clownfish bully

[luvmylil]

We have had our 2 clownfish for 1 month now and we got them through here.
1 seems to be bullying the other non stop. We thought they may be mating as one dug a hole under a rock but everytime it comes out the other chases and harrasses it almost non stop. Today they have both been doing violent shakes next to each other so we do not know what to do? any advice from you all and hello as this is my first post

 

[nietzsche]

both shake or just 1? are they both the same size? can you see if one is smaller than the other? usually the larger one is trying to establish dominance; when you see the smaller one shake, its trying to tell the dominant fish (the female) that it wont give it problems and that itll be submissive and stay as a male. usually the female will stop once she sees it happen. itll go on for a while until she is sure she is dominant. sometimes youll notice that the female will be a bully during feeding time and try to eat more than the male to make sure she grows strong and healthy
if theyre both the same size then youll have a problem, i would get one out and put a smaller clown in, make sure its the same genus and species as the other one
good luck!

 

[mr.clownfish]

the shaking mean that they love each other

my female has been doing some shaking too lately. usually it was the male who did the shaking. and if the female chases the male a little and the male turns and shakes that means he is say that he is no harm and would like to mate together. the female shakes to tell him that he is accepted. and they will continue to do this until they mate up. this is the "clownfish way" lol thats what i call it.

 

[luvmylil]

The clownfish were the same size when we got them but the female is about 1/4 inch longer but fatter then the male , she is also darker then him she has darker black on her fins and bands... the male sometimes almost turns translucent why does he do that? he seems so unhappy he does come out of his hiding and eat but she pushes him into a corner and seems more worrried that he doesn't eat rather than eat any food for herself. But they both do shakes she lays over him kind of sideways and shakes and he shakes back at her. she seems to nip at him too. The strange thing to me is that he hid under a rock where she could not get him and when he was out she would try to bury the hole of the entrance with the sand? and our damsels we have 2- 3 bands who seems to try to block the female from the male and one blue who does not seem to care whats going on and a honey colored one with blue spot on his sides I have no idea what kind he is.. but he gangs up with the female and harrasses the male clownfish at times never goes near him but will lay sideways on him? The honey one was originally the boss of the tank and tried to dominant the clowns when i added them and did for a week or so but then they became the dominant ones and now just the female clown is one. Anyway wanted to give enough info , we are thinking about setting up a smaller 29 gallon tank for the male and just do an anemone and maybe something else? but i do not want to have to separate them if they work it out on their own yet do not want to lose him either? what should we do?

 

[nietzsche]

im not there so i cant really see what shape the male is in. does he look really beat up? is he at least eating? are they both the same type of clown? im not sure how long they will fight for. ive had 4 different types of clowns in the past and the female and male would never fight that much. at the most, the female would rush to the male and the male would back off, some would twitch. ive had some bitch each other on the sides but never enough to cause serious damage, only leave small scars.
i think only you could make that decision based on what you see. if you feel as though the male isnt eating enough, is getting beat up too much, is too stressed, then make the call to stop it and save the little guy.

 

[luvmylil]

HE is not that beat up , he looks as if his fins are nipped, he does eat but when the female sees him pushes him back into the corner. O worry about his color with him going pale and the black bands are really thin and light compared to the female. yes they are both false perculas aquacultured. He has been out most of today but hanging low in a fake plant where the female has a hard time getting to him. We are in the process of starting a new tank and we did not want to put any fish in until it was cycled so we will keep an eye on him... i do not want to lose anyone..