Clownfish - almost fatal fight

bulabr

Member
Hi guys

I would like to share my experience with the 4 clownfish that I have.
Around 9 months ago I bought two Ocellaris very young(less than 1 inch) from the same LFS and from the same tank, and after 1 month, a got another two, Black and white clownfish very small as well(around the same size) from the another LFS and from the same tank.
They grew up together in one tank of 75 gallons, happy and friendly. Lets put the order and nicknames for the guys to follow the experience and behavior.

Orange 01, Orange 02, Black 01 and Black 02.

Nowadays the Orange 01 and Orange 02 are clearly a couple. Why? The Orange 01 is bigger than Orange 02 and the Orange 02 is very submissive from the Orange 01. The Orange 01 and the Orange 02 used to swim together happy and without problem, and sometimes the Orange 01 used to bother a little the Orange 02, and the Orange 02 used to accept the superiority of the Orange 01. Seems to be perfect. :bounce1:

Following this thinking, we can say that:
Orange 01-female
Orange 02-male

OK, but the problem starts now.
The Black 01 and the Black 02 grew up as bigger than Orange 01.
Today I believe that I have 3 female and only one male. The difference is very clear about the sizes.

Considering this we can say that
Black 01-female
Black 02-female

Facts and troubles now:
The Orange 01 used to be the dominant from all of them. She used to shake the body, hitting and putting aside the two Blacks. For me, it's a normal behavior.
The Orange 01, Orange 02 and the Black 02 started to push the Black 01 for another side of the tank, like segregating the female from the group.
From one week before, I have been noticed that the Black 01 started to attack the Orange 02(male) and after one day from that, the Black 02 started to help the Black 01 to attack the little guy.
The attacks started to be very aggressive:uzi:, without the interference of the Orange 01(female of the couple). I know that the ritual of dominance is normal and it's done to show who is the boss and stronger, and to mark the territory, but as I know as well, this is not to be extremely damaging for the body of the fishes involved in the competition.

The two Blacks started to hunt the Orange 02(male), and the little guy started to run away desperate. I noticed the male flippers and the tail missing parts and torn. In the feed time, the Blacks didn't pay attention to the food. They tried to avoid the male to eat, attacking him continuously.
I thought, I have to take some action or the situation is going to be worst. I went to one store and bought two little acrylic boxes, transparent, to make refuges, or let say, cages. I made some holes with the drill to allow the water flow inside. My idea was to put the refuges in the top of the tank, fixing it with two plastic clamps. When I was preparing the boxes, I was checking time-to-time the tank, to see the clowns. The attack was constant and despite I have a lot of LR and space enough to the guy hide himself, it was not working.

Between the finish the first refuge and start the second, I went there to see how the things were going. For my surprise and panic, I found out the little guy on the floor far away 50cm from the tank. PANIC, PANIC, PANIC"¦:fun5::uhoh3:
I quickly put him back to the tank, and he started to shake the body and swim very slowly, looking very dizzy and one step for the death.
I quickly took the first refuge, hanged it on the tank and put the clown on it waiting for the results. He started to recover himself for my relief. Despite the wound and the fall, he was alive and recovering well.
The two Blacks went to the refuge trying to attack again. How they could be so mean?????

I don't know how many minutes he was on the floor, but I believe that he is very strong to pass for this challenge.
In fact my idea was to arrest the Black females, not the male, but considering the dramatic situation, the male was safe in the refuge.
After two day of recovering time, I decide to arrest the aggressors, and let the assaulted free.
How to do that in the tank with a lot of corals and LRs and considering that the clowns are very good and fast swimmers? It is simple, the NIGHT TACTIC hehehe.:dance:
After the tank lights turned off and everybody went to sleep, with only one light turned on in my aisle around 5m from the tank, I release the Orange male. After that with a big net I took the Blacks and put them in the refuges, side by side like jail. Now it's not the refuge anymore, they are cages hehehe.
The peace returned in the tank. The Orange 01(female) and the Orange 02(male) were together again, happy.:beer:
Now I was with one problem. What to do with the Black ones. I have been taking care a lot with my tank, and I have been feeding the clowns as a father. It's a sad situation. After one day I decided to release one Black, the number 02, less aggressive in my opinion. For my surprise, the Orange couple started to attack the Black 02. Not the way for body damage, but only for submission, and push her to the another side of the tank. Its ok for me, because they can decide about the territory.
After one day I decided to release the second one, the Black 01. It was a terrible mistake. :headwally:She went direct to attack again the Orange 2, the male, and hurt him a lot again. OMG.
What's happening with this girl? Maybe she is sad that he is with another girl heheheh.
Anyway, last night I put her back in the "œcage" and now I don't know what to do. Maybe I can try to exchange the fish with the LFS, for one small that could form a couple with the Black 02
Ok, let's go for my analysis and thoughts:

First, it's very important to have attention to the behavior of your fishes; after all, they are your pets.

The annoying behavior in the beginning seems to be normal, but it was not.
For some minutes I almost lost my little friend. Pay a lot of attention in the your tank creatures' behavior.

They changed the conduct suddenly, and the fight started. We never know what's coming.

For one tank of 75 gallons, is it possible to have 4 clowns in peace? In my opinion, yes

For me it's better to buy the clowns when they are young, and from the same LFS and tank if possible. The chances to have a couple in the future are bigger.

Don't wait so much time to take some attitude in case of real fight. It could be too late.

BR

Bulabr
 
It's pretty simple to me: you can't put more than one pair of clowns in a tank (unless it is very large). They may co-exist for a few weeks or months, but it is only a matter of time. What you described is pretty typical and you are asking for trouble. Get rid of the black pair. It's the only solution IMO.
 
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