Bad Reputations: Have you experienced aggressive clownfish?

[Gumbies R Us]

My female used to attack only my ring when I cleaned the tank.

Guess it was going to steal your ring

 

[kindafun]

Female would jump out of the water to bite me!

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I will never get another Skunk Clown Fish, was an absolute killing machine.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I will never get another Skunk Clown Fish, was an absolute killing machine. My present Clown fish pair have bit me. Now I thump them if they come near my hand, so they leave me alone.

 

[Shnetts]

my pair are complete peaceful with their tank mates, but as soon as the algae scrapper or my hand goes into the tank the female goes into full attack mode.

 

[Shnetts]

I have had an Ocellaris and a DaVinci for about 2 years now. So far, knock on wood, no aggression toward me or other inhabitants. Put a BTA in last year - they won’t go near it. Clowns on back left of tank, BTA on back right of tank.

The DaVinci is hilarious. He’s the male, smallest fish in the tank - seems every time I feed frozen and there’s a decent sized chunk of meat, he somehow grabs it ahead of the other fish and high tails it to the back of the tank with this huge chunk hanging out of his mouth to munch alone.

The lights just went off a few min ago and the female is up near the top of the water line “clicking” away. She does this virtually every night. Anyone else’s clowns do this?

ok so this isn't just mine? Mine does this every single night!

 

[BiggestE22]

Don't be deceived by the name. Clownfish aren't always fun, but they sure are iconic! As probably one of the most recognized fish in the hobby (thanks, Nemo), they are often the first choice of fish for a new tank, big or small. But these highly territorial little guys might not always act as cute as they look.

Have you experienced aggressive Clownfish? Did something trigger the aggression, and how did you deal with it?

Let's discuss it!

Photo: Wesley42079

Put one in a tank with a hippo tank. They will get in line without any issues.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

my pair are complete peaceful with their tank mates, but as soon as the algae scrapper or my hand goes into the tank the female goes into full attack mode.

Really? Wonder if it thinks it is a predator.

 

[Gman83]

My first set of clowns were an orange ocellaris and a mocha one. The mocha was male, or else much smaller. The female was very aggressive, and would jump out of the water to get me when I removed the lid. She ended up getting me one time, and drew blood on my wrist.

They got brook, and when the Ruby rally pro got delayed in shipping both passed away. I was sad for the mocha, but not the orange one

 

[Shnetts]

Really? Wonder if it thinks it is a predator.

Im not sure but it makes me laugh every time, its even better because the scrapper lives in the tank, its just when it starts to move she goes crazy lol.

 

[OneMerissa]

Don't be deceived by the name. Clownfish aren't always fun, but they sure are iconic! As probably one of the most recognized fish in the hobby (thanks, Nemo), they are often the first choice of fish for a new tank, big or small. But these highly territorial little guys might not always act as cute as they look.

Have you experienced aggressive Clownfish? Did something trigger the aggression, and how did you deal with it?

Let's discuss it!

Photo: Wesley42079

My clowns-Jim and Pam chase our new midas blenny like its their dang job!! They just bit off his tail ... they have killed 3 fire fish and one hawkfish thus far... they leave the royal grandma (Meridith), chromis (Andy), shrimp, (Oscar) and my late lawnmower blenny (Dwhite) alone! And they have never bitten a human... poor Midas (name suggestions??) though - they just wont stop!! it's been three weeks since the introduction.

 

[OneMerissa]

My clowns-Jim and Pam chase our new midas blenny like its their dang job!! They just bit off his tail ... they have killed 3 fire fish and one hawkfish thus far... they leave the royal grandma (Meridith), chromis (Andy), shrimp, (Oscar) and my late lawnmower blenny (Dwhite) alone! And they have never bitten a human... poor Midas (name suggestions??) though - they just wont stop!! it's been three weeks since the introduction.

 

[brettdoering]

I have a couple of mated 2 1/2 year olds in a large bubble tip and the male attacks my fingers and the very large turkey baster I use to clear sand and debris away. Funny though the pipette I use isn’t attacked. What wasn’t too funny was the parts of the 2 fire shrimp they left around the bottom of the tank.

 

[TBLightning]

I had one that I named "Gacy" due to his murderous ways. After replacing severel murdered fish he went back to the LFS.

 

[Kovenant]

All brown clowfish - premmas biaculeatus
They are all aggressive and killers.

All Clownfish from this genus - Amphirion percula. Are semi aggressive very unpredictable

 

[Richsoar]

Had a 2 smallish size Tomato clowns in a 72g tank. They usually hung out toward the far right. Introduced 3 juvenile Pajama Cardinals to the tank, (far left side acclimatization and release). One of the clown fish took out two of the cardinals within 8 hours. It would swim as fast as it could from its side and ram the cardinals in their corner. Managed to isolate the 3rd and it recovered.

 

[littlefoxx]

Don't be deceived by the name. Clownfish aren't always fun, but they sure are iconic! As probably one of the most recognized fish in the hobby (thanks, Nemo), they are often the first choice of fish for a new tank, big or small. But these highly territorial little guys might not always act as cute as they look.

Have you experienced aggressive Clownfish? Did something trigger the aggression, and how did you deal with it?

Let's discuss it!

Photo: Wesley42079

Yeah I had a picasso female jump out of my tank and bite me in the forehead. I had teeth marks for a few days after! She also darted all the way across a 6 foot tank to jump out and bite me. Picture of the offender:

 

[tbrown]

I have a good story about my female clownfish. She grew up in a 5 gallon fish tank. She was the only fish in the tank, only had some shrimp, hermits crabs, and snails for company and occasionally my hand.

One day, when I was cleaning the tank or fixing a frag she came flying out of the rock work and latched on to my hand. It startled me enough that I pulled my hand out of the tank quickly. The clown came out with my hand and plopped on the ground. I picked her up and tossed her back in the tank.

That was almost 4 years ago now. She's still alive and hasn't been mean to another fish (or hand) since!














DISCLAIMER: Don't try this with your clownfish. Your results may vary.

 

[Screwgunner]

I had a pair of regular clowns and they were fine till about 3 years in the first attack I hit my funny bone on the way out off the tank. After that I just took it like a Man.

 

[OrionN]

My clowns are peaceful unless you want to go into their house, then they turn into Jaws, especially by Black Snowflake.