Fire Fish being picked on by Clowns....what should I do?

[tirtza]

I think my Fire Fish is being picked on by my two False Perc. clowns. The Fire Fish and 2 clowns are the only fish in the 29 gallon tank. I've been noticing the Fire Fish is hiding in her little cave more and more over the past few weeks. I've also witnessed the clowns (I'm not positive if it's the male, female or both) occasionally rushing at her and chasing her. This evening, I noticed bits of fin missing and I'm really starting to become concerned. I've included some pictures of her below. What would you suggest?
FYI - I'm currently considering adding another fish (possibly a Royal Gramma), but I certainly don't want to do anything that would harm the Fire Fish or the clowns.

 

[kiefers]

Fire fish are skooling fish. they like to be a part of a community and this one is trying to be a part of the clown group and the clowns don't seem to having it. You could give it some time and see how things turn out or get another firefish for this one to hang around with. Read up on them first tho, I could be mistaken.

 

[mattman91]

I'm curious about this too. Various places online say that firefish should be kept singly or in mated pairs. But everywhere I have seen (LFS show tank, youtube videos, etc...) have more than one of them, even three I've seen. What is the right answer on this? Is it a case of individual fish having aggressive personalities?

 

[flower]

Clowns are mean fish, not as evil as the other damsels but mean. They stake out their territory and heaven help the fool who invades it. The smaller the tank the meaner the fish when it comes to territory. I agree with Kiefers, firefish want a buddy and the clowns are not it. A Royal Gramma will add to the problem, mine went around making ugly faces at the firefish...no nipping but the firefish took to hiding all the time.
I don't know if another firefish will help, they MIGHT fight, or they MIGHT be best buds. I do know that Royal Grammas' and dottybacks are of the same body type as the firefish, and so don't really like each other.

 

[njbillyv]

Tough call, nothing worse than watching a fish get picked on.
If it were me, I'd return the firefish to the lfs, just to be safe. Two clowns in a small tank are going to be VERY territorial. You could wait and see what happens but you run the risk of waking up and finding the little guy dead.

 

[loggerhead]

The firefish doesnt stand a chance. I had a tomato clown I just got rid of after a year because she was such a bully. We introduced a pair of the firefish and within 2 weeks she beat them to death. I even came home once to find the clown with one in her mouth whipping it back and forth by the tail like a shark.We ended up losing the 2 FF and I ended up getting rid of the clown. I went for a smaller pair of Skunks. They seem much more doccile.

 

[bechertanks]

this happened with my 2 ocellaris clowns and my fire fish goby, but it stopped in about 3 weeks and now they are good friends but the goby knows his place when there is food in the tank, also what i did is fed more small feedings aday and had my lights on for shorter periods.

 

[bechertanks]

yea royal gramma not the best idea my fire fish pestered the crap out of it, i had to return it before it was killed

 

[tirtza]

Quote:
Tough call, nothing worse than watching a fish get picked on.
If it were me, I'd return the firefish to the lfs, just to be safe. Two clowns in a small tank are going to be VERY territorial. You could wait and see what happens but you run the risk of waking up and finding the little guy dead.
Yeah - I feel like it would just be selfish if I kept the Fire Fish in there. I don't want to risk it and find the little Fire Fish dead. It's weird that they were fine in the beginning, and that the bullying is only recently happening. They've all three been together for close to 5 months. I guess the clowns are becoming more territorial. I'm really in love with the two clowns, they have such great personality, so if I have to make a choice then I think I'll take the Fire Fish back to the LFS. Maybe they'll give me a credit?? Even if they don't give me a credit, it's still the humane thing to do.
Quote:
The firefish doesnt stand a chance. I had a tomato clown I just got rid of after a year because she was such a bully. We introduced a pair of the firefish and within 2 weeks she beat them to death. I even came home once to find the clown with one in her mouth whipping it back and forth by the tail like a shark.
Wow! What brutality!! It's certainly survival of the fittest!
Okay, so now that I've decided that I need to take the Fire Fish back to the LFS....that leaves me with only the 2 clowns. I'd really like to have more than 2 fish in the aquarium, so does this mean that when I'm trying to decide which fish would be right, should I only be considering 'semi-agressive' fish and exclude fish that are labeled 'peaceful' (the type that could be bullied?)
What would you suggest?

 

[guoyuanyin]

because she was such a bully. We introduced a pair of the firefish and within 2 weeks she beat them to death. I even came home once to find the clown with one in her mouth whipping it back and forth by the tail like a shark.We ended up losing the 2 FF and I ended up getting rid of the clown. I went for a smaller pair of Skunks. They seem much more doccile.
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