Evil Nemo

[MantisO_o]

Hello i have a nearly three inch Gold strip Maroon Clown and it(, i always assumed 'it' as a her. Not sure if you can tell gender on these guys.) Has this 'annoying' habit and thought it was a normal of digging in a corner. Removing as much sand, rock, and whatever she could. She would do this till it hits the bare bottom of the tank and i have nearly five inches thick of sand bed. Do anyone know why she does this? Also is there anything i could do to prevent her from doing this behavior? Like find it a mate... get it an anemone??? ​

 

[Tahlequah]

Sounds like it is trying to make a nesting area. I had one do this near its anemone a few years ago. I think it was because she thought the sand was to close to her anemone... She would also bite the tips off of one of my kenya trees that would sway to close to her territory...

 

[dalilgriffith]

She is not building a nesting area. You are completely dead wrong.

They do this because they can. They love to redecorate.

 

[MantisO_o]

Yeah! Mines nipping on the plants and some she's up rooting them. Any idea on what kind of anemone i could give her that works best with her type of clownfish? I nearly have 4 watts per gallon. I don't know much on keeping anemones though.

So if not nesting she's decorating ditches in corners....mmmm interesting. That kinda reminds me of my Mantis Shrimps but the opposite behavior. Instead of holes they make random piles.

Is there away to stop her? The location the tank she is doing this is right under a overhang. The only spot in the tank that has a large enough swimming space with shade. ​

 

[WDLV]

I agree that she is is making her surroundings more appealing. Call it nesting... call it redecorating... it's her area and she will do with it what she pleases. I would advise you of three options. Remove the sand, remove her or get used to it.

 

[MantisO_o]

I kinda already did one of the three. What i did from the ditch she made was filling it with large enough rubble. She seems unable to move them and she also refuses to leave that corner to. So i'll see by tomorrow if that worked out. Thanks.

 

[jefathome]

All "actions" by our fish can be attributed to one thing... Genetic fitness (procreation of sexually viable offspring). If a Diploid (2 chromosome sets) has one viable offspring (through sexual reproduction), then their genetic fitness is .5 (since only half the genes in the offspring are theirs). 2 kids = genetic fitness of 1.0

The two main influences on this are... Health and sex (Well, really just the latter, but the food contiributes towards the reproduction). Fish don't do anything "for the heck of it". If they did, then their genetic fitness will suffer and they would be out-competed by those who do not engage in these practices.

 

[WDLV]

I kinda already did one of the three. What i did from the ditch she made was filling it with large enough rubble. She seems unable to move them and she also refuses to leave that corner to. So i'll see by tomorrow if that worked out. Thanks.

That was a creative solution. Good luck with it. If it doesn't work out, try placing a tile there.

 

[DeathWish302]

I kinda already did one of the three. What i did from the ditch she made was filling it with large enough rubble. She seems unable to move them and she also refuses to leave that corner to. So i'll see by tomorrow if that worked out. Thanks.

I've seen my Tomato female move rubble that was golf ball-sized short distances until it was clear of her 'digging sand box' area. Where there is a clownfish, there will be a way to annoy the aquarist. I've become used to the sand storms after so many years. It also makes a tank never boring, as she always is redecorating the lower limits of the DT.

 

[MantisO_o]

LOL I have had her for a long time and i gotten use to us 'annoying' each other. I'll keep the golf ball size bit in mind when countering my girls moves in the race to annoy each other, thanks

 

[Dogger]

Clowns Attack

Clowns Attack

Yesterday I happened to get home in the afternoon and saw one of my cleaner shrimp out and moving toward the false clowns area by their large green bubbletip. Usually they do not move around like that during daylight. The clowns attacked the cleaner. I could not believe what I just saw. It happened so fast but acually lasted what I saw a few seconds. The cleaner got out of there, and the clowns did not pursue. Later I noticed the shrimp had no tentacles. Then I noticed the second shrimp had no tentacles either. I believe they were bitten off by the clowns. Now when I look in a hole in the rock just above the bubbletip I believe I am seeing a small swarm.The fry. I believe the clowns mated and they are protecting the fry. Has anyone else seen clowns act like that?

 

[reeferoo]

One common solution for "sweeping" clowns is to put a tile down so they can keep it swept clean without digging to the bottom of the tank

 

[WDLV]

Yesterday I happened to get home in the afternoon and saw one of my cleaner shrimp out and moving toward the false clowns area by their large green bubbletip. Usually they do not move around like that during daylight. The clowns attacked the cleaner. I could not believe what I just saw. It happened so fast but acually lasted what I saw a few seconds. The cleaner got out of there, and the clowns did not pursue. Later I noticed the shrimp had no tentacles. Then I noticed the second shrimp had no tentacles either. I believe they were bitten off by the clowns. Now when I look in a hole in the rock just above the bubbletip I believe I am seeing a small swarm.The fry. I believe the clowns mated and they are protecting the fry. Has anyone else seen clowns act like that?

Usually the fry are eaten as soon as they're seen. I've never heard of the parents protecting the fry, but nothing is impossible. Are you sure they're fry? Could they be ghost shrimp. They're hard to tell apart if your view isn't so good.

 

[DeathWish302]

One common solution for "sweeping" clowns is to put a tile down so they can keep it swept clean without digging to the bottom of the tank

Well, that's an idea!:celeb1:

The only problem with placing a tile on top the sand is the dead spot that will surely develop and the related clumping.

I'm moving soon and may look into some larger tumbled marble tiles to layer the bottom of the entire tank. Every spot would be covered that they may decide to make as their new home.

 

[guppy74]

I have a GSM Clown and it does the same thing, clears the sand down to bare bottom with it's tail. No matter how many times I put the sand back it does it again.