Clownfish sore

[Newbie_saltwater]

I just got my first pair of clownfish(they are both Juvenile). One of the clowns has insisted on being the dominate one and beat the other one up pretty bad, the has a sore on his fin and his gills looked “raised” almost like there are bubbles under the gills. Does this seem like something that the clown will recover from or are medications necessary

 

[beth]

The bigger problem is that the harassment will continue so it won't likily recover. Clownfish must be a mated pair to be placed together in the same tank.

 

[Newbie_saltwater]

If that the case how are mated pairs formed? I have two juvenile clownish that haven’t reached sexually maturity they are only an inch long with no noticeable size different, aren’t you suppose to get them young so they become a pair?

 

[beth]

They normally pair within the same family. If you attempt to force a mate-pair, it is best to have a larger clownfish paired with a smaller clown. The larger will be the female and the aggressor but may settle into acceptance of the male smaller fish--if he survives the initial aggression. With what you have, juveniles, they will fight it out and normally the one being harrassed the most will die, unless you have a large tank where they can keep away from each other. If he survives, then they may mate, but it seems like he's being beat up too much for that to be realistic.

 

[Newbie_saltwater]

Oh I see that makes sense, geez so best suggestion would be to get rid of one?

 

[beth]

What do you mean "get rid of"? The one that is beat up needs to go into qurantine before returning to whatever store you got him from.

 

[Newbie_saltwater]

I mean find a new home for one of the fish. I never said I was going to return the one that was getting beat up. I would rather keep that one and attempted to nurse it back to health

 

[beth]

Yes, that fish will need some TLC over the next couple of weeks in order to make it. Hopefully he won't get an infection. Good quality and a variety of foods twice a day. Add zoecon or selcon to the diet. Don't add any fish to tank until he recovers fully. If he remains with the other fish, the aggressor will likely keep attacking that same spot around the gill until it's punctured.

 

[Newbie_saltwater]

I appreciate your advice and will do the best I can to fix the issue

 

[beth]

Glad to help. You may want to think about adding a qurantine tank to your inventory if you plan to remain in the hobby long-term.