Clownfish Aggression, Advice Needed

[Leviathan]

My wife and I have a 28 gallon JBJ Intermediate Nano Cube. The only 2 fish in the tank are a Blacker Ice and a Snow Onyx. They were both added at the same time on 2/27. When we added them, they both were in the 1 inch range. The Snow Onyx was slightly bigger than the Blacker Ice. They paired off nicely for the first several weeks. The Blacker Ice would swim up next to the Snow Onyx and twitch while swimming on it's side (I've read that this is a possible submission behavior).

The Blacker Ice has been growing more rapidly, and has now over taken the Snow Onyx in size slightly. With that, the Blacker Ice has started chasing the Snow Onyx aggressively. There is not biting or damage towards the Snow Onyx, but it has now retreated to the top front corners of the tank. It will come down to swim occasionally but the Blacker Ice chases back to the top. Both fish are readily eating LRS Reef Frenzy nano and Sustainable Aquatics Clearly Complete. FYI, both fish are from Sustainable Aquatics. Also, during water changes they both retreat to the back lower corners of the tank and swim next to one another with no aggression.

My questions are:
Is this just the way dominance is being established with the Blacker Ice's growth, and I should let it play out until the Blacker Ice changes to female?(they are both still not too much over an inch in size)

I hate to see the aggression, and I want both my fish to have an environment as stress free as possible, would re-homing the Blacker Ice or the Snow Onyx be a better recourse?
If I were to re-home the Snow Onyx, would the Blacker Ice be aggressive to another species of nano fish?
If I were to re-home the Blacker Ice, would the Snow Onyx still remain in the corner at the top of the tank due to this being a learner behavior?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[tomtom2245]

Are they both still eating normally? If so, it's probably just the Ice asserting its dominance at this point and hopefully the Onyx did not transition to female when it was the larger one. In the absence of what the clown considers an acceptable host, they will chose corners of the tank as their new home as well.

 

[Leviathan]

Thanks for the response. Yes, they both eat like pigs, we call them ocean pigs, lol. We had a wall hammer coral in there but we lost it due to an infection a few weeks ago. Right now there are no corals in the tank. I am on the back end of a diatom out break that is subsiding. So, no plans to add a coral until it's over. Don't know about the sex change in the Snow Onyx, other than size differential or at what size do they change.

 

[tomtom2245]

It's not a size thing that determines when they will change. Typically they reach maturity around 1-1.5yrs old. That varies from fish to fish and species to species. They can be any size at that age as well. Keep in mind if your are planning on adding a coral to be used as a host, not all corals will take a clown. My duncans will but I've never had a euphyllia accept a clown. As for the aggression, I would let them be and work things out for awhile as long as they are both healthy and eating.

 

[Leviathan]

OK thank you for the advice. I was planning on a duncan as my next addition.

 

[Joseph Pagnotta]

This is Perfectly normal. I have a Black Photon & Snowton as well as an ocellaris. The 2 Designer Clowns came from my friend who breeds them. The 3 I mentioned went through similar behavior just letting each other know the Hierarchy. I did have to Scoop out my Tomato Clown as it was a Female and really beat up female Black Photon Clown

 

[Leviathan]

Thanks and wow how did the fish recover? No signs of injury on the Snow Onyx just a lot of pestering.

This is Perfectly normal. I have a Black Photon & Snowton as well as an ocellaris. The 2 Designer Clowns came from my friend who breeds them. The 3 I mentioned went through similar behavior just letting each other know the Hierarchy. I did have to Scoop out my Tomato Clown as it was a Female and really beat up female Black Photon Clown

 

[tomtom2245]

Ouch, that was a serious beat down!

 

[DeniseAndy]

I agree that it sounds like normal dominance behavior. If you notice lesions, get one out. Usually they do not hurt each other.

 

[Joseph Pagnotta]

Thanks and wow how did the fish recover? No signs of injury on the Snow Onyx just a lot of pestering.

That was only after 36 hours being in the tank.. Believe it or not My Tyrone trigger (Niger Trigger) Protected her would get between her and the Tomato.. She is doing great. I added Melafix once I saw open wounds. All is well

 

[Leviathan]

I agree that it sounds like normal dominance behavior. If you notice lesions, get one out. Usually they do not hurt each other.

I am keeping a close eye on them. Talked to my LFS and they said if it gets bad just bring in the the fish for a trade in.

 

[Leviathan]

That was only after 36 hours being in the tank.. Believe it or not My Tyrone trigger (Niger Trigger) Protected her would get between her and the Tomato.. She is doing great. I added Melafix once I saw open wounds. All is well

That's a tough fish, glad it's ok

 

[SethG]

The exact same thing happened to me, I bought two black ice clowns about a month and a half ago, first two weeks were great then one started showing aggression and the other would not shake (submit). The aggressive one started growing more than the other and then I started noticing the fins getting tattered on the other after a week or so and finally decided to take her (the aggressor) out today after the other started getting really tattered losing more than half of her fins and returned to the LFS. Hope yours isn't the same case as mine, just watch out for nipping.

 

[Leviathan]

The exact same thing happened to me, I bought two black ice clowns about a month and a half ago, first two weeks were great then one started showing aggression and the other would not shake (submit). The aggressive one started growing more than the other and then I started noticing the fins getting tattered on the other after a week or so and finally decided to take her (the aggressor) out today after the other started getting really tattered losing more than half of her fins and returned to the LFS. Hope yours isn't the same case as mine, just watch out for nipping.

I've been keeping a close eye on them. Last night they were a little better, but now both of them are twitching next to one another,, crazy fish.