Clownfish getting attacked

[Natterjak]

I've had a regular ocellaris and a black ocellaris in my tank for about 8 months now. The regular ocellaris was acquired first, and we've had that fish for over a year (it's about 2"). We got the black ocellaris a couple months later, and it was smaller (3/4") than the regular at the time (the black one is about 1 1/2" now).

They haven't paired up, and currently the regular ocellaris hosts in an anemone in the middle of the tank, while the black ocellaris hosts in some hairy mushrooms at the bottom. It's been like that for the whole time we've had both of them.

On one or two past occassions, we've seen the black ocellaris with a few nips on his fins and mouth, presumably from the regular one. She always chases him from her anemone.

Today we came home and he was really beat up, all his fins are nipped at, and now he's swimming frantically at the surface of the water.

Is this normal pairing behavior, or is she going to kill him? I'm pretty concerned, and I'm wondering if I should temporarily move him to the nano I have at work, or if I have to find him a new home. For now, I've got a piece of PVC at the surface of the water, and I'm hoping he'll use it as shelter.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[paOol]

if the nips are as bad as you say, you should seperate them. he could die, or stress out and get a disease.

 

[stykthyn]

yeah, seperate them until the black one heals.
Try to rearrange the tank and keep the larger fish out for a while the introduce the 2 back in at the same time. It is possible that the black is already a female also.

 

[Natterjak]

Is there any way I can separate them in the same tank? I'd hate to have to move him to my nano at work, because it's only 6g and already has a small clown goby, and the trip would probably be stressful.

When I got the black one, it was only about 3/4", and was in a tank full of juvi clownfish. I thought it was a pretty safe bet that it wasn't yet a female.

I've seen him in the past do the submissive twitch in her presence. Right now his mouth isn't damaged at all, just all his fins are nipped, and this is the first time I've seen him leave his shrooms. The orange one has no damage whatsoever.

 

[stykthyn]

seperate them anyway. I have had poor succes keeping full grown clowns in a breeder basket for a more than a couple days. If he is still doing the dance you still have a chance. Of course you can always move the dominant female.

 

[Natterjak]

I went and grabbed an old overflow box I had and suspended it in the tank. I've got the black one in there now, and I put one of his hairy shrooms in there, if it makes any difference. The overflow box is black, is that going to be a problem? There's still light getting in from the top.

I guess if he seems okay in there, I'll leave him separate until he heals up a bit, and then try to reintroduce him again and see what happens.

 

[Natterjak]

Well, today I let the black occelaris out of isolation, just so I could observe him for a while. It looks like the damage he's getting may not be from the orange one (or at least not totally), but from the blue tang.

What I noticed was that he would occassionally move from the surface of the water and try to make his way to the orange one and her BTA. She'd chase him off, and then the blue tang would follow suit and actually take a nip.

It's weird, because the blue tang doesn't bother the orange one at all, nor does it bother any of the other fish. She seems to be only provoked when the orange clown gives chase.

So I'm a bit stumped!

 

[stykthyn]

Tangs are highly aggresive if they are already established. I have a purple tang that has just finished terrorizing a pair of onyx percs.

 

[Natterjak]

The tang and the black ocellaris have been in the same tank for at least 8 months now, and this is the first time I've noticed it attacking him. They weren't introduced that many months apart, either. I'm not sure what's changed recently to induce this behavior.