Black Domino Clownfish & Phantom not getting along

BantyRooster97 · Mar 27, 2018

So I recently purchased a biocube 32 complete set-up. It came with a black domino clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) I added it to my tank that has a Phantom clownfish (also Amphiprion ocellaris) and man, they are not friends.

The Phantom basically chased him all over until the domino was hiding in the corner & eventually chased him out of the tank. I had to pick him up off the floor and now have him in an acclimation box hanging inside the tank.

Do you think the Phantom will kill the much smaller Black Domino? I thought be of the same general species (Ocellaris) they would be fine. I have several nems for them to host on either ends of the 4' tank.

DeniseAndy · Mar 27, 2018

It all depends on whether they have both turned female yet. How large are they. The one in the pic seems small, but are they close in size? Has one been a lone a long time? Two females will absolutely not get along. If they are juveniles, they will fight for dominance. Sometimes, they just do not get along. Separating may help, depends on size, age, sex.

Crabs McJones · Mar 27, 2018

BantyRooster97 said:
So I recently purchased a biocube 32 complete set-up. It came with a black domino clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) I added it to my tank that has a Phantom clownfish (also Amphiprion ocellaris) and man, they are not friends.

The Phantom basically chased him all over until the domino was hiding in the corner & eventually chased him out of the tank. I had to pick him up off the floor and now have him in an acclimation box hanging inside the tank.

Do you think the Phantom will kill the much smaller Black Domino? I thought be of the same general species (Ocellaris) they would be fine. I have several nems for them to host on either ends of the 4' tank.

It sounds like they're simply determining domancy. They'll fight until one becomes dominant and the other becomes submissive. How big are they?

BantyRooster97 · Mar 27, 2018

My phantom has been in the tank close to a year. I had a pair, he was the smaller one (male I thought) until around xmas when the other just died. It is about 3.5" long. This new one is small, maybe 1.5" long.

I put a gold Stripe maroon in the biocube, I figured he'd kill the new little one for sure.

DeniseAndy · Mar 27, 2018

Sounds like your is female and letting the new one know that. It is possible the little guy also wants to be female and they are battling. The gold stripe would definitely be an issue. I would try to let them work it out, but within reason. Maybe finding him on the floor was within reason though. Maybe just a bad pairing. It happens.

Crabs McJones · Mar 27, 2018

BantyRooster97 said:
My phantom has been in the tank close to a year. I had a pair, he was the smaller one (male I thought) until around xmas when the other just died. It is about 3.5" long. This new one is small, maybe 1.5" long.

I put a gold Stripe maroon in the biocube, I figured he'd kill the new little one for sure.

So if the one you have is male, and you added another one that is small meaning its either male or undetermined, they'll fight to determine domanancy, and eventually one of them will switch to female.