Would You Part With Your Very First Fish?

RMS18

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4.5 years ago I bought my first saltwater fish, 2 wild clowns. One of them died from Brook but I was able to save the other. Fast forward through 2 ich breakouts, 3 tank upgrades, one house move, and plenty of beginner errors she has made it through all of them.

She never did like other clowns so I let her be alone. Every once and a while she would lightly chase a fish away from her corner but it was never an issue.

Then I added a male square back Anthia last week and all hell has broken lose. She locked onto him and would not let him be out in the open. I have never seen a fish hunt another fish nor did I ever think she could swim so fast. For some reason adding him turned her into a nightmare. She started to attack all my Wrasses, and ccb.

I tried a acclimation box for a week, that didn't work. I just removed her and put her I to a QT tank until I can figure out what to do.

My attachment comes from her being my very first fish and oldest. Giving her away makes me sad, setting up a tank just for her is crazy I think.

What would you do?

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adam finley

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That’s a tuff one for sure. However if you don’t want to set up another tank just for her maybe it’s time to get rid of her. Though a small tank with lots of nems and a clown are pretty cool. Hopefully someone can come up with another solution to maybe try before you decide to get rid of her. But from what I’ve been told they only get grumpier the older they get.
 

andrewkw

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Plumb in a 10 or 20 gallon with an anemone for her. Or get an AIO and put it in your bedroom. Lots of options. You can do a super simple tank if it's just going to have one clown.
 

Swoody

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I sort of am going through the same dilemma...My Yellow Tang which actually is a model citizen was my first fish (in a group of a couple clowns, Bengaii Cardinal and a Yellow tail Damsel)...at any rate the only aggression was when I added my WTBT Tang and that subsided very quickly and they are good buddys now for almost 2 years.... My issue is I want to add a Gem Tang and I know how that would go....So I am sort of locked into my Yellow forever seemingly and just have to forget about adding another Zebrasoma Tang....Pretty much have decided a Blonde Naso is the way I am going. However if his demeanor changed and he became a terror in the tank...that would make the decision easy....Helllooooo Gem!!!!
 
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elisa h

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Maybe put her in the sump when you add new fish for a week or so. Clowns are pretty easy to catch. If that doesn’t work and you won’t set up a new tank I would post her on this forum and try to find a really good home for her. I wouldn’t bring her back to the lfs as you never know what’s gonna happen to her and what random person is gonna end up with her.
 
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RMS18

RMS18

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Ok we are going to keep her, and she will have her own nano tank. Going with a Lifeguard full view 7gal tank. luckily I have everything that I will need for the system other than the tank itself. It will be lit by an AI prime HD, Cobalt thermo heater, hydor power head, and marinepure Spheres. Since it will only be 1 fish I won't need a skimmer. We will do a bubble tip and a Maxima clam.

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adam finley

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Ok we are going to keep her, and she will have her own nano tank. Going with a Lifeguard full view 7gal tank. luckily I have everything that I will need for the system other than the tank itself. It will be lit by an AI prime HD, Cobalt thermo heater, hydor power head, and marinepure Spheres. Since it will only be 1 fish I won't need a skimmer. We will do a bubble tip and a Maxima clam.

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That sounds like a great plan. I know it’s tuff to get rid of any pet you care about. Plus you feel guilty and responsible for it so this seems like the best plan. Good luck
 

Jesterrace

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I would set up a small cube for her.

Agreed. If the OP really likes the fish that would be the best solution as one can be setup for a relatively cheap price. Sounds like the clown has gotten super established and will view anything that enters it's turf as a threat. It will not co-exist. Yet another reason why I roll my eyes when websites claim occ variant clowns are peaceful. Definitely Semi-Aggressive/Territorial once they are established.
 
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RMS18

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Queen Mary in her new home. She seems happy, swimming all around.

Going to add a bubble tip and a maxima clam. And maybe some zoa's.

That piece of furniture was bought especially for this tank lol. Thank God my wife likes this hobby and loves me a lot!

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ca1ore

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Mr. Unsentimental here ..... its a fish ..... my very first fish was a three stripe damsel. What a disagreeable SOB. Couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.
 

Biocube32

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Disagree with ca1ore. I too own a psychotic clownfish that would challenge a shark to a fight. At the peak of clownfish insanity when it still had co-habitants, I used to joke i would not miss her if something happened to her........ fast forward almost 10 years, and she has her own cube hosted with a frogspawn that is equally psychotic, stinging everything in reach and i would be crushed if anything ever happened to that little psychotic orange demon stripey fish. Love the private tank for that clown, looks great! You won’t regret it. I hope my clown lasts another 10 years
 

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