Clownfish agression question

kwjones · 02-25-2008, 07:39 AM

I've had the same pair of ORA false percs for the past 4 years. They've always swam close to eachother, but for the past week the male has been reacting violently to the female. He wouldn't stop chasing her, nipping her fins. She finally found a hiding spot in a cave or she would try to hide on top of the powerhead in 1/2" of water.

Because of this, I made a decision that my rocks were finally done cooking and put them back in the display tank. I netted the female out of the 44 gallon holding tank and put her in the 75. She seems to be doing pretty well this morning. She's out and about. Her respiration has slowed down and I don't see any obvious life threatening injuries. The missing chunks of fin should grow back. I decided to put her in the display tank first to let her recover and establish "her spot" before I put the more agressive male in.

Any ideas as to what could cause the male to attack the female. To my knowledge they are not a breeding pair yet because I've never seen eggs. Is he turning into a she and it's now becoming a dominance issue? I've noticed he's not nearly as small as he used to be compared to the female.

Elegance Coral · 02-25-2008, 08:05 AM

Wow. That is strange. Were they separated for a period of time before this behavior started? If not, maybe the female is just old and weak and the male senses his opportunity to move up in the pecking order. Either way, I hope she heals and infection doesn't set in on her wounds. She's probably going to need a little TLC for a while.

kwjones · 02-26-2008, 08:20 AM

No, they've never been separated until the agression started. They've always swam very close to each other and have always hosted a powerhead together. They bravely defended the powerhead against my evil hands.

When I put them in the 44 gallon tank, the male stayed in the back corner while the female roamed around the rest of the tank and hung out in the front a lot.

I don't think they're old. I've only had them for about 4 years. They were both less than 1" when I got them and the larger female might be around 2" now. I think she's really enjoying having the 75 all to herself...she's swimming all over the tank now and showing no signs of stress. Respiration is normal, swimming movement is normal, all fins are extended, she's not hiding when I walk up to the tank and her appetite is good.

One thing I have noticed is a change in color, but I don't know if it means anything or not. The male was always a lighter orange color. The standard orange color that you normally see in false percs. The female was always a deeper red-orange, but now she's lightened up to the same color as the male.

Twitterbait · 02-26-2008, 11:20 AM

Clowns have 3 modes.

1) kill the other clowns
2) tolerate them if you have to
3) breed with them

and regardless of the one they choose, if you move them they will sometimes change their mind and attack the other guy. sounds like you had 2 clowns that tolerated each other and have now reached a point where they hate one another.

kwjones · 02-26-2008, 11:26 AM

So did the change in going from a larger tank size to a smaller size set the male off? I want to wait a few weeks before I try moving the male out of the 44 and back into the 75. Any chance of things going back to normal when both are in the 75 or am I going to have to take one in for store credit?