Why are my clowns so aggressive? help needed

[Hyperion1337]

I've had my pair of ocellaris clowns for about 1.5 years now and they have been living alone most of the time in my old tank. Now i upgraded to a larger tank and set up a qt (finally lol) for the incoming fish. So, I put the pair of clowns into the qt tank that *had* a chromis and a firefish. The clowns beat up the chromis constantly and would scare it off every now and then when i fed the tank. the chromis was missing a section of its tail pretty much all the time when the clowns came in and the firefish was bullied and jumped overnight. now the clowns are by themselves in the qt tank.How do I deal with their anger issues? :deadhorse1:
Im afraid of adding them to my large tank and have them bully/kill my future livestock.

 

[SushiGirl]

It's just how they are once they've become an established pair. They are just damsels, after all. I'm guessing the QT is 10 or 20 gallons?

 

[ezhoops]

Once clowns pair the next step is breeding. When they are preparing to breed they get nasty mean. Mine have killed angels 5x their size because they were preparing to breed.

 

[Hyperion1337]

yea the qt tank is a 20 gal tank. sigh theyve been with me since the start and it'd suck if they have to go for the good of my tank. so there aren't any ways to diffuse their aggressive behavior? Could an anemone be a solution? (my new tank can handle a totally handle a nem)

 

[Rapide]

In a big enough tank it shouldn't be a problem. Clowns have a rather small territory, but they will defend it vigorously! IMO an anemone would make it even worse, unless the other fish have a lot of space to be. I had 3 mated pairs of different species at the same time, but there was room for all and non of them were aggressive. Now I have only one pair of A. polymnus, and they are like sheep...

 

[Hyperion1337]

the larger tank is a 40 breeder :/
idk if thats enough space. but if thats the case where they will defend their territory, it gives me a reason to set up a new tank lol.
On a more serious note, there is absolutely no way to diffuse their aggression?

 

[dochoot]

I would be shocked if the bigger tank didn't help out. I would not give up on them.

 

[sponger0]

I agree a bigger tank is fine. I have had my 2 clowns for 18 months. Never been aggressive except for when I tried a kole tang. Needless to say, I had to rehome the kole tang lol.

But the more space they have, the more likely the will be to not be so aggressive.

 

[MuffsAbby]

I've had a pair of occ. clowns for a little over a year in my 150g. They never bothered with new arrivals...until a couple of days ago when I added my new flame hawk into the tank. They went ballistic. They chased him all over and they were relentless. My poor flame hawk was running for his life.

I think my clowns are at the pre-spawning phase, since they are constantly cleaning. They "host" the back corner of my tank and they have spent the past few weeks clearing the sand from that area (there is now a four inch space in the corner which is totally bare bottom). I understand this cleaning is pre-spawning behavior.

I put up with the chasing for about a half hour, but they just wouldn't stop chasing. So, in order to get their mind off my new flame, I took a little stick and pushed all of the sand back over their little corner. They instantly stopped chasing my flame and went back to their corner to clean. I was amazed, but it was as though their instincts told them that keeping their little space clean was more important than chasing my flame. They've been busy cleaning for the past two days and they've basically left my flame alone. Now, this "method" won't work for you if your clowns aren't engaged in cleaning or similar activity...and, for all I know, it won't work for me the next time around.

Long story short, my clowns were never aggressive before, but I have recently seen a huge change in their behavior, even though they're in a 150g tank with only a few other fish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

the larger tank is a 40 breeder :/
idk if thats enough space. but if thats the case where they will defend their territory, it gives me a reason to set up a new tank lol.
On a more serious note, there is absolutely no way to diffuse their aggression?

I think this typical clown behavior is better described as territorial, rather than aggressive. If they are the last fish introduced into the DT; that will force them to claim a smaller territory to defend. If they are the first fish, they may claim the entire tank as "theirs".

 

[MuffsAbby]

My flame has now been in the DT for 3 days and the clowns are no longer bothering with him as long as he doesn't go too close to their territory...it seems they have learned to live with him. So, if you end up having to add fish to your tank after the clowns are established, you might try using an acclimation box to give your clowns a chance to get used to the newcomer.

 

[Winwood]

Mama says that clowns are so aggressive because they got all them teeth in their head and no tooth brush.