Clownfish fighting

[MidMichiganReef]

I have a pair of Picassos that have been together in my tank for 18 months. I got them from a breeder together. They have been quite peaceful until recently. They have started fighting all the time. I've seen this in clown pairs before but this seems different. They keeping biting each other's mouth and bottom jaw. They both have abrasions to the face.

I am also surprised that they don't seem to have a noticeable size difference. I would have expected one to establish as dominant female by now. I've had a breeding pair before and this fighting is different.

Any thoughts? I don't want to keep them together if one is going to get killed.

 

[MidMichiganReef]

I should add some details that may or may not be contributing. About 2 weeks ago I took out a female Solon fairy wrasse and replaced her with a yellow coris and a line spot flasher (those are the only 4 fish). I also added an rbta a month or so ago although neither go in it. It is worth noting that one of them was hosted by a previous rbta that died yet shows no interest in this one.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Assuming they were purchased at 6-8 months old they should've reached sexual maturity by now...unless they are just reaching it and sorting things out. Honestly if things are that bad you should keep the one you like more and get a smaller percula clown for it.

 

[MidMichiganReef]

I'm assuming both are at least 2 years old. There was a time like 8 months ago that I thought one was bigger than the other and I thought they had established which is female but they look to be the same size now.

 

[AdamNC]

Sounds like you have 2 females on your hands.

 

[oh207]

Maybe they are sorting things out. Have they ever been apart or separated for any period of time?

 

[MidMichiganReef]

They have been together since I got them from the breeder as juvis

 

[MidMichiganReef]

Here's a glimpse of what they've been doing although this is a little mild.

http://youtu.be/Q_5twdH_zA0

 

[sharkboy99999]

I think you have 2 females

 

[CoralsAddiction]

That's not too bad actually. Two females a possibility but I personally wouldn't split them up just yet.

 

[MidMichiganReef]

That's not too bad actually. Two females a possibility but I personally wouldn't split them up just yet.

unfortunately, that's all I could capture on video. I swear they stop fighting the minute I pull the phone out. That's about as mild as the fighting gets. It gets much more violent, but they never actually separate. Like I think if I had to females one would eventually hide from the other and they never do that they always seem to get back together. It's just very weird to me because they've grown up since juveniles together. They were in the same tank at the breeder and they've been in my tank since they were like six months old.