Clown Fish Being MEAN!

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
I just got a little yellow watchmen goby today. After acclimating, I put him into the tank. First thing, the Clown FIsh (both Oscellaris) go after him! They are getting him in their mouth! The sixline wrasse I have also goes after him?! I though these were all peaceful fish? The goby is going to be dead for sure...

I dont know why the goby wont just go and hide on the bottom? He insists on staying in the water column!

I have the lights out, but the clowns KNOW its not night time.

They are going to kill him arent they? I dont understand why they left the sixline wrasse alone when I added him last month?

Poor goby...I thought the "nemo" clowns were the nicest ones. Same goes for the sixline wrasse.

Any tips? Might he survive all this? Hopefully he will go hide...

Matt

 

[juice28]

he probably will, yes false percs are one of the most peaceful clowns, i think the skunk clowns are the most docile. but even though they are all peaceful fish, if they have been in the tank for a while and/or added really close together, they have established their hierarchy and territory in the tank, the new addition is messing up their groove so to speak, you can try shooing your goby to the bottom in the rocks. if he is really that small they might see him as food, clowns are omnivores, not known to attack and eat fish but if its small enough to be a meal then it might be. good luck, I hope he makes it

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
The Goby is now in his own tank. I ran to walmart and found they had some 10g tanks and some cheapo filters.

I feel so bad for him. Hes got nothing in this tank as I had nothing to add for him. (Emergency).

Even his salinity is low. (Ran out of salt and so hes in 1.020). Hes got a small live rock from the main tank and some shells to hide under. I will be ordering some sand from ebay that is supposed to be free from sand storm issues. Right now hes just laying on the glass, under a shell, staring at me.

Poor thing is only an 1in long or so. Even the 6 line wrasse went after him! He must be too young to know what to do about them.

I hope he makes it!

Matt

 

[juice28]

yea he is tiny...fish will do that though, are you going to keep him in his own tank? if so, id go to petco and get a small bag of LS. you can use you tank water to fill it, 10 gal isnt that much you probably do that much on a water change or close to it, that will raise the salinity or at least make it equal to your display tank. If you want, you can put him in a small container, and let him go at the bottom of the tank in the rocks. watchmans will turn and face their potential predator and open their mouth to try to scare it away or go into their hiding place. they are a cautious fish and since he doesnt have a home yet that might be the reason he isnt just swimming straight to the bottom...

 

[mrg02d]

My main tank is only 20g. So my PWC is about 4g I will likely just keep him in his own tank until he grows up some.

I will get more salt tomorrow to raise the salinity some. I dont want to buy store sand, as it is $$$ and will make a nasty sand storm. (The gunk in this live sand crud seems to turn to detritus or something if not washed out).

I will try to feed the Goby some mysis shrimp and see if he responds to it.

The bottom release sounds good, but I am just in shock at watching what he went through. He was so out of it, I just picked him out with my hand. :-( He spent some time in the rocks, then swam out and got his butt kicked! Instead of going back to the rocks, he just kept getting thrashed about. Might this work itself out when he is larger? I really wanted one more fish for my tank! Figured I would go small since its a 20g.

Matt

 

[Generalx5]

dont you want to take over the body of the goby and go all out on those clowns? I do! hehehe, sorry to hear that, feed him formula 1 so he can get ripped with fish packs, then put him back and show those clowns whos boss.

 

[Mitchell0605]

I agree with General! lol Sorry to hear about your goby man. I never had a problem with mine he went straight to the rocks. Maybe yours has small fish syndrome!

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
Poor little guy died a few days ago...:-(
I found him dead under some live rock. I guess the trauma was too much for him. (Most of his fins were gone, his scales were gone, bruises all over).

Could it also be that he was just too small to hold his own in the tank and the clowns did not respect such a small fry? I want to add a final fish to the tank, but dont know what to add. Any suggestions? I am thinking an aggressive fish might be a good choice since he will be the last thing added?

Matt

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

Well, if you want to avenge the death of the goby, you could get a dwarf lionfish. Otherwise, an mildly aggressive would be best. Possibly a Damsel?

 

[melosu58]

In a 20 gallon tank I believe you`ll have problems with the sixline. They are not the most peaceful of fish. You might have to get rid of it.

 

[mrg02d]

Hello
you may be right, but he has been nice so far. The clowns were the primary aggressors. They were just relentless. Its strange that they tolerate the sixline.

 

[divedeep1689]

sorry for your loss i just escaped my own loss of a bicolor angel took my yellow tang a while to get used to him, as for a aggresive fish i agree with the one that said a blue damsel they are some very tough fish i cant even catch mine to remove him from the tank

 

[thincat]

Well, if you want to avenge the death of the goby, you could get a dwarf lionfish. Otherwise, an mildly aggressive would be best. Possibly a Damsel?

For the record, clowns are Damsels and can be just as nasty as the best of them.

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
Your right about the clowns. So what are some other moderately aggressive fish that wont get very big? Id love to NOT add another damsel if possible, but have seen some pretty ones I may opt for.

How about a pistol shrimp? They seem pretty neat. The fish dont ever bother the inverts. but I do have this CBS that has some attitude. He pinches me when I get my fingers near his cave. (Tending to corals when they fall or whatnot). Ive seen him chase the fish away from his cave as well. Might he fight with a pistol shrimp? I have heard that they WILL go after the smaller shrimp such as peppermint and cleaners...

Matt

 

[thincat]

The CBS will kill your shrimp and might even kill a smaller fish too.

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

May kill your shrimp. Ive had a coral banded shrimp thats around 2 inches body length along with a peppermint shrimp which when i last saw was around 1.5" body length, and a cleaner shrimp which is around 1.25" long.

 

[mrg02d]

I figured the CBS may have been a bad choice to start with. Boo. Rookie mistake!

So how about a fish? Its got to be semi aggressive so it does not die when the clowns go after it, but shoudnt want to take over either. It also has to be happy in a 20 gallon. Any ideas? Am I going to be limited to other Damsels?

Matt

 

[newfishhobbyist]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I thought a watchman goby and pistol shrimp needed to be together to thrive.

 

[thincat]

They don't, but they compliment each other well.

 

[mdaniel2882]

In a 20 gallon tank I believe you`ll have problems with the sixline. They are not the most peaceful of fish. You might have to get rid of it.

I don't understand why six-lines have such a bad rep. Mine was the first fish in the tank and was alone for about a month. plenty of time to become territorial. He seems to like the other fish I have added and follows the clowns, the yellow tang, or the flame angel around like a puppy. He never had any signs of aggression. once he gets tired of following the other fish around he just goes back to the rock and looks for copepods and bristle worms.