Fish Fight

[SSalty]

I have a Black Clownfish as well as a True Percula Clown, they have been in the same tank for a little over 2 months and got a long great, they imediatly became a pair when I introduced them. But now the tables have turned the Percula has become severly aggresive towards the Black Clown. So I removed the Perc and put him in plastic bag to issolate the two, I was worried the Perc would hurt the Black Clown while I was gone. So 4 hours later I put the Perc back in the tank and within 30 min the Perc was chasing him around again. The Perc is now in my 10 gallon tank for now until I decide what to do tommarow. At least I know my Black Clown will be safe overnight.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

Sounds like the the Perc is turning into a female. When I got my pair they were around the same size and were together all the time. One day one started chasing the other. This lasted about 2 days. Since then the more dominant one has doubled in size and turned into a female. They are fine now. I would let it go for a couple of days.

 

[SSalty]

I am a bit leary about putting them together again. The Black Clowns fins are nipped at pretty bad.

Should I still put them back together?

 

[SSalty]

Was it a bad idea to split them up?

 

[Jovreefer]

If there is alot of fin damage to the one separating them was a good idea, if there are just a few rips hear and there leave them together.

 

[heap]

have you noticed the black attempting to submit (doing the 'show you my belly and shiver' dance) and still getting stomped on, or is it trying to hold it's ground and getting stomped on?

 

[SSalty]

It seemed like they were both doing the shiver dance. But the black really wasn't holding its ground.

I really would like to have them as a pair. Should I put them back together and see what happens?

 

[heap]

yah, if you can keep an eye on them to make sure that the abuse isn't tooooooo far over the line, put them back together.

some aggression/fin nipping/chasing is normal before they pair.

if you have a hang-on specimen container, or breeder's net, it may not hurt to throw the abused one in there instead of a seperate tank (if they need to be separated again) - it can help the more aggressive clown get the idea that the smaller one is submitting without being able to nip at it.

if you don't have them constantly in front of you, it may not hurt to throw a top of some kind over the tank - if they're chasing each other around more than normal, one hopping out of the tank is a more likely occurance than normal, too.

 

[SSalty]

Well, I pulled the little bastard out, he was starting to make a few small flesh wounds on the black clown. So back to the fish store he goes.

Would it be better to try and add another black clown?

 

[Slakker]

Probably.

 

[SSalty]

Did I do the right thing? Or should I have let them go and see if they would pair up?

But things were getting pretty intense, I really felt bad for the black clown

 

[BristlewormKing]

It is a crap shoot when it comes to mixing different species of clownfish - kinda like cats and dogs. The only way I have gotten it to work is to put them in the same tank when they are only eight-ten weeks old (when moved from the juvi tanks). A couple of folks have successfully pairs different species when the fish were older - but more the exception than the norm.

 

[SSalty]

So would it be fine to add another black clown? Or maybe a no stripe clown? Would the no-stripe be alright concidering the black clown has stripes and the other has no-stripes? Would they leave each alone?

 

[hexedagain]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10248789#post10248789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SSalty
Well, I pulled the little bastard out, he was starting to make a few small flesh wounds on the black clown. So back to the fish store he goes.

Would it be better to try and add another black clown?

I don't think it will be better or worse.
I have a black and an occ that have been paired up for 1 1/2 years, and have no issues with them. They fought for a good couple weeks, and then paired up fine.
Mixing any kind of clowns is a risk, but it can be done. Trial and error tells me that. It is much harder to pair two different species than two of the same. IMO. This is just my opinion and experiences.
Here's the pair I mentioned:

 

[SSalty]

How bad did they fight before they paired up?

Mine would fight real bad. The orange one would pin the black one in the corner and beat the **** out of him, and would chase him around nipping him for hours.