E.intheC
Active member
Here's the situation, in brief (well, not really):
My tank is a standard 90 gallon, which I setup in March. I've had two Black Saddleback clowns for a few months now. These two fish have been extremely peaceful toward other fish (Angelfish and Neon Goby). Although the female has shown 'typical' clown/dominance behavior toward the male, she's been less territorial and generally less aggressive than I've seen before, even in Ocellaris clown pairs. These two are completely afraid of me as well.
They have yet to find their "spot" and instead just roam around the tank. I don't have an anemone, and only small corals are present currently.
Last week I removed the angel as it was going to get too large. This weekend I added 2 fire fish (a pair, actually) and a 2 inch yellow coris wrasse to the tank. Since introduction, the clowns have been very territorial toward the new additions (and even to the cleaner shrimp).
I have to say I'm surprised... as stated, I've heard they can be a bit aggressive, but my old pair of Saddlbacks wasn't, and these two were extremely peaceful to everyone. It could be because I removed the angel, I suppose.
So, what's the plan moving forward?
I could add an anemone (I have sufficient lighting, sand bed, and parameters are good and stable)... The reasoning behind this would be to hopefully contain the clowns into one area of the tank, and as long as the other fish stay away from the anemone, they should be left alone. I realize there's no guarantee of this.
Or, I could add some dither fish like Chromis or Talbot damsels, in order to mitigate aggression (similar idea to dispersion with cichlids).
I've tried rearranging the rock structure, but that didn't work unfortunately. What's the next step here?
My tank is a standard 90 gallon, which I setup in March. I've had two Black Saddleback clowns for a few months now. These two fish have been extremely peaceful toward other fish (Angelfish and Neon Goby). Although the female has shown 'typical' clown/dominance behavior toward the male, she's been less territorial and generally less aggressive than I've seen before, even in Ocellaris clown pairs. These two are completely afraid of me as well.
They have yet to find their "spot" and instead just roam around the tank. I don't have an anemone, and only small corals are present currently.
Last week I removed the angel as it was going to get too large. This weekend I added 2 fire fish (a pair, actually) and a 2 inch yellow coris wrasse to the tank. Since introduction, the clowns have been very territorial toward the new additions (and even to the cleaner shrimp).
I have to say I'm surprised... as stated, I've heard they can be a bit aggressive, but my old pair of Saddlbacks wasn't, and these two were extremely peaceful to everyone. It could be because I removed the angel, I suppose.
So, what's the plan moving forward?
I could add an anemone (I have sufficient lighting, sand bed, and parameters are good and stable)... The reasoning behind this would be to hopefully contain the clowns into one area of the tank, and as long as the other fish stay away from the anemone, they should be left alone. I realize there's no guarantee of this.
Or, I could add some dither fish like Chromis or Talbot damsels, in order to mitigate aggression (similar idea to dispersion with cichlids).
I've tried rearranging the rock structure, but that didn't work unfortunately. What's the next step here?
