New Clowns fighting... all the time

S

snarkes

New member
Alright, I got these false perculas two weeks ago, and everything had been fine. One was obviously more assertive than the other (the first to eat food in the new tank), but hadnt done anything to the other at all. Then yesterday and today the more aggressive one, which has darkened along the top almost like its gotten a tan, is chasing the other guy all over the place. Almost non-stop. One of his fins is starting to get torn up and he's constantly running from the other. Now I know that they will fight as one becomes more dominant and then becomes the female... but at the same time I dont want to lose one of them. I've got a 55 that has cycled and ready for fish that I could move one to (they're both in a 12 gal NC), but does anyone think that would help? Or is this normal? Or just separate em (aggressive one or passive)?

thanks for all your help.
 
No they arent locking jaws or anything... one is just chasing the other everywhere... keeping him in corners, making a round, and then coming back to the corner to harass him. They were both about 1.5 -2 inches when I got em. The submissive one does do this weird thing where he vibrates everynow and then when the aggressive one comes around.
 
i also have a feeling the you got 2 females. IMO you should bring one back and get one that is smaller than the one you have
 
yah since it seems like they were both about the same size.. they both prob females so the aggressiveness wont stop.
 
IMO this is normal. At that size they both are still most likely males. They will chase each other until one becomes the dominant one. Mine did this for a month or so...maybe a little longer. Now they are best buds. They hang out and sleep together. I'm hoping that in a year or so they'll be a mated pair.

Now with that said, I would watch them. I've noticed that if one is sick, the healthy one will pick on the second one. But my healthy pair were fighting and biting & sucking on each others fins.

Like I said, I think it's normal, but I would just keep my eye on them.
 
Hmmm... well they were both pretty small... LFS said that they were all juvy's and that it'd be 6 months to a year before one became a female and then a mated pair. I knew that they would fight... but its definitely one sided. The passive one...who is the same size, 1.5-2 inches, doesnt fight back... simply runs and hides. I really wanted it to play out, but he is getting ripped to shreds. is the 12 NC too small for em?
 
I think that your tank size has something to do with the fighting. You could put both into the larger tank and see if it continues. If you leave them in that 12 gallon I think that the dominant one is going to kill the other.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7233813#post7233813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snarkes
The submissive one does do this weird thing where he vibrates everynow and then when the aggressive one comes around.
Click to expand...
That would be showing submission as a male clownfish does towards the female.

But ... as others mentioned, this is a small tank - and the pairing from what I understand can be a bit harsh on the smaller fish. When the 55 is ready - probably best to give them space to work out it - as the initial part of the process is tough on the smaller one IMO.
 
If they are juveniles and just placed together, one will turn into a female [the dominant one] The female will also be larger than the male. This aggression is normal...
It would have been better to get one larger than the other..with two the same size, they are having to battle for who becomes female
 
Well I figured that I was going to witness the battle to become the female... but I dont want to lose one in the process... I did separate them last nite... put the aggressive on in the 55. I'd really like to put them both in the same aquarium, and if this is indeed normal I'll put the other one back in the 12. These guys are my first fish and I dont want to lose em 2 weeks into it because they were fighting and I could do something about it.
 
since the one you said vibrates when the other comes near.. that means he is giving in and knows the other one is a female. ( i think thats how it is) clowns are wierd.. but this should be normal behavior.
 
Why don't you put both of them in the 55? Then when they become friendly to each other, pop them back in the 12 and see how it goes.
 
I was actually thinking about doing that... then the guys at the LFS told me that being that they were the same size (and both juveniles) they were doomed to fight no matter what, eventhough that doesnt seem like the other experiences in the forum.
 
hahaha... no kidding right. Well at least they said they'd take one back and give me a big one... I think I'm just going to keep em in the two tanks.
 
I get the feeling that the guy that sold me the fish was their coral guy and the guy that told me about the problem was their fish guy... oh well.
 
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