Stupid decision?

fulcrum

fulcrum

Member
Its been years since I posted on the board. I havent done anything very stupid in a long time, but I think I broke my streak.
I have a FOWLR 135 Gal with around 115 pounds of live rock, 85 gal sump, refugium. Tank has been running steadily for 5 years.
In the tank I had two well established orange (traditional) ocellaris clowns.
Here's where I got stupid. I added a pair of black/single white dot ocellaris clowns, along with 15 new pounds of live rock. I took some old rock out, and rearranged much of the tank in hopes that would "confuse" the territory.
Well the female clown is beating the crap out of the two black clowns. They are smaller (about the size of the male), and it might just be a dominance thing, but it hasnt stopped in over a week.
Everyone is eating well, and beyond the nipped fins, the two black clowns look ok. If I distract the female (i.e. chase her with a net) the other three clowns (the male orange, and the two blacks) get along fine.
Did I mess up, or will this settle down before someone dies?
 
fulcrum

fulcrum

Member
surprisingly much better today. far less aggression, no biting. everybody is out swimming in the open.
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by fulcrum http:///forum/thread/386298/stupid-decision#post_3392417
surprisingly much better today. far less aggression, no biting. everybody is out swimming in the open.
I'd call it luck - - the exception to the rule, as clowns can be terribly territorial and agressive to their own kind or similar... I hope it works out and only gets better, as they are SUCH a cool fish to have, espically with an anemone to host in. . FWIW - if you don't have an anemone, and get one someday in the future, the differnt sets of clowns might either ignore it, OR fight for it, and it'll be like starting all over again.
I cannot have my mated pair ocelleris hosting in their LTA with the maroon female hosting in her BTA in a 475g tank, if either anemone cannot host (LTA got sucked into a big strainer twice last month) or isn't present - it's fight night.... I've tried a few combonations, and ONLY with BOTH anemones present AND clown types, does it work.
Also - prior to mixing clown types, I had 3 ocellaris for a couple years, without anemone, and one kinda became dominate (female) - but all 3 got along great.....Then I added the LTA and instant hosting, but instant fight between the males, and even the female was pissed...........Removed 1 male, and the "pair" is happy as can be...sadly the outsider now shares a 90g with 2 yellow tail blue damsels and some cuc.
I hope your "mix" works out for the long term, it'd be cool
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by fulcrum http:///forum/thread/386298/stupid-decision#post_3392417
surprisingly much better today. far less aggression, no biting. everybody is out swimming in the open.
That's great. the tank is fairly large so there is a chance but I didn't want to get your hopes up. often that can lead to waiting too long and the demise of a cool animal. it's hard to make multiple clowns work in any but the largest tanks. of course it all may go down hill if your dominant female begins breeding/laying. but again nothing is guaranteed. good luck man.
 
fulcrum

fulcrum

Member
I was pretty diligent about keeping the tank in a state of flux for the week. I rearranged the rock a couple of times and put "foreign" objects in there at random. I knew it was a risk when I did it, but was hoping the coloration difference and decent size differential would help.
This morning everyone was out and about, swimming and I didnt see any aggression (or at least not much).
I have mated pairs of ocellaris in two other tanks, so I really didnt have many options. The mated pair in my 92 gal corner have been with me for 9 years. (like I said.....been a while since a did something incredibly stupid) It was make this work or try to give the fish back to the LFS. I dont think they are keen on returns, even without refunds.
I wasnt sure if anyone had any experience with odd versus even numbers of clowns in groups. Would chances have been better if one or three was added instead of two, or is it just a crapshoot?
(and no, I'm not thinking about trying it again in another tank)
 
a&a2

a&a2

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by reefkprZ http:///forum/thread/386298/stupid-decision#post_3392490
That's great. the tank is fairly large so there is a chance but I didn't want to get your hopes up. often that can lead to waiting too long and the demise of a cool animal. it's hard to make multiple clowns work in any but the largest tanks. of course it all may go down hill if your dominant female begins breeding/laying. but again nothing is guaranteed. good luck man.
Agreed---I had a pair and they started laying eggs--I couldn't even put my hand in the tank and she would nip at me. She turned out to be evil so she went back to the LFS and I only have one now
 
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