Might have ruined the tanks harmony/balance!

[Xirxes23]

I started off with a pair of black and white occellarus clowns, but one died, then another and another, lost 3 b/w either in transit or shortly after to one problem or another, yet one of the originals remains strong.

Shortly after i introduced a pair of skunk clowns that hosted my LTA fairly quickly, and have been just fine with the one lone b/w occelarus for about 5 months.

Well we finally decided to get a mate for the b/w occ again and the female skunk went NUTS!!!

She nipped at her mate, then started pacing the tank, taking bites out of everything! She has taken 7-8 large nips out of the tail of the older b/w occelarus's fins and 2-3 of the new ones, and even 2-3 out of her mates fins!

My question is, is it possible that she will settle down or should i expect a battle to the death? This is in a 90G display, one LTA with skunks in one corner, and a BTA with no hosts originally for theb/w Occ. at the opposite end of the tank.

The anthias are keeping the female skunk in check, and she doesnt nip at the mandarins/yellow tang or thebluegreen chromis either, just the clowns.

Why did two clowns create such a change from her non-violence towards the single b/w occ. for over 5 months!?!?

Hoping for the best here... let me know any similar stories thanks.

 

[Chad Vossen]

generally more than one pair of clowns in a tank smaller than 200 gallon can be tricky. i have seen it done twice in 180 gallon tanks.

i had a blue damsel that held a grudge against my gramma because the gramma stole its hole in the rock. the damsel died due to a encounter with a impeller, so the problem was solved..

i find it alittle surprising that the pair of skunks allowed a third clown in their territory. though recently i saw three false percs getting along fine in the same tank as a tomato, which had me confused yet it was right there in front of me!

 

[Xirxes23]

well... the new addition is nowhere to br found...and the older b/w occelarus is back hosting near the other skunks, minus most of his fins.

The female skunk has calmed down, but the new clown was probably killed. A 55 dollar mistake letting us know that our tank is filled up as far as damsels go