Clownfish: how long should I wait?

stupid_naso

Member
OK, I'm trying to pair these two clownfish. What ended up happening is the bigger/ older clown ended up bullying the smaller, recently-bought one (big surprise :mad: ). Well I thought everything was going the way it's supposed to go. But now the baby clown's back dorsal fin (I hope this is the right fin) is damaged. Obiviously, it's because of the big clown.
Right now, amazingly enough the baby clown found a way to get away from the big clown: staying on top of the power head. Yep, it's swimming sideways on top of the power head, and he's doing this just because there's not that much water on top of the powerhead, not because he's sick. This way the other clown (the big one) cannot get him (smart fish IMO). My question is how much longer should I wait? Is there anything I can do to help these two to get along faster? I read the putting-it-in-a-plastic-hamster-cage idea, but it's too risky considering the size of my tank and all the corals I have. Besides, I'm sure that will stress out the fish a lot. So what do you guys think?
Any help will be greatly appreciated... :)
stupid_naso
 
try buying one of those clear breeder plastic thingys from your lfs to put the small clown in, that way the two can see each other and not harm one another
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
we had the same problem. what we did was we took the bigger bully out of the tank and put him in a bag, we then moved lr around.
when the little clown would go near the bully the bully would try to attack the little one through the bag. once this stopped, we let the bully back into the tank. we let the bully lose with the lights off and kept the lights off untill the next morning.
after that, there wasn't much trouble, just a little picking but that was just the female keeping the smaller one a male.
btw, we did this the same day we got the fish. when the bigger one started attacking the little one, I got upset, so sinner took action.
also, make sure the little one is getting food.
good luck.
in general, i've heard moving lr around and adding fish with lights off help. the problem is the bigger one already has his territory in the tank.
 

stupid_naso

Member
This is an update on the two clown.... :(
In a couple of days have to move the tank to friend's house pretty much permanently because I'm moving up north .... :(
 

stupid_naso

Member
I could, but it's going to be a lot of work moving it and keeping it. I have to drive 7 hours up there. I don't think it'll be wise because I have to do a lot of studying when school starts. What I realize is this tank soothes me in some way but stresses me a lot, too :D .
 
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