Clownfish fighting till death???

shista

Member
ok so i i have had 2 percula clownfish for about a month.. the first week no war, swimming together sometimes...... 2nd week they started fighing a little, i thought it was because they will pair, ... then started liek shaking (ive heard that is what they do wen they pair) now the shaking stopped and the fighting is getting intence!!! what should i dooo?? is this normal 1 month?
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Yes, it is normal. The fighting can get intense sometimes. My male maroon had almost all of his fins chewed off by the female. For a few days she kept him in a corner, behind a sponge filter in my QT, and would not let him out. I was quite concerned. Then at feeding time, while she was off getting food, he would dart up quickly to grab some then go back to his hiding spot. When I noticed this I started adding some food to the other side of the tank first. When she swam away to eat over there, I fed the smaller male over his spot so he didn't risk being disciplined by the larger female. It worked well. The fighting lasted for several weeks. Gradually she let him come back out again. I dosed the foods with a rotation of Vitachem and Zoecon to keep his immune system up. All of his fins grew back. There are some cases where the dominate clown will pick on the other until it dies. It helps to have one clown larger than the other and to boost their immune system as much as possible. To do that you will need to feed them a high quality diet, dosed in vitamins, and keep the water parameters ideal.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Sounds like you have two female Clownfish. If so then there is no cure. They will fight until you only have one Clownfish.
 

veni vidi vici

Active Member
One is trying to establish dominance most likely.They should settle down after they work it out.Has either one of them been shaking or vibrating?
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2870145
Sounds like you have two female Clownfish. If so then there is no cure. They will fight until you only have one Clownfish.
Good point there.
Are they both shaking and fighting each other? I should have asked that. If it is two that will pair then one will be the dominant one and the other will show submission.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/2870151
If you have 2 of the same S e x one will switch sexes? no?
Only if they are both male. If they are both male they may fight for dominance but usually that's settled in a matter of hours, not days. There are always exceptions to every rule though....
 

shista

Member
yes, the big one twitched once in a while but now it stopped and the small one is hiding behind filter and big one keeps on beeting it up. the smaler clown still eats but fins are all eaten up!!! is there anything i can do to help them mate or something?
 

mboswell1982

Active Member
if they are both female there is nothing you can do, clowns are born male, and then switch to female, they can NOT switch back to male, so if both of your clowns are female, then they will fight to the death
 
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