Clownfish bites

zachstone13

New member
BobbyV mentioned having a super aggressive maroon clown in another thread earlier. That made me think of what my misbar gold stripe maroon did to me back in December. Thought I'd share. She has been with me for years, maybe 7ish? Here she is just recently:

<a href="http://s292.photobucket.com/user/nifees04/media/clownfish_zpse5d46566.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm3/nifees04/clownfish_zpse5d46566.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo clownfish_zpse5d46566.jpg"/></a>

She attacks me and bites me whenever I'm working on her half of the tank. Most of the time I'll do whatever I can to try and avoid it. Slightly ashamed to admit it, but I've had a few accidental fraggings and broken pieces off of a few sps after being startled by bites in the past. Sometimes I'll try to keep a net between her and my hand. Doing a cleaning last December, I just decided "eh, screw it, whats the worst she'll do to me" and didn't move out of the way or use a shield. I just kept syphoning the sand bed and let her bite at me, which she did a number of times.

Here's what my hand looked like 30seconds after I pulled it out of the water. I was shocked:

<a href="http://s292.photobucket.com/user/nifees04/media/clownfishbites_zps91a06017.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm3/nifees04/clownfishbites_zps91a06017.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo clownfishbites_zps91a06017.jpg"/></a>

Needless to say, she's no joke! Haha!
 
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Not sure if maroons are more aggressive the perculas but, my female perc is a b*!ch who hates me. I do the same thing with the net whenever I need to get my hands in the tank. Just tonight I noticed a frag had fallen over and I was like, oh god I don't want to deal with the fish right now.
 
Ha! Its crossed my mind a few times. :lmao:
I've considered giving her away a number of times over the years. She is basically a grouper in clowns clothing. She has been with my sebae nem for years and years though and I've always been concerned about disrupting that bond. The anemone has been with me since 06 or 07 and is very near and dear to me.

Truth be told, I yell at the GSM sometimes when she attacks while I'm placing frags and such and my wife says that the fish and I need couple's therapy.:rollface:

Bmullikin is right, gloves are an overdue addition to my reefing gear! Won't stop the bites, but atleast I won't bleed!
 
That things a beast!!! I feel bad for its mate if it has one!!!

Interesting that you bring that up, Mr. H. I had considered pairing her with a small male for years. Posted threads in the clownfish forums about it. But I was always too worried that she'd maul him the second he hit the water so I never did it. Most everyone, with knowledge, that I'd ask about it said it would be a huge gamble and I'd most likely have a front row seat to the little guy's death. I also have not come across too many misbarred gsm's and if I were to try wanted the fish to be the same exact kind.

Last Nov. I was in a lfs and they just so happened to have tank raised misbarred gold striped maroons AND they were on sale that day for half off! I took it as a sign that it was time to roll the dice. I picked out the healthiest looking one and headed back home. I floated it for an extra long time directly over her so she could get used to seeing him and I could see if she'd act aggressively. If she had bumped the bag or shown any major aggression, the little guy was going to go back to the store without ever hitting my tank. No aggressive behavior though so I went forward.

I fed the tank and then turned off the main lights and just had on the blue reefbrite that is mounted in the back of my canopy. I eventually released the little gsm on the complete opposite end of the 6ft tank right next to a gbta. I figured he'd hang out there and acclimate to the new surroundings for a while. Just in case though, I had moved my main lights out of the way for more access, had my little step ladder out and stood holding 2 nets if things took a turn for the worse.

To my dismay, within seconds of being added the little gsm swam straight across the tank toward the sebae nem and huge gsm. Lil guy had a death wish. When he got within 8 to 10in of the nem, she came racing out toward him. (At this point I'm getting on the ladder) She got within an inch of him, flared out her pectoral fins and opened her mouth bigger than I'd seen her open her mouth in 6years. The little gsm turned sideways and cowered, appearing to brace for what was coming. She sat there a second in that flared out, open mouthed pose then turned and swam back into the nem. To my amazement, he followed behind her and swam directly into the anemone! He'd been in the tank maybe 60 seconds! (I really wish I had taken a video of the whole thing, but was too preoccupied getting ready to try to rescue him) There was zero objection or harrassment from her from that point forward and they've been together even since.

Here is a pic from 10 minutes later:
<a href="http://s292.photobucket.com/user/nifees04/media/clowns_zps0ea82605.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm3/nifees04/clowns_zps0ea82605.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo clowns_zps0ea82605.jpg"/></a>

Also interesting, her color lightened and got redder within days of adding him. You can see the difference when comparing this pic to the more recent pic up top from earlier this month.
 
Dude the pic of the clown where its in the anemone, it looks sooooo EVIL. Lol

My clowns bite the crap out of be every time I do stuff in my tank and they always attack the same spot over and over and over and over again .... but not nearly as bad as that!
 
That maroon does look real mean. I had my female percula kill the male, needless to say she was re-homed LOL
 
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