Bully Clown

[Dayna]

My clown is becoming a bully.

he's always fighting with the other clown and taking bites outta him...

same with the yellow tang.

what can i do to make him stop picking on everyone....



and does this mean something? is he unhappy in the tank?

 

[Guest]

To make him stop? Flush him ... Just kidding, seems like normal behavior depending on the type of clown. Im gessing this may be a maroon since its attacking the tang. Also what size is it, and did you just add the second clown? If so they may both be female, or there fighting for dominance to decide who becomes female. If the bully won't stop you may need to return him, ecspecially since hes attacking your tang.

 

[Dayna]

they are not maroons and they were added at the same time about a month ago.

 

[Guest]

What are they?

 

[JG]

Hi

I had a clarki clown that was a big bully, esp whem I was adding a new tank mate. Clowns tend to be very territorial, but if you "shake up their territory the may be more accepting of their tankmates. I found that if I rearranged the tank before adding anyone new or even when he got a bit "uppity" he left others alone.

Another trick I would pull was to tie a piece of shrimp to a string and "go fishin" when adding a new tank mate. He would then attack the food rather than the new guy.

Also, some species of clown ( like the clarki) are not tolerant of other clowns. Are your two clowns different species?

Joanne

 

[JJFly]

Remember, clownfish are from the Damsel family. By design they are ill-tempered and territorial. I thought I could get away with a mated Cinnamon pair and Tomato Pair in a 90gal tank. WRONG! The Red&Black was hammering the Tomato and I ended up moving the Tomato pair to my 37gal tank. All is well now. I put a powder blue tang in the 90gal... He keeps the Cinnamon clan in check now!

 

[revhtree]

My clown was fine, and then one day he became a bully. So me and him went on a trip to the lfs where I traded him for another. The other is just fine with all his tank mates.

 

[1neondottyback]

That's good news...I have a tomato that is the boss of the tank, yet he mostly keeps to himself. When I get close to the tank and stare at him he will rush the tank glass and shake his body at me. When I put by hand in the tank to do some work the tomato with literally bite the hand that feeds him. What a clown. I can here him once in a while smacking the surface of the water at another fish, usually at my huma or lemonpeel.

 

[Dayna]

he is a percula clown