i really need some help...extremely violent female clownfish

[proverbs]

i got a pair of maroon yellowstripe clownfish at my lfs but i don't know if they were a TRUE pair. the bigger one, which is supposed to be the female, aggressively attacked the smaller one and bit off 2 big chunks of the left fin! now the male is only using his right fin to swim.

what i think caused the attack is that the female is too territorial. she likes to sleep in the back corner of the tank. whenever the male even attempts to go there, the female snaps at it so the male can't go there. so the male has to circle the top of the tank the whole night. in the morning the female goes to the top and the male goes to the corner to rest, but once the female sees the male go to the corner, she goes over there and keeps bothering him! well, i saw some algae in the back corner so i used my mag-float to clean it and i guess it irritated the female. so she swims away and starts fighting with the male which is minding his own business and bites off a big chunk of his arm!

is this behavior normal for a PAIR of clownfish?! i feel real bad for the little guy. he's getting abused by his girlfriend and has nowhere to go.

 

[proverbs]

now the male just lays on its side at the surface of the water and doesn't move. it looks like its going to die.

 

[DragonForce]

Well, I have a pair of true percula clowns and they fought quite a bit when I first added them together. The little one got alot of its fins nipped and they grew back. If they look like they are in real bad shape, I would quarentine the most healthy of the 2. If he is in real bad shape, there might be nothing you can do.

Domestic violence in clown fish is common.

 

[Fluff]

Not necessarily normal for a pair of clowns but more typical with that type of clown. I'm assuming you have yellow striped maroons and they are notorious for being aggressive. It's best to get two young ones that can grow together. You could try QT'ing the female til the male gets established and well again, then try introducing her again. Though, if she's used to being alone, she may never accept him. Were they in the same tank at the lfs?

 

[oyf709]

well my 2 percula was never actrually fighting like that at all , howz ur water condition, or any other reason might give the female some stress?
a real pair will do a lot of chasing around, but i am sure the female will not chase the male off when they approch. Clown fish are very agreesive and territorial,however when they pair up, they spend a lot of time together especially during resting. If they start to fight, there will be something wrong with the environment that cause that.
BTW, my both of my clown died at the same time cuz I did something wrong and stressed them, the male's condition was worse than the female's. When the male first pass away, the female was stay right next to him for hrs till i removed him from tank, then female die at the exact location where the male dies. I feel quite touchy =/

 

[proverbs]

yes, they are YSM clownfish, and they were paired up in the same tank at the lfs.

they definatly do not rest together. the female goes crazy if the male gets near her territory while she is resting there. my water seems to be fine. just tested it a few days ago and everything was good. i will test it again at the end of this week.

it seems that the little guy is doing ok. although his left fin is pretty cut up, his right one is pretty strong and he can still swim around a little bit.

should i trade my female in and get another fish? or will the 'husband-beater' stop attacking eventually?

 

[oyf709]

well the damage is already there, so if you like the clown fish still, can just keep it unless you are hoping for some pair up happening later, best bet is to get some percula which way easier and not as territorial as maroon.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

I would assume that your "pair" of maroon clowns is actually not a pair. A true pair of clownfish will definitely have some minor conflicts, but are generally accepting of each other. Clownfish pair for life and usually do not stray far from each other.

As Fluff mentioned, maroon clowns (genus premnas) are notoriously difficult to pair due to their aggression. It is generally recommended to purchase two juveniles and see if they pair over time or offer a very tiny male to an existing large female. HTH and Good Luck!

 

[proverbs]

i bought one of those hang on nets that you are supposed to use for over-aggressive fish, sick fish, or breeding. if i put the female in the net for a couple days, would she be more aggressive when she came out or maybe calm down a bit?

i feel sorry for the little guy because he spends the whole days trying to stay as far away from her as possible. and if he gets too close, she usually snaps at him.

 

[oyf709]

if u do still wanna ty make the female less agressive, put it in a seperate tank al alone..its the same way u treat some naughty childeren. After a week, try put it back with the net on see if it does anything

 

[proverbs]

if u do still wanna ty make the female less agressive, put it in a seperate tank al alone..its the same way u treat some naughty childeren. After a week, try put it back with the net on see if it does anything

well, i don't have another tank, so i put her in one of those hang-on net boxes. now the male is swimming around the whole tank and enjoying himself. but i do feel sorry for the female, so i am planning to release her tomorrow morning. hopefully she calms down a bit.

i'll probably decide next week if i want to split up the pair (trade in the female for another fish). do you guys think if i get a third fish it might help?

 

[proverbs]

well..i let the female go and she gave the guy another beating. now the fin on the bottom and his right have big nips on them. i had to stop it so i put her in the net box again.

so i have decided to trade the female for another fish. is there a cool small fish that won't have too much trouble with the male YSM clownfish? the male seems to be pretty friendly. i was thinking of a blue tang, or maybe something that doesn't grow too big (i only havea 38 gallon).

i'm also gonna pick up a dragon goby to clean my sand. i had a seperate thread on the goby and a few people recommended the dragon.