Clownfish. She's a murderer.

[Ejostling]

Hi everyone! We have a relatively young 16 gallon biocube reef about 8 months old. One of our first purchases was a clownfish pair, Male and female which have been a lot of fun until now. A couple of weeks ago we added a pistol shrimp yellow watchman goby pair and were pretty excited to watch them work. I woke up 2 days later to my cleaner shrimp eating my dead watchman. Our first casualty. It was very sad but we figured it was probably an unhealthy purchase since it only took 2 days to perish. About a week after we added a banded goby hoping he would pair with the pistol shrimp. It didn't take long to see what happened to the first goby as our female clownfish started to harass the poor goby immediately. 2 days later it was dead also. Now my question. Are we limited to what we add from now on knowing our clownfish is that aggressive? My partner believes we should just add a new larger goby but I am afraid we are sentencing it to problems.

 

[Ejostling]

Our tank

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Clownfish are murderous demons. They're very territorial. I've found success, (newer to this as well), with rearranging the aquascape and breaking up their territories right before I add anything new. I also turn the lights off when I add the newbie to give it a shot.

 

[Chicago-quicksilver]

Clownfish, in general, tend to be aggressive but normally within their own species but a bonded pair tend to be dangerous to all tankmates. I do the same as above, I rearrange the tank the night of and cut the lights. I have when I was introducing other clowns will do the above and also place the female in a quarantine tank to ensure the new fish has time to assimilate themselves to their new surroundings.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

I've only removed my pair once. The male was super easy. The female took well over an hour with 2 sets of hands in the tank and no rockwork present. She's crafty. I decided then and there I wouldn't be trying that anymore. She'll be in that tank until she dies. My tang was easier to catch. If you can get them out and away from the tank long enough to add the newcomers then that's your best bet

 

[ScottR]

Welcome to r2r! In a 16 gallon aquarium, any new addition may get pushed off the deep end by clownfish.

 

[Deep dive coral]

Welcome to r2r! In a 16 gallon aquarium, any new addition may get pushed off the deep end by clownfish.

Completely agree on this statement. You added a very protective specie to a small island. They think it's their habitat.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I have had moderate success with placing a mirror on the side of the tank for several days along with rearranging and adding more live rock. Worked better on my dottyback but it may help.

 

[SDK]

Tough to add anything to a nano with an established pair of clowns in residence

In a tank that size I would be more inclined to try adding one of the smaller, less aggressive damsels, like a Talbots. I have one in a Nuvo 20 that holds it's own with a pair of clowns

 

[Ejostling]

Completely agree on this statement. You added a very protective specie to a small island. They think it's their habitat.

I have learned this!! We have a blenny that she tolerates really well so I'm not sure what it is about the goby that she felt threatened.

 

[anon9896]

The goby needs to pair with the shrimp prior to joining the tank then it should be alright in my opinion. did you buy both from the same tank? Watchman goby needs to have a place to hide where the clown cant go then it should be alright. Nice tank!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to r2r! In a 16 gallon aquarium, any new addition may get pushed off the deep end by clownfish.

+1

This is all part of the mystery, magic, and frustration of clownfish. They are wired for hierarchy and some times it can be misdirected or directed in ways that we wouldn’t choose. Good luck!