Clown troubles

[frankness]

I have two ocellaris clowns that have decided to do nothing but fight all of the sudden. I ve heard this is normal in the beginning but they were together peacefully for 6 or so months and now its all out war! Think I may have to remove one, its to the point were one has a bloody lip because they are constantly fighting, especially at feeding time. One of them is orange and the other is black, think this may have triggered it? If not any ideas?

 

[rickross23]

i do not think one being black and the other being white is the problem. is the black a ocellaris? how big is your tank?

 

[frankness]

Yes its an ocellaris. The tank size is 65 GAL.

 

[rickross23]

What are the other tank inhabitants? Do you have an anemone they are fighting over?

 

[bang guy]

I doubt color morph is a problem. It may be that one finally turned female and is not accepting the other as a mate.

 

[rickross23]

I doubt color morph is a problem.  It may be that one finally turned female and is not accepting the other as a mate.
+1 that was my next point.

 

[frankness]

I also have a flame angel and a royal gramma, no anemone. So if they are rejecting each other as mates removing one is the only way to solve the problem?

 

[btldreef]

Sometimes they go through a rejection and then they'll accept each other again. It really depends on the temperment of the fish. If the female truly isn't accepting the male, she may kill it. If they've been together for this long and now are fighting, it's likely that the female will eventually kill the male. IMO, get rid of the aggressor.