Mandarin dragonet attacking clown

[cohojoe412]

I have a RS350 that’s been up and running for 2.5 years now. The clownfish have been in it since day one and the mandarin about 2 years. This morning I was watching the tank and the Mandarin was swimming around with the clown in its mouth by the gills. Has anyone ever seen this before?

Any suggestions on what to prevent? Could it be a food thing? I was just travelling for a couple days so there was less feeding time.

I ended up poking the mandarin with a stick and it let go. Clown looks ok but some damage to its gill cover so will monitor it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@OrionN

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Are we talking abiut a mandarin dragonette??? If so thats wild. Thats the one fish who isnt even part of the pecking order in my tank. He doesnt care about anyone else, and nobody(even the biggest bullies) care about him.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

That is very interesting behavior from a mandarin. I don't think I have ever heard of them being aggressive towards fish besides their own, especially towards Clowns, who are usually the aggressors in the tank.

Do you have any photos of the clown's gills? Wouldn't be a bad idea to get the #fishmedics to check it out.

 

[W31Olds]

They are fierce when competing for mates in the wild. My is totally ignored by my large fish and she ignores all her tankmates.

 

[cohojoe412]

Are we talking abiut a mandarin dragonette??? If so thats wild. Thats the one fish who isnt even part of the pecking order in my tank. He doesnt care about anyone else, and nobody(even the biggest bullies) care about him.

Yes we are. That’s what I thought so it is super weird. I just looked on my camera and they were taking swings at each other again. The two clowns are backing each other up now at least as they are quite a bit smaller…

I’m going to try spot feeding the mandarin a bit more incase it’s a food thing.

This is from this morning, I don’t think it’s skinny by any stretch.

 

[cohojoe412]

That is very interesting behavior from a mandarin. I don't think I have ever heard of them being aggressive towards fish besides their own, especially towards Clowns, who are usually the aggressors in the tank.

Do you have any photos of the clown's gills? Wouldn't be a bad idea to get the #fishmedics to check it out.

I had to head to work but I will grab a picture when I get back, it seemed ok but watching the camera they are still swiping at each other

 

[Sharkbait19]

Can’t say I’ve heard of that happening before!
Clowns like to fight each other - as a result they are also good at healing from injuries. The biggest thing to watch for is infection (redness, swelling, white/fuzzy growth) and be ready to treat in a qt tank if need be.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes we are. That’s what I thought so it is super weird. I just looked on my camera and they were taking swings at each other again. The two clowns are backing each other up now at least as they are quite a bit smaller…

I’m going to try spot feeding the mandarin a bit more incase it’s a food thing.

This is from this morning, I don’t think it’s skinny by any stretch.

I've only seen mandarins go after other males in territorial disputes.

It cannot be food motivated as a mandarin cannot consume even the smallest clownfish (except larval ones).

Since you saw what you saw, I can only think that this was displaced tankmate aggression - where the mandarin is acting like the clown is a competing male for some strange reason.