Stocking Problems

[stcardoza]

Hi,
I have a 55 Gallon with 45 lbs. LR currently housing a false percula clown and a royal gramma. The clown and the gramma are good friends and can often be seen sleeping in the same cave. I was afraid my clown was getting lonely because he lost his "mate" a few weeks ago (he/she committed suicide and jumped out through the heater hole in the lid, found him on the floor when I got home
We added a new false perc. clown two days ago and the very peaceful tank went crazy. The new guy was maybe a little bit bigger than the clown already in the tank, but he started to bully the other clown really badly. Not only that, but the royal gramma who has always been probably my most laid back fish started bullying BOTH clowns. I watched the fighting go on for two days and even rearranged the rock and left the lights off, but nothing seemed to help, so I took out the new clown and put him in my 20 Gallon QT. Everything in the 55 Gal. is now back to the way it used to be again, but this has been a rough experience and I wanted to ask some questions...
1. Has anyone tried to add a new clown after a member of the pair has died? Are there any tips to doing this? I'd really like to get my clown another mate because he seemed happier with one.
2. Is my tank doomed to go crazy when I add anymore fish? Is this type of aggression normal when adding a new fish, or is that new clownfish just a jerk?
3. Are royal gramma's normally that aggressive/territorial to other species? I've heard that they are agressive/territorial to members of their own species, but not toward other species.
Any advice I can get from this board will be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[yellowtang]

I was able to get my two clowns to get along. The one I had liked to kill other creatures/fish...though in my case the new one was smaller, and the older one never had a mate and had been the only fish in the tank for awhile.
take all the fish out, bag them over night, move lr around, keep lights off, set fish free, cover tank (so it's nice and dark). then wait. It what's i was told to by a people here...and it worked for my two clowns. but my situtation was a little diff. It may or may not work, and you may think it's too stressful. just trying to help. hope you can make them get along.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Your established clown is female. You then made the mistake of brining in a new clown of the same size or slightly larger - this usually means the new clown is either female or vying for supremecy. Take your new one back and ask for a small one and you should be fine. Remember the breeding hierarchy in a tank is greatly increased by the poximity of the fishes. <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />