Help with Clown aggression please????

[duganderson]

I had two paired occerlarus clowns that had been together for about 1 year. I removed the bigger female from the tank permanently and added a new black and white occerlarus clown (that was about 1.75" in length) from my LFS about 2.5 month ago. The orange male that was left in the tank was 2" long and a little fatter and wider than the black and white. The black and white quickly hosted the RBTA in my tank. The orange has never been hosted but will brush the RBTA to charge at the black and white one.

They have been together for 2.5 months, but since being together, the orange clown charges at the new black and white occasionally but it does not seem to do any damage. The orange clown will also swim close to the black and white and start shaking.

Yesterday, however, the aggression of the orange to the black and white was more intense. This morning I noticed a couple small scratches on the side of the black and white and a small cut in the back fin and a tiny chunk of skin out of the fin.

Today, they seemed back to their normal routine.

Should I remove the more aggressive orange clown permanantly (I don't have a quarentine tank) and replace it? OR do you think they will eventually pair and be friendly.

Is it possible that the 1.75" black and white from the fish store had already changed to a female before I introduced it to my tank? Could this be the reason for the aggression of the larger orange one trying to get dominance?

The only other fish in the 28 g. nano cube is a red firefish.

 

[OrionN]

When the larger clown change to female and exert her dominant, there will be some injury to the smaller clown, but this will blow over and they pair up fine. I would not worry about it.

 

[BlueFyre]

I would give it a bit of time, it should work out just fine. CLown pairing can be rough on the male. My clowns paired up right away and have been paired for over a year, however, once in a while I will see the female charge at the male. Even if he still submits, she will sometimes grab him by the fin and shake him like a dog, just to prove her point. Then they go back to being a happy pair.