Chromis bullying juvenile clownfish

Doob · Jul 24, 2016

I have a chromis and 2 clowns. They've been tank mates for a few weeks. I just got back from a week out of town today and noticed aggression for the first time, and what i believe is submissive shaking from the clown. The chromis is bigger than both clowns.

The chromis was my first fish, got him almost a year ago. I got 2 (because I didn't research before hand) and they were good for a couple weeks, until they weren't.

I think he's going to be better off in someone else's tank. I have a QT I can put him in until I can take him back to the orphanage.

What are your experiences? Could this be normal and they're just working out the pecking order, or am I going to have a dead fish in the morning?

I'll probably just pull him and put him in the QT.

4FordFamily · Jul 24, 2016

Depends on how bad the bullying is - but as a general rule of thumb clowns are often more aggressive than chromis but chromis are still a damsel, and they can be nasty. If it doesn't improve in a few days I would rehome it.

If the aggression is damaging, remove to a qt and rehome sooner.

eatbreakfast · Jul 25, 2016

^What he said. A degree of aggression isn't too bad, the clown should be able to handle it. As long as the clown isn't being forced into hiding or being damaged, it should be fine.

Doob · Jul 25, 2016

I mean, he darts at him from the other side of the tank. I can't tell if he's actually ramming him or stops short. And there's the shaking of the clown. The clown does have a torn fin.

With the 2nd chromis that I had, I didn't notice any aggression, then one night after work one of them was completely finless laying on the bottom of the tank. I don't want that to happen to the clown.

I did not anticipate how hard it was going to be to catch the little bugger though. [emoji35]