mean little ocellaris clownfish

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W

WestTex

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2008
135
0
16
New Braunfels, Texas
So I have had this guy for about 7 months now, a small ocellaris clownfish. He's in a 20 with a yellow watchman goby that is paired with a red banded pistol shrimp, 3 hermit crabs, a skunk cleaner shrimp, and two turbo snails. So far everything has been a okay until about a month or so ago. The clown developed an attitude. If i place my hand in the tank to do any maintenance he attacks like a piranha. If anything moves in the tank, he pounces. They get fed a meal of frozen mysis once per day on the dot at 5:30 PM. Everything in the tank seems happy beside the above listed issue. Water parameters are good and the tank is maintained weekly.

Is there anything that I can do to calm this little toot down? Was hoping to add a piece of coral to the tank soon but now I am not sure until I figure out what made this fish go psycho. Everything I read about the ocellaris clown said that they were a calm peaceful fish.
 
Can we get a pic? Where did you get him, it could possibly be a percula, they do look somewhat similar.
 
I can't tell you what he is for sure but I can tell you that my clown, a female percula, is a right mean biddy. She attacks everything I put in that rank except new fish. She is definitely the boss of my tank. I've got a 55 though with four fish in it. I'm wondering if your little (I'm assuming) gal isn't getting territorial because there's not enough space? I don't know, just throwing ideas out there. I don't think there's too much to worry about though if she's just attacking you and the odd Sponge. That's normal. It's when she starts going after the roomies that you start worrying.


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Get her a mate and see if that could work. I always noticed they would calm down after having a pair together but that also may not work. The one in there could kill it.


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Make sure if you do get another one, that it's tiny. If they know what they are doing, they will hook you up with a male. You don't want the biggest one at the lfs. They will really kill each other then. And watch really closely when you put him in the tank too, when I got my male, my female looked at him and then decided she was too good for him. That's a good sign. If they fight at all, he's probably a goner. The thought of getting another clown scared me for a long time. I'm happy I did it though. Let us know what you decide.


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I really appreciate the help guys. I'll think about it. I am a little worried about adding one more fish since its a 20 gallon. I still want to add a few more pounds of live rock in the tank and perhaps a coral or two. I'll watch him for a while longer and see if he mellows out.
 
Good call. You'd have to get a bigger tank if you get another clown. Not sure what the increments are, but I've got a 55 and I like it a lot. I only wish it was a little deeper. But it's great for a couple fish and a few corals.


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