need advice

[Rukk]

I had a matched pair of clowns in our tank, a flurry and a normal, things were ok. The normal clown carpet surfed one sad day and was lost. I now have a screen top on the tank. I never expected the clown to jump out...

That left the flurry in by itself, about 1 3/4". I bought a smaller normal clown about 1". The little clown was in qt until tonight.

I took him from qt and put him in the display with the flurry and the flurry was on it in seconds, full on attack, big bites. That went on for about 20 seconds and I caught the little one and put it back in qt. It is definitely hurt. I sure hope it makes it, I feel bad for it, and I am not liking myself too much.

What should I have done? What should I do? I thought that the smaller guy may not get too much abuse but I never expected the aggression that I witnessed.

Maybe getting a little container that suctions in the tank to protect the little fellow while the rest get used to him, and he get used to the tank?

Open for any suggestions from folks experienced with such things.

 

[James M]

An acclimation box would of helped

 

[davocean]

Yep, always use an acclimation box to intro a new clown mate.
At this time your female may just refuse that clown completely, but you could try a box for a few days and see if she changes her tune, but you might have to wait a bit and try a new male.
They can heal pretty well, he may be ok in a few days/week

 

[Amoo]

Combine the acclimation box with a mirror on the outside of your tank. The clown in the mirror will be the more immediate threat then the clown in the isolation box and she will beat the crap out of it until she wears herself out.

 

[Rukk]

I definitely should have used a acclimation box, and I like the mirror idea (but the wife, not so much). I appreciate the advice. Looks like the little one is going to be fine too, hope he ends up being able to join the tank.

 

[Amoo]

the mirror is not a permanent addition or does it go inside the tank, just set it up against the side of the tank as close as you can so the fish can see it's reflection. It doesn't stay forever, just for a few days while the little one is in the box and getting adjusted.

 

[Rukk]

I understood what you meant Amoo and I just may do it. I can see how the mirror could be helpful. The wife just doesn't like the idea of her beating herself up and she has a point that we paid a lot more for the flurry than we did the little normal.
I have to admit I might get a little pleasure seeing her beat herself up after what she did to my little fella, but really it was my fault for creating the situation.

 

[Amoo]

I'm NOT trying to tell you how to do things, but honestly it's not as bad as it sounds. What ends up happening is the female will essentially mouth at the mirror all day long "attacking" the fish in the mirror. It's only made to sound bad because I liberally used words like "attack" which can immediately have a negative connotation. So what you won't see is a fish "beating itself up" getting bruise, slamming head first into the side of the tank or anything terrible like that. What you would see is the female nipping at the glass as she tries to get that other female staring back at her.

It essentially just keeps her distracted from what you're actually doing which is getting her used to the male. I've never seen a fish harm itself in the mirror and I have used, recommended and seen the mirror trick used numerous times.

Hopefully that clears things up a little bit about how the mirror thing actually works.

 

[Rukk]

Thanks for explaining and sharing your experience. I was envisioning a full on "attack" like I had seen her do. I going to get an acclimation box and a mirror and see if I can get this to work out.

 

[davocean]

I actually did something kinda similar years ago when I realized my maroon clown would attack her reflection when I happened to wear a shiny stainless dive watch.
After I realized this, that became standard tank maintenance to wear that watch, she'd hit that instead of me, and I watched her get tired after a while, eventually she kinda stopped, or at least slowed down.
So not harmful to them, but they definitely recognize that reflection and it does distract from everything else.

 

[Rukk]

Update:
I got a Reefing Art acclimation box, 16"x6"x8", and put the little clown in.
5 days later, things seemed pretty calm. Put a mirror up against the glass and the big clown hardly messed with it. Coral beauty was wiggin a bit and Flame Angel was freakin. After about 30 minutes I took it down.
I adjusted the box where the little guy could swim out which he eventually did. Big clown chased and harassed but very little if any actual physical contact. That was yesterday. Last night they hung out near each other and today they are hanging out with no signs of aggression.

Looks like I have gotten lucky and things are working out.