Training human aggression out of clownfish?

[CKW]

Clown fish are Clown fish!! Period!!!
They will always be Clown fish and never change!!!
I have a Tomato Clown that would take on jaws!!! And win!

 

[Peace River]

I’ve kept at least 10 different species of clowns and who knows how many morphs. There has been variation among the different species and from individual to individual but for me it is a coin flip on which ones are aggressive toward me and which ones do a head bump versus biting versus heading straight for the webbing between your fingers. I try to minimize the stress on the fish as much as possible and adjust my behavior to theirs. Clownfish aggression is wired into them and it is part of their dominance structure and even how they determine which is male, female, or remaining juvenile. I thoroughly enjoy clown fish and I recognize them for the damselfish that they are.

 

[OrchidMiss]

Not all clowns attack. Some females (and occasionally the males) decide your hand is a threat to the sanctity of their world and so they attack with viciousness.

@OrchidMiss has had blood drawn on multiple occasions.

True story.

 

[mfinn]

I've been fighting with my female GSM clown for a couple decades ( male and female are 26 years old) and she usually wins each confrontation.
She has drawn blood.

 

[shimmer]

I hate to see these posts about "training" a clownfish or "thumping" them. The fish are exhibiting their natural behavior. I have a pair of oscellaris clowns. Yes, when doing maintenance if my hand gets too close to their host anemones the female darts out at me and would probably bite me if I didn't just flick my fingers in her direction which sends her retreating back into the anemone. I don't see it as any big deal. Honestly, they're just little fish.

I would walk over towards the tank and she would already be eyeing me up, moment I put anything in the water she was on it. So much so that after a while even the male started to do it seemingly to help her. She was a big girl too. She was fine with other fish and inverts, it was just me, even if I was no where near the nem or her. That was just most recent pair, previous ones weren't as bad, but would still bite.

She 100% would've latched on and drew blood if I would've ever not pulled it out in time.

Maybe I will try and find some good gloves if I ever decide to try again, everything has always been too annoying to take on and off every time or too bulky and limited my mobility.

 

[VelocityTech]

True story.

lol. That clownfish looks insanely mean!! Haha I had one just like that. He drew blood constantly. We would go to war! Its a bitter sweet with them gone.

 

[GoAskAlice]

I have been bitten by, to name a few--

a horse
a dog (3 separate occasions)
An out of control toddler
My son's pet rat (did you know razor sharp teeth are rodents' main defense)

With all due respect to my female oscellaris clown, if you bite me, even if you draw blood, you don't even make the list.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

True story.

no way!! wow!!

 

[Evil1]

I have been bitten by, to name a few--

a horse
a dog (3 separate occasions)
An out of control toddler
My son's pet rat (did you know razor sharp teeth are rodents' main defense)

With all due respect to my female oscellaris clown, if you bite me, even if you draw blood, you don't even make the list.

If you would have trained them properly it would never have happened

 

[MikeReefs]

True story.

Look at that mean mug on her face I know she means business. Mine has never bit me but she will charge or tail whip me if I get too close her her eggs

 

[GoAskAlice]

If you would have trained them properly it would never have happened

you've never spent time around horses or toddlers

 

[vijay_06]

My tank is 5 months old. One of the clowns was fine for the first 3 months, but now attacks my hand viciously whenever I do anything other than feeding. I am having to wear a rubber glove to perform cleaning tasks.

 

[littlefoxx]

I am curious on any experiences you have had with training out aggressiveness towards owners from clownfish.

I want clownfish, but I require a tank I can put my hands in freely for maintenance. Have had no natural luck finding docile ones.

My gf is a dog trainer, and by extent that means I also have to be, I trained our puppy mostly, because she was so busy, and I've helped with many board and trains. I know they're completely different animals with different hierarchy, but it's so easy to do when you calmly and repeatedly assert yourself as the dominant one.

Was wondering if this has ever worked in this scenario.

The only ways I can even think to do it would be quick and somewhat intense swatting anytime she came near my hand looking to bite(negative) and feeding a food they enjoy, in a different section of the tank, when she does leave me alone(positive).

I would get when juveniles so I could start the positive reinforcement before the aggression shows up.

Curious on any studies or even anecdotes about this?

I love clownfish but I want a peaceful tank that I'm not afraid of.

I dont know one of my old clowns jumped out of the water and sunk her teeth into my forehead!

 

[littlefoxx]

My tank is 5 months old. One of the clowns was fine for the first 3 months, but now attacks my hand viciously whenever I do anything other than feeding. I am having to wear a rubber glove to perform cleaning tasks.

Flick her. my tomato clown chomped on my hand and I flicked her (not hard enough to hurt her of course) but she has never bitten me again! Only clown that flicking them didnt work was one of my regular ones, she bit my forehead.

 

[GoAskAlice]

My tank is 5 months old. One of the clowns was fine for the first 3 months, but now attacks my hand viciously whenever I do anything other than feeding. I am having to wear a rubber glove to perform cleaning tasks.

A point I am trying to make. If you're afraid your clownfish is going to "attack" you..wear gloves. I'm pretty sure they can't bite through aquarium gloves! But swatting and hitting them instead is inhumane. Really? They're just doing what nature programmed them to do.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i think its natural instinct to take a swing at something that is coming to attack us

 

[GoAskAlice]

I think there are those who like the "flicking" and "swatting" this little fish. "I'll show you who's boss. I'm a 150 lb human and I can flick your tiny body all the way across a 6 ft tank. Take that!"

Make you feel better?

 

[littlefoxx]

Deleted.

 

[GoAskAlice]

For real? Yeah not what happened. I flicked at her on instinct, barely touched her or my other clowns. They are fast. If you really think I flicked a fish that is in my care and I love 6 feet youre crazy. If you flick at them, they dont bite, and they dont even get touched because they are fast. I started doing that because I moved my had away so fast at the first one that bit me I knocked a rock over and crushed my cleaner shrimp. I lost my shrimp. So yeah since you wanted to go there flicking at a clownfish vs losing another one of my tank mates? Yeah Ill flick at her since you know, I cant actually HIT her because they move way faster in water than we do. “Flicked six feet” yeah okay, physics not a thing apparently? Cause that isnt even possible.

yep it is.

I wasn't speaking to you personally. If I had I would have directly responded to your post, which I did not.

 

[VelocityTech]

I think there are those who like the "flicking" and "swatting" this little fish. "I'll show you who's boss. I'm a 150 lb human and I can flick your tiny body all the way across a 6 ft tank. Take that!"

Make you feel better?

Whaaat? *Face Palm*