I Seriously Underestimated the Creepiness of a Clown

[hdfisher]

I have a pair of Maroon and Gold Clowns, the female is about 4 inches big, the male about half that size, and together they do the strangest things. They are always knocking over the corals, pushing them around and rearranging the tank. I have had to epoxy most of the corals down. Lately, the female has started sweeping the sand with her tail and continues to move all of the sand away from the the center of the tank over to the far sides, covering up corals as she goes about it. If that is not enough the female is getting aggressive and has started going after the Foxface and Flamehawk. This is the 2nd Foxface - I think that she picked on the previous one so much that it chose the carpet over being chased all the time. They are pretty fish, but I think that they need a 'time out'.

Has anyone ever seen this type of behavior with clownfish? Any suggestions?

 

[weaglereefer]

My tank raised Ocellaris' never used to show any signs of aggression until they started hosting the frogspawn. I actually got nipped today while moving something around in the far end of the tank, nowhere near "their" frogspawn, the smaller one swam across the tank to attack me...

 

[crew]

I actually have the same issues with my clowns, the female swishes the sand and picks on my foxface

 

[kirru]

acroporas;279232 wrote: Just wait until she gets a bit more practice and you will have to wear leather gloves when you clean the tank your hand will be bloody(from clownfish bites) before you are done.

Thats funny:

"How'd you get so many cuts?"
"Oh, those, my clown fish attack me when I have to do stuff in the tank."

I'd laugh so hard if I was told that.

 

[pochaxoo]

Yeah, I have the same female maroon but she doesn't have a mate and is really pissed about it. I get "bit" about 4 - 5 times per cleaning session. She has now decided the whole right side of the aquarium is hers and I can get the freak out. The strangest thought actually occurred to me. I could turn her in....but we now have a relationship that I will not break up. She does not bully the other fish and does not bother the corals. So we will see how long she can live.

 

[kirru]

Yea, but to someone who doesn't know that clown can get like that would think your kidding.

I don't doubt it but I'd like to see it or feel it.

I just like to do stupid things like that.

 

[jade76]

Ive been so suprised and startled from my clowns attacking my hand that Ive jerked my arm back out of reaction and in the process, sloshed a half gallon of tank water on the floor. Those clowns can surprise ya with attitude.....and teeth.

 

[FutureInterest]

LOL. I've done the same thing a million times. A grown man afraid of a small 3 inch piece of sushi. It cracks me up everytime but it never fails to startle me.

My GSM female is fairly large at nearly 4" but her mate is half that. They actually never attack me when cleaning or doing any maintenance... unless I start messing with their RBTA. At which point they will jump out of the water to take parts of my face off. Good times..

 

[fish1344]

Just got my first nip last night. Was rearranging a little and had a hand sized piece of live rock in my hand. She nipped me so hard that it startled me into dropping the rock on an open brain and tangoed with the coco worm on the way down. I saw a small piece of the coco worm floating around. It's still moving in the tube. Hope it's ok. GSM is fine though!

 

[coolsurf]

I'm glad I am not the only one going through all of this. No problem with biting me but my little maroon girl is taking over the tank. She clears the sand out in the right corner and nips the hawiian Feather Duster every time he comes out. I'm going to try to relocate the duster tonite in hopes to deter her attacks (I don't want to lose him). I do not have a nem for hosting but she has become very territorial. She has a male that flirts with her sometimes but hasn't hung with her nonstop yet. Hopefully he will soon.

 

[nickskains]

My maroon does the same thing. She has a nem but killed her mate. She will attack anything foreign in the tank, hands, scraper etc. I had thought about getting her a buddy but she is too mean.

 

[coolsurf]

Well moving the duster didn't due anything except get the water all cloudy. She attacked it as soon as I put him in the sand. I decided to move him right back to the original spot. He can feed all night no prob but during the day, he needs to stay in the tube. I'm gonna scream! Not really sure what to do next...she is ok with the firefish, watchman and her mate. Go figure?

 

[dakota9]

Pretty normal behavior in clown fish. Rarely do you get an even tempered female. Clowns generally rearrage the tank to their liking, not much you can do about it except damage control.

 

[coolsurf]

Something told me you were going to say that! Hopefully the duster will be ok.:confused2:

 

[hfleming]

That would be way cool for guests. I would invite one of your buddies "Hey put you hand in there, the clowns will swim right up" Then stand back and watch the fun.

 

[jdabs]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has had blood drawn from a clown. It happens so fast that the first time I didn't even know for sure if it was my clown. Any time I get into the tank I have to watch the pair closely and chase them away so they don't bite.

 

[gaguy68]

my perc was so bad, i took him out and sent him back to the LFS for something tamer !

 

[triggerhappy8]

Dakota9;279602 wrote: Rarely do you get an even tempered female.

Truer words have never been spoken... are we still talking about clownfish?

 

[linda lee]

I had a large female clarkii that would latch onto a snail that was stuck on the tank glass and slide it to the other side of the tank. Then she'd slide it back. I swear she looked like she was using an Etch-A-Sketch.

 

[rededge2k1]

My maroon clown won't even allow SPS frags to sit near her anemone. I had some sitting in a small piece of eggcrate on the sand bed, and she would charge them until they were flipped over into the sand. Then, she would "swish" them far away with her tail.

Of course, she charges my hand and bites when I play in the tank, but it doesn't hurt or anything. The nieces and nephews love watching us battle it out.