Clownfish turned aggressive

[Staarbit]

Hi, everyone! I recently purchased a couple baby ocellaris (three of them, to be exact) and they got along swimmingly for the first couple of weeks. The larger of the three was obviously the dominant one as she would nip the other two occasionally if they got out of line, but otherwise they got along well. They were always out in the open together and they never had any problems.

Over the past few days, however, I noticed her getting increasingly more aggressive with the smallest of the three of them and it escalated to the point where he no longer comes out into the open and hides away constantly in the nooks and crannies of the tank. I thought it might just be a phase, so I let it go for a while since he was doing a good job of hiding himself and he didn't seem to be getting injured. But NOW the larger clown has gotten so aggressive with both the smaller ones that not only will she chase them down the minute she sees them in the open, but if she doesn't see them for a while, she actually goes looking for them, scares them out of hiding, and just goes absolutely berserk on them. And I'm not really sure what to do at this point because I don't really have any means of separating them.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why they're acting like this now and what I should do about it?

 

[hotelbravo]

well not all clowns can be compatible sometimes they just dont click. also having more than 2 clowns in anything other than a large tank is a bad idea.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Does anyone have any ideas as to why they're acting like this now and what I should do about it?

Yes, in the wild when the anemone is small or gets overcrowded the female will start "evicting" smaller/weaker non-breeding subordinates. In your case the female has decided that your tank isn't big enough for three. Sometimes evictions can turn deadly so I suggest removing the third clown.
Read this study and you will understand:
http://people.bu.edu/buston/lab/Behavioral_Ecology_files/Buston_BehavEcol_2003.pdf

 

[traveller7]

But NOW the larger clown has gotten so aggressive with both the smaller ones that not only will she chase them down the minute she sees them in the open, but if she doesn't see them for a while, she actually goes looking for them, scares them out of hiding, and just goes absolutely berserk on them. ..............Does anyone have any ideas as to why they're acting like this now and what I should do about it?

Start here at the Clownfish & Anemones FAQ page:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1381958

Click this link on pairing:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=215098

You are watching natural clownfish behavior play out as it has for many generations and will long after all thread posters are gone.

You have been asked a couple of times on prior posts to provide tank size. Care to share the tank parameters so folks can provide you some guidance toward a path of success?

Many of us have already made the same mistakes you are making and will happy share ours, so others do not have to suffer the emotional and financial pain.

Good luck and focus on the long term to get the most out of this hobby. Slow and steady wins, speed kills.

 

[snorvich]

Start here at the Clownfish & Anemones FAQ page:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1381958

Click this link on pairing:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=215098

You are watching natural clownfish behavior play out as it has for many generations and will long after all thread posters are gone.

You have been asked a couple of times on prior posts to provide tank size. Care to share the tank parameters so folks can provide you some guidance toward a path of success?

Many of us have already made the same mistakes you are making and will happy share ours, so others do not have to suffer the emotional and financial pain.

Good luck and focus on the long term to get the most out of this hobby. Slow and steady wins, speed kills.

Good advice! :thumbsup:

 

[The Cat Burglar]

Yes, in the wild when the anemone is small or gets overcrowded the female will start "evicting" smaller/weaker non-breeding subordinates. In your case the female has decided that your tank isn't big enough for three. Sometimes evictions can turn deadly so I suggest removing the third clown.
Read this study and you will understand:
http://people.bu.edu/buston/lab/Behavioral_Ecology_files/Buston_BehavEcol_2003.pdf

+1 on this advice. I recently went through this with 2 pair of ocellaris clownfish (1 common pair and 1 black & white pair). All was well for about 2 weeks and then Common female turned into a demon hunting out the black & white pair and constantly bullied them.The only fix was to pull the black & white pair and return them to my LFS.