Sigh. Typical clowns

[Pale Morning1]

I have my tank, a 13.5 Fluval. I added the first clown a traditional orange one almost two years ago. About 6 months later I added a second much smaller black clown and assumed the orange would be the female. I have seen zero aggression until today I turned the lights on (office tank) and discovered the orange clown is beat to all hell. I do not have a QT tank but I can separate them within the existing tank.
the black clown is actually larger now. Does this mean it has actually assumed the role of the female? If I understand it correctly once established as a female clowns can not become males. Is this correct? Could I possibly have 2 females.
And most importantly do I have to rehome one of them? Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[ScubaFish802]

The coloration on the orange clown makes me think maybe something in addition to the fighting, but I am no expert by any means. #fishmedic

 

[Pale Morning1]

The coloration on the fish was normal last week. Hard to see in the picture but all of the darker and lighter spots are areas that the skin has been damaged. Worth noting also that the black one did not bother the orange one all day. As soon as the lights went off it went nuts and attacked the heck out of the poor orange fish. I am going to head home and grab breeder box and separate to at least give some relief until I figure out what to do.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have my tank, a 13.5 Fluval. I added the first clown a traditional orange one almost two years ago. About 6 months later I added a second much smaller black clown and assumed the orange would be the female. I have seen zero aggression until today I turned the lights on (office tank) and discovered the orange clown is beat to all hell. I do not have a QT tank but I can separate them within the existing tank.
the black clown is actually larger now. Does this mean it has actually assumed the role of the female? If I understand it correctly once established as a female clowns can not become males. Is this correct? Could I possibly have 2 females.
And most importantly do I have to rehome one of them? Any guidance is appreciated.

If the other clown looks good/the same as it was, I think you can call this a breakdown in the pair bond. That can happen sometimes. It can be impossible to get them back together. You can try moving the black clown to an isolation box and let the orange one recover and have the whole tank to itself for a month or so. Then - try reintroducing them….
Jay

 

[Pale Morning1]

Better to isolate black one over orange?

 

[Sharkbait19]

You’d want to pull the aggressor out to give the weaker one a chance to better establish itself and gain its confidence. If you leave the black one it will just get more territorial.

 

[Pale Morning1]

Happy to say the clowns seemed to have sorted this out in their own. The orange one is well on its way to making recovery. Find are growing back and damage to body has mostly healed. The two swim seemingly happily around together again.

 

[Dave1993]

so you went the clown route you wont be able to add anymore fish in with the 2 of them in such a small tank

glad everything went well for you though

 

[Pale Morning1]

so you went the clown route you wont be able to add anymore fish in with the 2 of them in such a small tank

glad everything went well for you though

There are a total of 4 fish in the tank. The two clowns, clown goby and firefish. They have all been in the tank over 6 months. The goby and firefish do not get harassed at all.

 

[Dave1993]

There are a total of 4 fish in the tank. The two clowns, clown goby and firefish. They have all been in the tank over 6 months. The goby and firefish do not get harassed at all.

do you have any euphyllia if so how r the clowns with them thinking of getting 2 clowns myself for my fluval but don't want them to harass my torches

 

[Pale Morning1]

I do not have any euphyllia. All of my corals are inexpensive as I didn’t want to sink money into my first coral tank until I saw success or failure. I will say that neither of my clowns pay any attention to the corals. The clown goby lays on everyone of them but doesn’t hurt anything.

 

[Sharkbait19]

do you have any euphyllia if so how r the clowns with them thinking of getting 2 clowns myself for my fluval but don't want them to harass my torches

Mine live in an indo torch no problems - I don’t recommend that mix though, pretty easy to stress them to death.

 

[Dave1993]

Mine live in an indo torch no problems - I don’t recommend that mix though, pretty easy to stress them to death.

saw 2 nice clowns for sale was thinking of getting them but just paid £400 for my torch so i think ill pass lol here are the clowns

Plasma Storm Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris var.) TANK BRED

Reef Safe: Yes Care: Easy Diet: Omnivore Size: 1.5" - 2.5" The Captive-Bred Black Storm Clownfish derives its lineage from a mutation that appeared during the selective breeding of the Mocha Vinci Clownfish. The Captive-Bred Black Storm Clownfish demonstrates an exaggerated white body pattern...

www.cellarmarinestore.co.uk