Will a Three Stripe beat up a pair of mated clowns?

nudilove

nudilove

Member
So...Basically I had a mantis shrimp that had every one of my fish on death row, and a homicidal Six Line Wrasse who did the same until he met his own demise.
I am generally an Invert lover, the fish dont do it so much for me so I threw in a ThreeStripe Damsel and a Blue Devil, since they tend to be reef safe and personally I just dont care what fish are in there, I just need enough bio going on to feed my rocks Haha.
I have a 24 Clam Garden that just has a mated pair of Yellow Watchman's, and now just the Three Stripe.
The Three Stripe is a coward when it comes to the Gobies getting all puffy if he comes near their burrow, but he really chewed up the poor little blue devil, whom I set a trap for and captured. I was hoping to capture both and remove them but after 3 weeks of trying to catch "Bully" the three stripe, no dice.
I have heard varied responses from my whole saler and LFS, the LFS says the damsel will kick the crap out of the clowns and I should use a tiny fishhook to catch the damsel..... Not making this up..... I personally couldn't do it.... EW.
The wholesaler says its 50/50 the damsel will get pissed with the clowns and beat them up. He has been in there by himself for well over a month now so it's pretty much his turf....
*sigh* All I want are a pair of clowns! What do you think?
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by Ice4Ice
Clownfish are of the Damselfish species.

technically they are of the same Family, but that's two steps away from the final Species listing (genus)
 
nudilove

nudilove

Member
I realize they are closely related, but my problem is getting the little sucker out. I have built four of my own traps and left them in there for weeks, he just wont be caught!
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
I kept a four-stripe with a false perc clown for many years, so I know that damsels and clowns can get along. Personally, I think clowns are a little tougher than people give them credit for, and I also think that people give damsels a bad rap. Most of the damsel aggression I've seen has been aimed at other damsels, probably because they're so used to competing with each other in the wild. You've obviously seen that the damsel leaves the gobies alone, and he'll probably do the same thing if a pair of clowns are introduced at the same time. Good luck. Personally, damsels are among my favorite fish - especially the three- and four-stripes - so I hope you find a way to keep him.
 
X

xnikki118x

Guest
Originally Posted by rbaldino
I kept a four-stripe with a false perc clown for many years, so I know that damsels and clowns can get along. Personally, I think clowns are a little tougher than people give them credit for, and I also think that people give damsels a bad rap. Most of the damsel aggression I've seen has been aimed at other damsels, probably because they're so used to competing with each other in the wild. You've obviously seen that the damsel leaves the gobies alone, and he'll probably do the same thing if a pair of clowns are introduced at the same time. Good luck. Personally, damsels are among my favorite fish - especially the three- and four-stripes - so I hope you find a way to keep him.
You raise a very good point. I had a 3-stripe as one of my first fish and I loved him to death. In the OP's case though, I don't know if I'd risk a pair of clowns. I definitely wouldn't kill the damsel, but I'd try to trap him and take him back to the LFS.
 
joojoo

joojoo

Member
How big is the tank? Can you move LR around and get in there with 2 nets? Move most of the LR to one side... block that off with a plastic screen/eggcrate/something and try to get him out in the open? It takes time, and it might make a mess, but I've done it before...
Good Luck
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Originally Posted by fish3
at feeding put the net in very slowly withen stike range and go
Spoken like a rookie
:joy:
 
dcoyle11

dcoyle11

Member
Originally Posted by trainfever
Spoken like a rookie
:joy:

thats funny i am a "rookie" and i was going to try the same thing
 
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