Psychotic ocellaris clownfish??

[SimplyVibing]

I have had a year and a half old ocellaris clownfish for about three months now. She was given up at my LFS by an employee for being really aggressive. She was originally in a completely empty QT tank where she was supposed to help other fish become more confident, but when I got her I put her in an established 20 gallon high with lots of rock and some corals.

She is mean as hell, bites me and takes the skin off, attack’s ANYTHING that I put in her tank (including rocks), and tail slaps anything she is unsure about. Yesterday I added a BTA and she has started attacking much harder, but I don’t see any hosting going on. She fans the anemone with her tail but that’s about it. The BTA is bleached and a work in progress btws

Any fish that goes in there gets attacked constantly. I really want to put other fish in my tank or even just get her a mate. Is there ANYTHING I can do to calm down this aggressive behavior?

Perfect parameters, weekly 25% water change, single fish aquarium, flukes in the past and possibly still has them. High flow and high filtration environment.

 

[Peace River]

Clowns are wired for hierarchy and aggression so it is not surprising that you sometimes come across one that is overly aggressive. One thing you might try is to hand-feed so that the fish associates your hand with something other than a threat. Good luck!

 

[Idoc]

I have one that is mean as well to me and anything i put in the tank when cleaning it. She had repeatedly jumped out of the water to strike at my hand when using a Turkey baster to clean rocks. The other day, she jumped completely out id the tank by accident trying to get to my hand above the tank. I seriously thought about just leaving her there on the floor! But, i picked her back up and put her back in the tank. She was a little calmer for a day, but she's back to being evil.

But, she's only a little aggressive toward other fish since all the fish do get along well. So, i guess she had an upside... but when she turns on my peaceful fish, she'll be a goner!

 

[Phil85]

If you do try to add another fish, rearrange the rockwork right before. That could help breakup the clown's territory so it might be less aggressive with the new addition.