clakrkii pair

[cubman20]

Will my clarkii pair kill a baby blue regal tang if i put it in with them. The tank is a 40 breeder. the femal is 3" and the male is small. They been in the tank for 1 year. The tang is 1 1/2.

 

[ocellaris123]

Well a 40 breeder is too small for a baby blue long term, but if your pair is a matured pair odds are they will torment the blue tang. Clarkiis can be aggressive fish especially while nesting.

 

[velvetelvis]

Clarkiis, IME, are VERY territorial and aggressive. My pair tolerated a canary fangblenny (Meiacanthus oualensis) that had been in the tank before them--after he'd fended the female off by nipping her. However, in less than a week they harassed and eventually killed my completely peaceful and inoffensive rabbitfish, even when he tried to fend them off with his venomous spines (I was going to separate them, but I didn't realize how badly they were going after him till it was too late). And they weren't even full-grown (and I had them in a 75).

In a tank as small as a 40, I think your best bet would be to keep them by themselves, or *maybe* with a tank-bred Meiacanthus fangblenny (who can at least give the clowns a good nip if they go after it). But Clarkiis get big and move fast and are very feisty, especially if they're guarding a host (in this case, it was a toadstool leather). My female even used to attack hermit crabs that crawled onto her toadstool. They roam all over the tank instead of hovering near their host like some other large, aggressive clowns (i.e., maroons), so they consider the whole space their territory. It's part of what makes them entertaining, but it also means they have to pretty much be the main attraction in the tank.