Yellow Tail Damselfish Attacking Clownfish

[Jellybeanie]

I've had two yellowtail damsels in my 200L tank for some time now, along with a small clownfish. Everything was fine until yesterday I added a medium clownfish (bigger than the two damsels).
At first they chased the big one for a few minutes until my fire shrimp came over and gave him a little 'cleaning' and then they backed off. The two pairs stayed on opposite ends of the tank. Everything was fine when I went to bed but when I woke up I find they small clownfish missing his two bottom fins and the one on his side in pieces. ? I've isolated him and he is struggling to swim but not too badly. He occasionally lies on the bottom but gets back up seconds later. But this is the one the damsels have been living with for ages. Why attack him and not the new guy? Is there any way I can calm down the damsels? Feed them more? I know they can be aggressive at times but I read from several places and heard from my LFS that my tank was big enough to house the pairs without trouble.

 

[Mebbid]

Are you sure it wasn't the new larger clown fish that attacked your small clown? They can be really rough on each other.

 

[Jellybeanie]

Really? Oh. But they seemed fine last night, following eachother but not biting. The damsels were chasing the big guy last night and this morning the damsels were kind of circling the little one. They swam up to him a nipped him once but now I'm not sure...

 

[Jtisle506]

Catch the damsels now or it will lead to more stress in the future. Word of advice NO Damsels!!! lol

 

[navaljonf]

Yellow tail damsels are pretty easy going fish IME. I bet it was the new clown.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I bet it's the clown as well. Damsels rarely have what it takes to pester a clown fish.

 

[Serafin]

I agree It was prob clown on clown attack as they were introduced at separate times, but I would also remove the damsels as they are a pain in the but when it comes to adding fish later on. IMO they always become very aggressive and will cause problems later down the line.

 

[Jellybeanie]

Thanks for the input much appreciated

 

[Animal-Chin]

My damsel was the most evil fish ever. He's take on any new fish and stress it to death. I had to tear down all my coral/rock to get the menace out of there. They are notorius for being super agressive once they get teritorial.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I guess I'm lucky I have four of the damsels I added almost 12 years ago. They are among the smallest fish in the reef so they really only pick on each other. The size of the reef allows them to keep their own territory, so no problems.

 

[navaljonf]

I also share a similar story, I've had a yellow tail damsel for a couple years and it has been a model citizen. It is the smallest fish I have in my 57 gal.

 

[Gregcoyote]

The only fish that ever attacked me on a dive was a swarm of clown fish protecting their anemone. It would be a slow death by clown fish, kind of like being pecked to death by ducks. But they don't care how big you are they don't back down. Meanest fish I ever owned was a big tomato clown.

 

[navaljonf]

The only fish that ever attacked me on a dive was a swarm of clown fish protecting their anemone. It would be a slow death by clown fish, kind of like being pecked to death by ducks. But they don't care how big you are they don't back down. Meanest fish I ever owned was a big tomato clown.

My maroon attacks me every time I have my hands in the tank...

 

[Aidanflower]

I had two clown fish for about 4 months. Then they started fighting and one bit both of the others fins off. First it started with nipping and chasing. The smaller ones pectoral fin got cut up but not too bad. It got fin rot so i kept an eye on him, doubled up on water changes to keep the water perfect. As soon as it started to get better, i walked in my room after school to find him with no pectoral fins on both sides!!! Both sides were almost flush with the rest of his body. I immediately separated the mean one. And the next day i brought it to my lfs because i didnt want a mean fish. I had doubted that the little one would survive but i had hope. He seemed unaffected by it and would play and swim in front of the power heads and he could keep up with the 800 gph ones with out getting pushed away. Its been a few weeks and to my surprise his numbs are almost completely healed over! I honestly dont think he is suffering and never did. The whole time swimming fine, eating fine and seemed happy