I need some knowledge

[asingleton123]

I'm a little new to the saltwater scene so bare with me. I have a maroon clown fish that was given to me it's been in a tank by it's self for a year or more. I understand that they are somewhat territorial and i think it's somewhat aggresive. I haven't tried putting any other fish or inverts in there with it i was only told that it had killed some other fish. Has anyone else had this trouble or does anyone have any ideas.

 

[invertcrazy]

What size is your tank and what size is the maroon clown? Also what kind of fish did it kill if you know?
To answer your question the maroon is one of the most aggressive of all the clowns and being he is the only fish in the tank he thinks the whole tank is his

 

[asingleton123]

It is just a 20 gallon tank, and as far as the fish the only one I know of for sure was a blue tang and a chocolate chip star fish. other than that I don't have much more info.

 

[jrthomas40]

one thing you can do to introduce an new animal slowly to an animal that is real territorial such as a clown would be get a hamster ball and float it in the tank and see how things go

 

[invertcrazy]

Tangs are open water swimmers and need lots of open water to swim in so a 20 gal tank is way too small and I never heard of a clown killing a cc star so you might have some different issues here.
Tell us a little about the tank:
how long is it set up-what kind of filters, lights - sand or crushed coral- how much live rock (if any)- Do you test the water? whats the ph-ammonia -nitrites-nitrates -sg
Don't mean to throw too much at you all at once.

 

[asingleton123]

The tank was originally setup by my sister in law and I have just recieved it, it has no live rock she just had crushed coral, my plan was to get some live rock and some crabs and shrimp to start off with, and will probably be getting a bigger tank in the future. The tank seems to be fairly decent for the size it has a compact florecent light and an aqua clear three step filter on it. I personally haven't added anything with it yet, but she said it would bite the black dots on the starfish. I also think it might help if he had an anemone but i don't want to add one until i know the water is in good condition. It went trough a four hour drive being transported so most of the water was new as of yesterday. I was just concerned to put anything else in there if it had been aggressive.

 

[invertcrazy]

Ok, first I wouldn't ever think about an anemone for at least 6 months because the tank should be well established before you add one and when you do get one be sure its at least 3 times bigger than the clown.
How much new water did you add yesterday? By adding too much new water it may cause the tank to cycle again which the ammonia spikes which is bad for the fish, so I would be sure your tank is done cycling before adding anything to the tank. Test your water every 2 or 3 days for ammonia and nitrites and after you get a reading of 0 on the ammonia you should start adding some live rock or base rock(better to add live rock).Usually a lb per gal. or more.Everything you put in the tank needs a place to hide and rest so more is better. THen you can start adding your clean up crew(snails-crabs-shrimp)
The lights are ok for fish but if you add corals or an anemone you will have to upgrade the lights to a T5 or Mh but your ok for now.
As for what to put in with the clown hmmm, I don't think you'll be able to put too much in with it.
There is a thread at the start of the forum for new hobbiest and beginners with some real good info.
PS- I have a lawnmower blennie(for algae)- 2 false percula clowns -a flame shrimp and the clean up crew(6 turbo snails and 25 scarlet and blue leg hermit crabs) I hope some of this info helps

 

[asingleton123]

Thanks for the advice. I will see what happens and will keep posted