Clowns recent behavior has me concerned, please give me your thoughts......

[fishmamma]

Clown's recent behavior has me concerned, please give your thoughts.....My large (presumably female) false percula clown has some small pieces missing from her anal and tail fin. Both look to be clear chunks missing, not ragged through out the entire fin(s).
My smaller (presumably male) perc has shown no signs of aggression towards her, and is often "quivering" at her to show his submissiveness. Only other tank mates a re abi-color blenny (again, never see any aggression) and inverts.
In addition to the fin problem today she has been hovering over one particular spot in the sand bed, rarely straying from it unless she thinks there is food coming. At night the clowns hover together at the top of the tank and the blenny sits in his favorite hole.
Yesterday I did add a few small corals and tofay added a power head. Water parameters are all within normal limits- 0 Am, Trites, Nitrates under 10, 80 degrees, SG 1.025 etc.....
Any ideas? She otherwise seems healthy and looks good.

 

[fishmamma]

Sorry for all they typos above. I should add that I do not believe it is an oxygen issue, I have good turnover and movement at the water surface. Also there are just two small sections of fin missing, one from top of tail fin and the other a little larger from the rear of the anal fin. The male is not straying too far from her, and sometimes hangs right next to her. Could this be a pre-spawning behavior?
Any ideas of who could be at her fins when I am not looking? Do hermits ever reach for fish fins?

 

[dskidmore]

The fin cuts may be from a crab? I'd be more worried about missing fin chunks than the behavior. This behavior doesn't seem abnormal to me, she may be picking that piece of sand as a place to lay her eggs. She feels safe there. Clown fish will "host" most anything, they are not as particular to anenomes as people seem to think.

 

[fishmamma]

So do you think the fins could be the result of an over zealous hermit? (Or was that sarcasm??) She is swimming around more now, and yes, I am definatly concerned over how her fins got nipped. Not quite sure what to do about it though.....

 

[thegrog]

Do they look scalloped? With mine her fins got a scalloped appearance when she got more mature for some reason.
You may also have a mantis shrimp in there. Do you hear a clicking sound from your tank at night? I highly doubt a hermit would attack a clown unless it was very, very sick and dying.
She also could have scratched/hurt herself on a rock. That happens.
If she is still eating well and sleeping in her usual spot, just keep an eye on her as it may just be something small. If she stops eating, then it is time to worry.

 

[fishmamma]

You know Grog I thought about the mantis thing but I have not heard any clicking and probably would have run into trouble before now if I had one of those buggers in there. Her anal fin is definatly missing the rear portion, it is not scalloped looking, but thanks for offering that up, I will keep it mind for future worries. I do have a couple large hermits in there, I wouldn't have though it would be likely for them to snap at her unless she was grazing right on top of them. I just don't want her to lose any more fin. Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.

 

[beth]

"Chuncks missing" is a talltale sign of aggression. Try observing your tank without your fish noticing that you are looking. You may have to spend some time doing this, and not just a few mins.

 

[fishmamma]

I actually did that today for about 20 minutes and saw nothing, they all swim together and pick at the rock right over each other and have not shown any aggression while I have been watching.........but there are probably 20 hours or so a day that I miss. So would the more likely scenario be the bicolor blenny? I assume the male clown would not show aggresion towards the female.

 

[thegrog]

If they are relatively young, the male may still show some aggression as he may still have a shred of hope that he can become the dominant one.
Blennys are typically not aggressive like that. Strange indeed.
As I said before, keep an eye on things. If she stops eating or looks very sick, then it is time to worry. Clowns are remarkably resiliant and heal up well.

 

[kaotik]

do you have any other crabs in the tank besides hermits?
I have a mithrax(emerald) that trys to grab at fish when they swim by. I dont really know why he does it but he hasnt caught any of them yet.

 

[fishmamma]

I had a mithrax but have not seen it since it's last molt so I think a hermit found his hiding place while he was still soft.
Grogg, thanks again for your reassurance. The bi-color does not appear bothered by the clowns anytime I am watching so I am not convinced it is the culprit either. Hopefully her fin issues are a freak occurance and won't happen again.

 

[danish]

My emerald will attack? my brittlestar :scared: (or just clean him? :notsure: ). I would think the hermit did it - I just lost my BIG hermit who would eat anything he could get his claws at.