OK, I should have known better...always check compatibility before adding fish. Here's what I got: Started with 3 ocellaris/percula (not sure which one they are exactly). They were all relatively close in size, but there was definitely a small, med, and larger one among the three. Probably around 2.5 - 3 inches. Then a friend of mine was breaking his tank down and offered me his large Maroon Clown (probably about 4-5 inches). Now this thing immediately took over one whole side of the tank and would not let the ocellaris clowns anywhere near the midpoint in the tank. No big deal really since it's a 110 gallon tank. The ocellaris eventually got the message not to try and cross the midpoint and the maroon clown never bothered them too much. They all coexisted for a year together with no major problems. Then, about 7 months ago my father-in-law decides he's getting rid of his tank. He was gonna just flush his two Clarkii clowns down the toilet so I decided to rescue them. I figured since they were about the same size as the Ocellaris I had it wouldn't be a problem. Well boy was I wrong. The Ocellaris and Clarkii's fought from the get-go and have never stopped. Part of the problem may be they have to share the same side of the tank since neither species can go near the Maroon without getting chased. Anyway, the Clarkii's seem to have won and I am now down to one Ocellaris (the largest one of the three). I have no idea what happened to the other two, they just disappeared. The one that is left hides underneath my liverock all day. If he comes out for even a second the two Clarkii's furiously attack him until he goes back under the rockwork. I'm afraid he's gonna die of starvation soon. Is there anything I can do about this problem? Are Clarkii's always so dominant and abusive to Ocellaris clowns? I actually like the Ocellaris clowns better than the Clarkii's so I thought about getting rid of them, but how? The tank has about 200 lbs of live rock to hide in.
Clownfish fighting...big problem
- Thread starter scowar
- Start date
Chupacabras
New member
Re: Clownfish fighting...big problem
Someone has to go, see if your LFS will take whichever species you no longer want off your hands.
Multiple clown species in the same tank don't work the vast majority of the time.
Someone has to go, see if your LFS will take whichever species you no longer want off your hands.
Slakker
Premium Member
Also, Scowar, be sure to read the Clownfish FAQ while you're here...your ocellaris/percs might have eventually ended up fighting even if left alone, as it's very unusual to be able to keep more than just two particular clowns in an aquarium without very serious dominance battles breaking out.
Actually the two larger ones did pick on the smallest one a bit after being in the tank for about 6 months. Not too badly or often, just every once in a while. Of course the LFS I bought them from didn't say anything about this when I purchased them. They came from a tank that contained about 20 of them that appeared to get along fine so I didn't think twice about it. Wish I would have discovered this site before I did.
