Clownfish Troubles

[Bophy]

Greetings all,

I have an established 75 gallon tank (with lots of hiding spots) with two Wyoming White clownfish which have paired. I had purchased 2 baby Darwin clownfish, around a month ago. The pair of WW’s bullied the crap out of the babies especially the female WW which was expected. The bullying has settled down quite a bit now and I have very recently introduced 1 additional midnight lightning clown. The bullying has started up again with the two WW’s toward the midnight lightning. The midnight lightning is around half the size of the WW’s so I was hoping the bullying wouldn’t be too bad. I understand why the female WW bullies the other clowns because she is asserting her dominance, however the male WW is like her evil minion. He is right behind her partaking and reinforcing her bullying. There was a period of time after a couple days after I purchased the baby Darwin’s, where they and the WW’s were schooling harmoniously. However, now they seem to be tucked away in the corner of my tank most of the time, not looking like they want to come out. Now with the midnight lightning, the WW pair is chasing him all around the tank and wanting him to stay in the same corner as the Darwin babies. Does anyone have any advice on this behavior? I’m worried she will never accept the two Darwin babies, as well as the midnight lightning.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Two clownfish in a tank is the norm. The issues you are having is very common. IMHO, maybe 1 out of 10 tanks can get 4 clownfish to coexist. And the bigger the tank, the more likely the success rate.

 

[Bucs20fan]

The likelihood of getting those clowns to all cohabitate together is just shy of winning the lottery, even with a 300 gallon tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Greetings all,

I have an established 75 gallon tank (with lots of hiding spots) with two Wyoming White clownfish which have paired. I had purchased 2 baby Darwin clownfish, around a month ago. The pair of WW’s bullied the crap out of the babies especially the female WW which was expected. The bullying has settled down quite a bit now and I have very recently introduced 1 additional midnight lightning clown. The bullying has started up again with the two WW’s toward the midnight lightning. The midnight lightning is around half the size of the WW’s so I was hoping the bullying wouldn’t be too bad. I understand why the female WW bullies the other clowns because she is asserting her dominance, however the male WW is like her evil minion. He is right behind her partaking and reinforcing her bullying. There was a period of time after a couple days after I purchased the baby Darwin’s, where they and the WW’s were schooling harmoniously. However, now they seem to be tucked away in the corner of my tank most of the time, not looking like they want to come out. Now with the midnight lightning, the WW pair is chasing him all around the tank and wanting him to stay in the same corner as the Darwin babies. Does anyone have any advice on this behavior? I’m worried she will never accept the two Darwin babies, as well as the midnight lightning.

This is a result of clownfish hierarchy where the female clownfish are much more dominant than the males. They become greedy and try to eat most of the food that gets into the tank (which is one reason the males don't grow as large). They often aggressively protect their home whether that be an anemone, a nesting site, a clay pot or the entire fish tank. If it attacks your hand when you're trying to clean the glass or it won't let any other fish near its spot, you most likely have a female clownfish.

 

[Bophy]

Two clownfish in a tank is the norm. The issues you are having is very common. IMHO, maybe 1 out of 10 tanks can get 4 clownfish to coexist. And the bigger the tank, the more likely the success rate.

Do you think i should return them? My LFS assured that me every time I went in and purchased and additional clown, that they would get along. I suppose I need to do more extensive research on my own. Thanks for your response!

 

[Tired]

Your LFS was either badly misinformed or lying. You can keep 2 clownfish per tank, a male and a female, and adding more than 2 clownfish will result in them whittling themselves down to 2. Especially with maroon clowns, which get massive (for clowns) and are highly aggressive.

 

[Bophy]

The likelihood of getting those clowns to all cohabitate together is just shy of winning the lottery, even with a 300 gallon tank.

Any ideas on what I should do? Maybe my best bet is just returning the babies and the ML? Thanks for your response!

 

[Tired]

You should return or give away all but the 2 you want to keep, yes.

 

[Bophy]

Your LFS was either badly misinformed or lying. You can keep 2 clownfish per tank, a male and a female, and adding more than 2 clownfish will result in them whittling themselves down to 2. Especially with maroon clowns, which get massive (for clowns) and are highly aggressive.

They had talked about how maroons are aggressive and had said as long as i’m not putting maroons with them it should be fine. I guess not !

 

[Bophy]

This is a result of clownfish hierarchy where the female clownfish are much more dominant than the males. They become greedy and try to eat most of the food that gets into the tank (which is one reason the males don't grow as large). They often aggressively protect their home whether that be an anemone, a nesting site, a clay pot or the entire fish tank. If it attacks your hand when you're trying to clean the glass or it won't let any other fish near its spot, you most likely have a female clownfish.

Good info, thanks for your response!!

 

[Tired]

Ah, I misread; you got a lightning ocellaris, not a lightning maroon. Still won't work. Clownfish harems are theoretically possible, but you have to raise them all from tiny babies together.

 

[xiongsy]

All youtube videos showing all sorts of clowns living together ALWAYS have a s**t load of anemones for everyone to share.

 

[Bophy]

All youtube videos showing all sorts of clowns living together ALWAYS have a s**t load of anemones for everyone to share.

So anemones will help with this?

 

[dedragon]

They had talked about how maroons are aggressive and had said as long as i’m not putting maroons with them it should be fine. I guess not !

they lied to get you to buy more fish. I wouldnt shop there anymore if i was you and find a more trustworthy LFS

 

[dedragon]

So anemones will help with this?

I wouldnt count on it helping, most of the time you will end up with just 2 clownfish at the end and the rest dead

 

[Uncle99]

Just a pair, any other number is going to end badly, most of the time.

 

[Tired]

So anemones will help with this?

In the same way that a raincoat will help against being outdoors during a hurricane, yes.

(Which is to say: it's not gonna help enough.)