Maroon Clown Agression

[AJSTITAN14]

I guess our maroon is maturing. Since we got him he hid in a corner and barely bothered out Damsel. Then last Sunday night the Damsel went on a little vacation into the 3rd chamber of our bio cube. After missing him for a week we thought he was gone only to find him back there making fish faces at us when we did the water change. I even looked in there when I was looking for him but since he is dark blue from the top I must have missed him.

Thankfully our strategy for getting him back into the display worked on the first try and he was swimming around and eating like a pig as usual.

All was well and good and we were happy to have our little friend back, well almost all of us. I think when he had the tank to himself the clown decided his territory had grown because since the damsel has been back the clown has been chasing it all over the tank.

I reset the territories the best I could by rearranging the rocks so that both fish's main hang out spots are on the opposite side of the tank. The damsel likes to float and soar against the current while the clown likes to hang out in some rhodactis I am constantly trimming to prevent the clown becoming rhodactis dinner.

Now the damsel can see the clown coming and has at least 3 nice routes to escape the clown in addition to the fact that he has the clown seriously outclassed when it comes to bursts of speed. The new setup also has a lot of obstructed line of sight from the clown to the damsel hangouts which I think helps.

So my question is how much chasing is acceptable? The damsel does not seem to be stressed out or even swimming much more than it normally does in dodging the clown but I'm not familiar with these types of fish interactions. Thanks.

 

[elegance coral]

You will not be able to keep both of them in a biocube long term. Someone will have to go. Now's probably a good time. The aggression will only get worse. Clowns and damsels don't play nice in small tanks.

 

[dtran01]

maroon clowns are generally docile as juveniles and then turn crazy when they hit adult, and turn very aggressive. it's for this reason what i'll never get a maroon again.

 

[chasedasea]

I have had a Maroon for eight years now and he definitely has his moments. Most of his tankmates know the pecking order and tend not to aggravate him much. I have never had a Damsel in the same tank as my Maroon so I'm not sure if they are compatable. I do think your Damsel is the instigator though. Your Maroon is probably just trying to set boundaries and remind the Damsel of the hierarchy in the tank. Just keep an eye out for stress, physical damage and make sure neither can jump out during the chase.

How big is your tank? How long have you had both the Damsel and Maroon together? Which fish is larger?

 

[SwampyBill]

You have 2 of the most aggressive fish together in a biocube. Personally, I'd sell the maroon then buy an occelaris or perc. I'll never own another damsel or maroon clown. In my previous tank, the maroon was the bully of the whole 90 gal system & would nip my hands enough to draw blood when I cleaned the tank.

 

[Joe LoPresti]

I've had my female maroon for about 4 years now. I bought her an an LFS, because I felt sorry for her sitting there in that tiny little cube display. She was only 10 bucks and the guy said someone brought her in and dumped her.
Well, I soon found out why! LOL! She really is the master of my tank. She rules with an iron fist. Like Swampy said, she'll nip at my hand when I'm cleaning, but she'll take food from my hand as well. She is fearless. If she hates what I've re-arranged, she'll move it. She's literally picked up corals and "thrown" them from one side of the tank to the other. The other day, she broke off a small stalk from my purple hammer coral because it was protruding into her hiding area. I've always wanted to try and pair her up with a male, but I'm too afraid to do that, I really think she'll kill any other Maroon I put into the tank. I still love her, but I gotta agree with most other posters here, I would recommend against a Maroon, unless you want her to "rule the roost"...

 

[davocean]

Maroons are very territorial, I'd expect it to be ticky in a small tank wanting pretty much all that space to itself.
In a biocube I'd probably just keep one pair of any species clowns and that's probably it, some inverts would be cool.

 

[Friday Night]

I've had my female maroon for about 4 years now. I bought her an an LFS, because I felt sorry for her sitting there in that tiny little cube display. She was only 10 bucks and the guy said someone brought her in and dumped her.
Well, I soon found out why! LOL! She really is the master of my tank. She rules with an iron fist. Like Swampy said, she'll nip at my hand when I'm cleaning, but she'll take food from my hand as well. She is fearless. If she hates what I've re-arranged, she'll move it. She's literally picked up corals and "thrown" them from one side of the tank to the other. The other day, she broke off a small stalk from my purple hammer coral because it was protruding into her hiding area. I've always wanted to try and pair her up with a male, but I'm too afraid to do that, I really think she'll kill any other Maroon I put into the tank. I still love her, but I gotta agree with most other posters here, I would recommend against a Maroon, unless you want her to "rule the roost"...

+1 Im just about there ughh lol

 

[Tripel_Hornet]

damsels and clowns are close and are related. they both are aggressive and territorial. but i have the opposite with a maroon. mine wasnt so mean and never really picked on anyone. no one ****ed with her, but she never beat anyone. she would nip me when i did get to close to the nem, but other than that she was ok. i have snowcasso and a occ egg laying female nastier than her

 

[Friday Night]

My female GBM clown seriously laid in her fav rose (theres like 6 in the tank) all day lazy girl.. then when i come up to the glass she comes out for feeding eats from my hand. Bit me when i moved my powerhead a little then went back to her bed.. What a punk.

 

[extreme5450]

i'd get rid of the damsel