Firefish and clowns

[MiniQuaid]

Hey everyone I recently added a firefish into my tank after being told by multiple people they get along with clownfish, after putting him in the tank I could tell the clowns were being aggressive towards him, now after 2 days he is hiding and his fins are torn to shrewd sim moving him into a quarantine tank hopefully he will heal but I’m wondering if anyone has had the same issues?


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[bhodges82]

How big is the tank? How old are the clowns?

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[MiniQuaid]

Tank is a 50 gallon reef, clowns are around a year old they are smaller than the goby


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[bhodges82]

I would recommend a couple of firefish to help spread tge aggression and let them school together. Also might want to cover the tank, mine jumped out as they like to do.

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[CJD18]

I might be in the same boat, I have a reg. fire and a purple fire, think I will add clowns last??

 

[ichthyoid]

Established clown pairs may be territorial/aggressive toward new fish.

The way to avoid this is to add less aggressive fish first and/or with immature fish (ie- not paired up yet).

Many fish can become more aggressive once paired or breeding.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Additionally, it’s important to remember that each individual fish has a unique personality. When people discuss certain fish being compatable, reef-safe, preferring certain foods, growing to a certain size, etc..., we need to understand that these are average and reasonable expectations for a given species. However, it doesn’t speak towards every individual in that entire species.

In each species, there are always exceptions; Ones that grow exceptionally large, have weird diets, or (potentially in this case) can be more aggressive than usual.

That said; paired clowns are often more aggressive than individuals, especially to newcomers that they aren’t familiar with and may pose a threat to them, their territory, or their eggs/offspring.

 

[ActiveAngel]

That said; I’ve seen hundreds of tanks over the years, even Nano tanks, with firefish and clowns (I’m assuming your referring to Ocellaris or Perculas). Your tank size is almost certainly not the issue. It seems from an outside perspective that your clowns are unusually aggressive towards this fish.