beat up maroon clownfish

[s.petrone]

hi, im having a bit of clownfish trouble. i recenlty purchased 2 maroon clownfish. both of which seemed to look the best out of multiple stores i have went to. i added them to my 30 gallon tank. right off the bat they started fighting, which i though could have been normal for the female to chase the male. although we arent sure if they both are female or if one is a male and the other is a female. the problem is it has been about 5 days now and the one clown hides under the live rock. he has barley any fins left on him, they are all bitten up. he will not eat because he is too scared to come out of the hole he is hiding in. i was considering moving him into my 10 gallon tank (which has a pair of ocellaris clownfish in it) until he seems to be getting better. does anyone have any advice on what to do or how to help heal him?

 

[crzy4reefs]

I would just move him to the other tank for now. Oellaris clowns aren't as aggressive as Maroon clown fish. So he might feel more relaxed to come out to eat and hopefully heal up some.

 

[mykil]

whats the size difference between the 2 gsm's? I've heard if they are too similar in size, a pairing might not be successful. operative word being might.

 

[Carriegiesler]

Definitely move him to another tank to give him/her time to recover and eat.
This occurred with my two Occelaris clownfish (who are only 1/2"-1/4 inch diffrence in size); which I knew one was a male and one was a female. The female beat the male so badly that I had to give him a week retreat in the QT. When returning him back to the main display I kept him in a breeder box for a week. When released back into the tank he swam right up to the female and did his little dance and they have since been inseparable.