Situation

[egill]

Had a buddy that was gettting rid of his clowns. Told him I was looking for a pair to start my tank with. He said I could have them since he was getting out of saltwater. He brought them over and they are Maroons. They are beautiful fish and he has on had them 2 months. They are both the same size and he said he never had any problems with them gettting along. So I decided to take them and I drip acclaimated them for 3 hours together. After that I put them in the tank. They were fine for the first 2 hours but then one started to chase the other and nipped him on one of his fins. Glad I was home to watch them. I divided the tank with egg crate hoping they would eventually (over a couple weeks) get used to the tank.
Are my hopes too high???

 

[scottallert]

they are probably fighting for dominance,
they should be fine, but they also can fight to the death.

 

[spanko]

I would take the eggcrate out and let it go. they will figure it out or one will get bullied to death. Either way you can't keep them divided forever.

 

[egill]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2870148
I would take the eggcrate out and let it go. they will figure it out or one will get bullied to death. Either way you can't keep them divided forever.
The eggcrate was recommend by the lfs. He said it'd give them a chance to calm down from the move.

 

[spanko]

Okay I guess I can see why they would suggest it, I just don't agree with it. Let's see what some others say before you take my word for it though.

 

[invertcrazy]

How long has the tank been up and running? Did it go through the cycle?
Reason I'm asking is these are the first things your putting in your tank. Usually after a cycle you would put in a clean up crew then wait a week or two then add fish. I wuz just wondering how new the tank is. Also what size were the in before you got them?
Like Spanko said take the eggcrate out and let them work things out on their own since they were together for 2 months in the other tank.

 

[egill]

Tank has been up and running for over 2 months. Clean up crew has been in for over a week now. I have a 46g bow. He had them in a 29 which I thought was kinda small....heck the 46 probably going to be kinda small until I get my 75g switched over to saltwater.

 

[invertcrazy]

they will be fine in a 46 gal. I would take the eggcrate out but if you feel better leaving it in, then leave it in. Maroons are the most aggressive of all the clowns and very territorial so you might have this same issue if your going to be adding any new fish in the future.
Beautiful fish though. Keep us posted on how things work out and pictures are a good thing.................

 

[egill]

Here are some pictures....most came out blurry as heck so I'll only put up the clear ones. BTW they are both Gold Stripes the yellow just didn't come out in the pictures.
First off here is the tank after I first set it up

Then we have the bully

Here's the one that is getting picked on.

 

[chasar]

During th 2 months your friend had them did the establish dominancy? Where they purchaced as a pair? Was he having any of the same fighting? I would think that if they were in a 29 for two months and both are still alive, they are compatible. The sudden fighting may be because of the change of tank. I would take the egg crate out and let them go. If they have been through this before it should not take long for the submissive one to remember who is who.

 

[subielover]

I agree and would also recommend to take the egg crate out.

 

[egill]

He said he bought them at the same time but they weren't a pair. Didn't think that was recommended but he did it. Said he never say a sign of fighing between them.

 

[subielover]

I think they will settle down in a few days if that. This is what clowns do, they can be aggressive to each other until the figure out who will be the boss(female.) They probably had it figured out in their old tank and may take them a bit to remember.

 

[chasar]

This is going to be a 50/50 chance. Marrons are the most aggresive clown and can fight til death. The fact that they were together for 2 months is good. The fact that the previous owner noticed no fighting is not good. The may or may not have established dominancy. So this fight that they are having now may be to establish dominancy or may be til death. I still feel the best thing to do is let nature take its coarse. Clowns are a very hardy fish let them fight it out. If one is not showing signs of submission(twitching and backing down) and the fight continues and one is looking rough, you may need to seperate. Just IMO I am not trying to be negative, just preparing you. Have a QT tank set up and ready if needed.

 

[egill]

They are now swimming together and the "smaller" one is backing down and is indeed twitching. The bully is still chasing him around though. Hopefully this will end soon.

 

[chasar]

Yes, this should end within a few days. It is good that the smaller one is backing down. Just watch them carefully to make sure the smaller one doesn't get injured too bad. it must have just been the fact that they swithced settings that through them off. with any luck you should soon have a pair of GSM Clowns that will be very rewarding to watch.

 

[egill]

Today has gone well. They are swimming together for the most part. Once in a while the "bigger" one will charge off the smaller one. Was watching them swim side by side and they both started twitching but the smaller one is doing it more often.
Also noticing another issue. I have 4 turbo snails and I keep finding them on there sides. Is this normal??

 

[subielover]

Snails are not the brightest creatures in the world. Probably twice a day, I go through looking for snails on their "backs"

I just flip them over, give them a little pep talk and send them on their way

 

[peachie98]

I'd guess the snails are most likely falling off the glass and land like that...I'm always hearing mine falling in the middle of the night.
That's cool they're getting along! It took my maroons literally months to get along (and the male was 1/3 the size of my female). They're now both doing great...and they're in a 40 gallon. My female will still every once in a while get upset but luckily he knows when to stay away from her.
You mentioned their stripes...the gold becomes more apparant as they get older (although I can see it in the pics). Yours are really pretty!