Attacking Clowns!!!!

[Dtking]

Hey all, as you all know i am still a newby at this, but I didnt think that a clown fish was suppose to be aggressive. Well lastnight I decided to restack the tank because a friend of mine had given me some rock, well when i started to take the corals out i noticed my "older" clown started to watch my hand and get really close to me, and all of the sudden STRIKE!!! he had nailed my hand as soon as i touched the first coral.
So I eventually got all of the fish out of my tank and put everything back in the tank, and then the fish, now it was time for the coral again, and everytime i stuck a piece in the dang fish would swim full force and nail my hand. so i ended up taking him out for a moment. i put all the corals in and let him out of the bag and tonight when i noticed some corals had been knocked over by my snails i reached in to pick them up and BOOM there he goes again, this fish really has it out for me... is this common?

Thanks,
Dustin

P.S. I do have another clown in the tank and he isnt aggressive at all.

 

[dugg]

As common as popcorn at the movies lol. It's the females that get that way, the males won't usually bother you. She is protecting her corals from you. If it bothers you, never buy a maroon clown lol. I had a large maroon one time that would draw blood on occassion.

 

[Radcat]

When I helped Jason move in his new 180 his clown would try to attack me everytime I stuck my hand in. He bit me twice. I think he had 4 clowns in that tank but only 1 was attacking.

 

[JimmyS]

Its funny that Dugg says that about the females, my male maroon is the one that does all the attacking in my tank.

 

[SoonerFan732]

Both of my Ocellaris Clownfish attack my hand when I get close to their anemones. They really don't like it when I try to feed their anemone.

 

[Serra]

I once had The Tomato Clown from Hades. He was a fish killer that I finally had to rehome. I wouldn't put my hand in the tank without a net covering it. He actually killed a lionfish in his new tank. He had several new homes before he found a place in a very aggressive tank.

 

[Dtking]

i keep experimenting with this hehe, but its always the same... how do you tell the male from the female?! My clown is CRAZY!!!!

-Dustin

 

[dugg]

The female is the big mean one lol. There's not much you can do about it. If you try and shew her away you just reinforce her fealing that you are a danger and she will try harder to chase you away. The one i had that would draw blood got that mean after i thumped her on the nose for biting me. She learned that she could get a hold of the loose skin on the knuckles and shake like a bulldog. The only clowns i have had that didn't have this behavior have been pink skunk clowns.

 

[zoomfish1]

Amen to that. Never had one that wouldn't attack. My Clarkii does it then laughs. Just wainting for her to roll on the sand laughing. Maybe I could catch her then!!

 

[Dtking]

well, she does know what that net is for and if i just stick that in the tank while i move stuff she will not come anywhere near me!

So far it is working!

-Dustin *EG*

 

[dugg]

She'll figure that out in no time lol. If you are going to keep clowns, once they start hosting in something, you are going to get bit lol. The less you react to her attacks the better. When you jump and startle her or try and chase her away, you just reinforce her thinking that you are a threat.

 

[papagimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8606411#post8606411 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dugg
The one i had that would draw blood got that mean after i thumped her on the nose for biting me.

Sounds like you deserved that, lol. My ocellaris are sweeties, they eat flakes out of my hands and never bother me at all. They really don't have a permanant "home" so I think that attributes to it. That and my 55g is a tiny bit overstocked so there used to lot's of fish swimming in there little area. Well, it's all there area, nobody travels to the left half of the tank....ever! So help me god, when I set up the 150, if they all try to hang out in a 20g area of the tank, there all getting moved out!

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Yes, they'll attack and are semi-aggressive about their territory and invaders (AKA your hand). Females are usually the aggressors, but males will join in. Heck, both of mine attack me. But you can't really blame them since clownfish are so closely related to damsels. I've even had damsels bite me.