Clown fish...... female is trashing my tank

[major stare]

My clown fish are spawning about once a month but the female seems to have a vengeance for my sand bed.

She will flap away with her tail along the sand bed, putting sand into the tank (2ft cube), so much so, my tank is pretty much cloudy for most of the evening.

Is the only way to stop this to sell the clowns?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

When I had a pair of Clarkii clowns they did the same thing. I had to remove the fish. You can relocate their anemone if there's one. Another option is to go bare bottom.

 

[oh207]

What kind of clownfish? Wouldn't happen to be a Maroon?
When I had a Maroon pair the female used to do that to the sand every time I approach the tank. My snowflake pair that I have now doesn't mess with the sand. And they spawn regularly.

 

[ThRoewer]

I would keep the clownfish and loose the sand. Clownfish are so much more interesting than sand. Alternatively you could use coarse gravel instead of the sand.

Clownfish sometime try to redecorate and move things they don't like where they are. Having no hands the only way for them to do this is to place their mouth against the object and try to swim as hard as they can.
My ocellaris did that all the time. If I put a rock or coral somewhere where they didn't like it they would do their best (mostly successfully) to move it away. Smaller objects they could grab with their mouth would be "airlifted" out of their territory.
You would be surprised what sizes of rock two little fish can move if they have set their mind on it.

 

[major stare]

Normal Perc's.

The male is especially aggressive, he will attack my hand if in the tank, even the magnet glass cleaner.

I suspect they have killed my frog spawn coral when nipping the coral just before spawning, causing damage and brown jelly disease.

Will be removing the pair today.

 

[Azedenkae]

This is very normal behavior. Even if you get a Clown that originally does not do this, it may decide to do so over time.

If you don't like sand being blown all over, Clownfish are not for you.

Sometimes if you do have an anemone or something as its home, they'd not do it. But again, no guarantees.