clowns fighting

[shista]

I have had 2 true percula clownfish or almost 3 weeks. At first the larger one would nibble at the smaller one and the smaller one would shake, then the larger one kept beeting him up and the shaking stopped, now the larger one is still attacking the other but the smaller one only tries to (cuddle) with the bigger one. Its been 3 weeks, is this a normal pairing dominance?

 

[tangs rule]

It's kind of normal. The female (larger) one will go thru phases where she "likes" affection and other times does not want the male around. My pair hang out together sometimes - but other times the male is "hiding" on the other side of the 125g tank. I've had a couple various clown pairs and some species (percula & ocellaris) seem to have a rather "mean" relationships. Sometimes they can share the anemone together, while an hour later - the little male seems like he'd rather be in another tank. The "wanting" to cuddle thing sounds familiar - the females can be prety mean.
Do you have an anemone for them to host in?

 

[shista]

okay sounds good to me... I do not have an anemone, i am currently starting a reef tank and i was wondering if there are any corals that they would host or what corals are "highly to be hosted"

 

[shista]

is this bad if it is still going on? they have been in the tank for almost 2 months and still fighting... At night sometimes they sleep together but sometimes are at separate sides of the tank

 

[meowzer]

Are they causing any harm to each other? If so, then you may have to take one out of the tank. If not...well...then maybe one day they will stop...just watch closely for bite marks, scrapes...that kind of stuff

 

[btldreef]

I'm assuming they're young? It's normal, even for a very small amount of nipping to be going on. They're paring up. The male has to prove himself to the female, she'll give in eventually. My female was a monster for about 6 months before she finally gave in, now 3-4 years later, they breed like two horny teenagers left home alone for the weekend!

 

[shista]

ahhah okay, they are young and the one only has some minor fin damage but nothing to really worry about

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by shista http:///forum/thread/385108/clowns-fighting#post_3381028
ahhah okay, they are young and the one only has some minor fin damage but nothing to really worry about
Just keep an eye on the damaged fins, make sure the male doesn't loose a fin. it should subside on it's own. The majority of the time, the two work it out, occasionally a female just won't accept a male, but with Percula's and Ocelarris it is not the norm for them to reject a mate when they're young.

 

[meowzer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385108/clowns-fighting#post_3381030
Just keep an eye on the damaged fins, make sure the male doesn't loose a fin. it should subside on it's own. The majority of the time, the two work it out, occasionally a female just won't accept a male, but with Percula's and Ocelarris it is not the norm for them to reject a mate when they're young.
I had that happen BTLD...remember my beat up clown? The 2 I had in the 54G faught....I finally had to remove one and place it in the hospital.....it is now in the 29G, and I got it a mate...the one in the 54G lives alone LOL (well with no other clown anyway)

 

[gemmy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/385108/clowns-fighting#post_3381043
I had that happen BTLD...remember my beat up clown? The 2 I had in the 54G faught....I finally had to remove one and place it in the hospital.....it is now in the 29G, and I got it a mate...the one in the 54G lives alone LOL (well with no other clown anyway)
I had the same thing happen as well. My current female beat the snot out of the its first mate (I think they were too similar in size). The beating happened quick and I was not able to get a QT set up in time (just when I got it ready is when the clown died).

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/385108/clowns-fighting#post_3381046
I had the same thing happen as well. My current female beat the snot out of the its first mate (I think they were too similar in size). The beating happened quick and I was not able to get a QT set up in time (just when I got it ready is when the clown died).
I had a similar thing - for about 2 years I had 3 ocellaris clowns living in harmony in a 125g tank - they were all bought at the same time and qtined together, lived together, never any problems....1 became the larger (female), and the 2 smaller (males) all got along fine...then in january this year, I got them an anemone...(H. magnifica)...they hosted in it within an hour - but that's when they all began fighting like mad. I caught and seperated one of the smaller males, and let the dominant female preside over the remainaing male clown, and they are very happy today, (though it was kinda rough starting out - about a month r so)...Now, neither one leavs the anemone for very long and they get along great. . . sadly, i'm left with 1 oddball ocellaris clown in a seperate tank by himself that i'd probably never try to re-introduce to the "pair" in the 475g. I've seen clowns kill each other, and it happens pretty quick.
Additionally, i've tried mixing species (maroon & ocellerais) in the 125 before, and it did NOT work, but for the last week, I have been able to mix these 2 species with each having it's own preferred anemone in the 475g......bear in mind, they kinda stay 4 feet apart, and the maroon is HUGE compared to the nemo clowns. (and she's meaner)
Clownfish are cute, but usually very territorial and mean, aside from what personality hollywood provides.