maroons fighting each other

[fish master]

i have 2 maroon clown in a 90 gallon tank for about 4 months . they were buddys. if you found 1 the other was with him. yesterday i noticed them fighting. theyre sminning around circles biting each other.the tail and fins are all chewed up. one of them has lost the white stripe ,because hes chewed up so bad.if i dont do something i think theyre going to kill each other.whats going on

 

[mie]

Terrritory issues more than likely. You should seperate them, if not one will more than likely die or develop ich from stress. Once i seperated my fighting clowns my tank was much more peaceful and my clown was not nearly aggresive towards the other fish.

 

[2batrigger]

You should always get one that is bigger than the other. But most likely they are deciding which will be the female. I guess they've taken it a little too far.

 

[browniebuck]

I had the same problem in my 55 when we first started. They were buddy buddy at first, then I found the larger one pecking on the smaller one...so I broke it up by feeding them. The next morning, the smaller one was dead. After this, I did some research and found that maroons were probably the worst clowns to try to raise in multiples, as they don't like their own kind (or any other type of clown for that matter). After the other one died (don't know why, it was over a long weekend away, during which his death nearly killed the rest of the tank as I returned to an ammonia spike and cloudy water), I am looking for the right time to add a pair of aquacultured false percs (or possibly the black percs if I can find a good deal).

 

[thomas712]

Typical behavior for maroons, however besides the territory issue, there could be the simple dominance factor to see who becomes the female and who becomes the male in this tank. Death of one is always a possibility, but then again so would a mated pair if they both survive. Separation would be necessary for survival of both, keep a close eye on them though if you decide to leave them together.
Thomas