Aggressive Clownfish

[Jay1661]

Hey all. Having an issue in my 30g. Trying to add some color to my tank by adding some fish. Other than my CUC the only thing I have in there is a pair of ocellaris clowns. They are so aggressive and territorial. They were the first fish I ever got, tank has been running for almost a year now.

They’ve killed multiple blue/green chromis. I have even tried putty some aggressive damsels in there but the poor damsels just get picked on. The only thing they haven’t picked on was a diamond goby I had for almost a year and a flame angel that was twice their size at the time. The flame angel was just in the tank for a few days.


I’ve read about a few different techniques online. One of them being to rescape the tank and then add the fish. But I only want to use that as a last resort because of all the corals I would have to move around.

Does anyone have any fish recommendations or ideas?

 

[HotRocks]

Hey all. Having an issue in my 30g. Trying to add some color to my tank by adding some fish. Other than my CUC the only thing I have in there is a pair of ocellaris clowns. They are so aggressive and territorial. They were the first fish I ever got, tank has been running for almost a year now.

They’ve killed multiple blue/green chromis. I have even tried putty some aggressive damsels in there but the poor damsels just get picked on. The only thing they haven’t picked on was a diamond goby I had for almost a year and a flame angel that was twice their size at the time. The flame angel was just in the tank for a few days.


I’ve read about a few different techniques online. One of them being to rescape the tank and then add the fish. But I only want to use that as a last resort because of all the corals I would have to move around.

Does anyone have any fish recommendations or ideas?

Sometimes certain fish are just downright mean. You could try an acclimation box for the new fish. Or remove the clowns, rescape the tank and house them with new fish in a QT tank for a while, then reintroduce all of them to your DT together.

There are plenty of other fish that likely won't be bothered by clowns, but chromis, damsels and clowns are all from the same genus/sub-genus. So mixing them with your already aggressive fish may not be an option.

 

[Super Fly]

looks like u ended up with aggressive clowns and yes they are same genus as damsels and can be aggressive. Having been in tank so long alone, they r becoming territorial whenever new fish r introduced. At this point best bet would be larger fish but w a 30g would not have much selection OR upgrade to a bigger tank! Also when introducing new fish, i always feed the tank 1st and turn lights off, i.e. I try to do this in the evening so lights can be off for a while.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Story time...

In my 250g tank, I only had a pair of clowns (Whyoming white + snowflake) for 1-2 months while I QT'd some new fish. In that time, the Whyoming White (Tanya) didn't just set territory to one spot, but to the entire tank. Any time I put my hand in that tank, Tanya will bite me non-stop. It will swim the length of the tank (6') to bite me. I've bled from it once or twice in the past.

My belief is that this clown -- after being in there by itself for a long time -- claimed the entire tank as its own. The strange part is, after adding 5 other fish Tanya NEVER attacked them, but would continue to attack my hand/arm.

Fast forward... all of my fish are in QT due to an Ich outbreak (going fallow). My hope is that by adding all 7 fish at the same time, I will reduce its aggression as its total territory will have to be shared with other fish. Or not, and my hand will be forever the final boss of Super Smash Brothers.....