reputation. I've had clowns that not only don't want any other fish in their space they will attack my hand when doing maintenance. If you got an esatblished pair I would rehome them if they are already that aggressive. If you just got a random two clowns I would try just rehoming teh more aggressive one.

On a more serious note, the impression I have from your post is you didn't QT. It's possible you introduced a parasite your clownfish is resistant to but your Royal Gramma isn't. Again, based on your OP I think you should be prepared to deal with a parasite problem.
They both attack my hand when I put my hand in or anything in the tank. They have gotten used to each other and the larger one has shown a little bit of aggression at times to the smaller clown. They’ve only been in there for a week and a half so I assume they would be fine being separated. They both bite my hand though when I do maintenance. Or anything that enters the feeding hatch that isn’t food (syringes, turkey basters, etc) and do it at first sight. I didn’t quarantine because I don’t have another tank for that or any supplies to do it.
 

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They both attack my hand when I put my hand in or anything in the tank. . . .

That's pretty aggressive in my book and I'm pretty sure you're going to have problems with any other fish you add. My guess is you'r going to have to decide between having just that pair of clowns or rehoming them.
 

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I put the royal gramma in first because of the clownfish aggression problem which seems like it didn’t work. What do your clownfish host and how long did it take? I just want them to find their territory and stay there and not pick on the gramma
I have a BTA that one of the clownfish goes in, though not the other at all. Maybe an anemone will work? IF your clownfish like it and the gramma stays away from it...
 

JayA

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I put the royal gramma in first because of the clownfish aggression problem which seems like it didn’t work. What do your clownfish host and how long did it take? I just want them to find their territory and stay there and not pick on the gramma
for my tank the royal gramma was too peaceful...
 
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Ocean’s Piece

Ocean’s Piece

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Returning the clownfish
image.jpg
 

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