Clown Fish Gone Crazy!!!!

[Jarettc16]

I have Maroon Clown w/ yellow strip who is about 6 years old. About 5 months ago I watched him pick & tear apart my green bubble tip anomoe. Well earlier this week i noticed him picking at my rose bubble tip & only to watchg him actually suck on the tenticles & then just rip them off to where there are no more tenticles left. Next he ate my grandias. I did not see him eat my grandias but from the bite marks, I can pin point this on him due to the size. All my other fish are no where near the size of him & could not of had that big of bite mark without having to bite several times. Thsi was one solid bite and his mouth is triple the size of my 3 other fish.
This clown fish is very aggresive, if i put my hand in the tank he will peck at my fingers nonstop
He also eats Sea-weed that i put in there. Witch i didnt think they were suppose to eat that stuff. He seems to eat more than my tangs
I feed my fish daily, switching from Shrimp one day to seaweed the next.
What causes these fish to act like this. Im puzzled
I have been trying to catch him, but he is very smart.
Any tips on how to catch him would be appreciated.
I plan on donating him to the local fish store once i get him out. I have had enough
I would like to replace him w/ a safe easy going clown fish, any recommendations.
thanks

 

[Birddog]

I had a Maroon when I started a couple of years ago...it was in my tank for approximately 6 months. As she matured she started to tear into everything (star polyps, favia, acans) and as I would watch this fish tear coral apart it appeared that the fish was enjoying the the sport of killing (tearing pieces off and spitting them out a second later). Long story short, I removed nearly every piece of LR and coral out of the tank to capture the little beast and sold it back to the LFS. It's a MEAN FISH dude!

 

[Jarettc16]

I guess i will have to take everything out of tank to get him. I have about 90 to 95 lbs of live rock. i sure hate to remove everything.
Did you try a different clown, or do they all get that aggresive once they get established

 

[Birddog]

Replaced the Maroon with an Ocellaris, and although it's aggresive as well (nips my fingers when they're in the tank and ocassionally picks on my Dragon Soul Favia) it has worked out much much better!

 

[Zack]

That's one big bad mean fish. Maybe you could set a trap to get him. Being the most aggressive in your tank, maybe he would most likely be the first to go in after the food in the trap. Just an idea though.....

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[Just Clownin Around]

Very easy to do
Drain most of the water out of the tank
Stick and in tank and remove unwanted fish.
Fill tank back up

 

[Jarettc16]

thanks for the input
i finally caught him. I put him in ziplock bag w/ air reator
hopefully he can stay alive in the bag, i hate for him to die, but he is out of my tank is the main thing. Local store dont open for 12 hours

 

[Stano]

I had a maroon clown that terrorized my 90 reef tank. Tried everything to get him. I even tried spearing him. In the end I went to the fishing store and bought a tiny little fish hook and some very light line. I put a little piece of hot dog on the hook and caught him in 30 seconds... It was very satisfying to finally catch him and I didn't tear my tank down which was the next step.

Stano

 

[jomatty]

I hope he makes it till store opens. Do you have a sump? That would be better. Make sure to do water changes and watch the temperature.

Trying to spear it is pretty rough, as is catching it on a hook. It just took me forever to get a dotty back out of one of my tanks so I feel your frustration but definitely didn't have it in me to spear it