Longfin ocellaris agression

micahsoft · Apr 3, 2021

This Wednesday I put my first fish in my tank. They are captive bred ocellaris clowns. One is a longfin black ice and one is a longfin phantom. I got them shipped directly from the breeder. They are both small, but the black ice is slightly bigger. It was obvious off the bat it would be dominant. They’re always together, but early one the black ice would lunge at the phantom and the phantom would dart away. Didn’t seem to serious. Today I noticed little tears in a few of the phantoms fins. He still tries to dart away most of the time, but I saw him try to defend himself once. Then I caught the black ice grab on to one of his pelvic fins and hold one for a moment. I immediately stuck the black ice in a netted breeder/aclimator to give the phantom time to heal and get used to each other with a barrier. Is there anything else I should try? Thanks.

micahsoft · Apr 3, 2021

Looks like it’s pretty much all fins on his right side and tail.

Azedenkae · Apr 3, 2021

micahsoft said:
This Wednesday I put my first fish in my tank. They are captive bred ocellaris clowns. One is a longfin black ice and one is a longfin phantom. I got them shipped directly from the breeder. They are both small, but the black ice is slightly bigger. It was obvious off the bat it would be dominant. They’re always together, but early one the black ice would lunge at the phantom and the phantom would dart away. Didn’t seem to serious. Today I noticed little tears in a few of the phantoms fins. He still tries to dart away most of the time, but I saw him try to defend himself once. Then I caught the black ice grab on to one of his pelvic fins and hold one for a moment. I immediately stuck the black ice in a netted breeder/aclimator to give the phantom time to heal and get used to each other with a barrier. Is there anything else I should try? Thanks.

You can try a breeder box to separate them and let aggression play out across the two sides of the box.

Unfortunately this is typical clownfish behavior, and even if they settle up aggression, once the fish is released outside of the breeding box there is no guarantee it will stick.

micahsoft · Apr 4, 2021

Yeah, I figured. I have the aggressive one in a hang on the side netted breeder. I’ll have to get a better acrylic One with magnets so I can keep it lower in the tank if they need to be separated often. They don’t fight through the breeder though. The less dominant one stays nearby, but just far enough away it doesn’t get lunged at. I’d let them fight it out a bit, but his fins were getting shredded, so I figured I’d give him a few days of peace.