Snowflake Overnight Aggression??

TracyLynn · Aug 24, 2019

It seems like overnight my snowflake clown (female) as gotten overly aggressive. She bites & attacks my hand regardless of what I’m doing. She is terrorizing the rest of the tank mates if they get anywhere close to her area. Way more than ever. She just started this behavior yesterday. I bought a Condy day before & placed close to their territory. Otherwise nothing has changed.

Why is she acting like that?

I’m trying to stand back & watch both of the clowns to see if I can determine if she’s laid eggs, maybe that’s it. I don’t see the little male working or change in his behavior at all.

Ideas??? Thanks so much

NC122606 · Aug 24, 2019

TracyLynn said:
It seems like overnight my snowflake clown (female) as gotten overly aggressive. She bites & attacks my hand regardless of what I’m doing. She is terrorizing the rest of the tank mates if they get anywhere close to her area. Way more than ever. She just started this behavior yesterday. I bought a Condy day before & placed close to their territory. Otherwise nothing has changed.

Why is she acting like that?

I’m trying to stand back & watch both of the clowns to see if I can determine if she’s laid eggs, maybe that’s it. I don’t see the little male working or change in his behavior at all.

Ideas??? Thanks so much

Either there are eggs or it is typical aggression, if it is just that then I would make your hand act like a more aggressive fish by charging at it but not hurting it. Do this until she stops going after you, even if she bites you during that keep charging.

Bleigh · Aug 24, 2019

Do they hurt when they bite? We sometimes feed my clowns by hand. MY son loves when they nibble at his fingers also. I’m assuming they’re not showing aggression and realize they’re being fed and not being intruded on.... I wonder if this feeding could be dangerous if they suddenly get aggressive.

Though My clowns seem to be able to tell if it’s me by the tank AND whether I have food in my hand. If I have mysis they immediately go to the feeder. They come and look at me when I’m looking at them. They don’t do that when other people come in and look at the tank. I may just be projecting cause I like them.

NC122606 · Aug 24, 2019

Bleigh said:
Do they hurt when they bite? We sometimes feed my clowns by hand. MY son loves when they nibble at his fingers also. I’m assuming they’re not showing aggression and realize they’re being fed and not being intruded on.... I wonder if this feeding could be dangerous if they suddenly get aggressive.

Though My clowns seem to be able to tell if it’s me by the tank AND whether I have food in my hand. If I have mysis they immediately go to the feeder. They come and look at me when I’m looking at them. They don’t do that when other people come in and look at the tank. I may just be projecting cause I like them.

Really depends, some can draw blood and some will leave no mark at all. It would be best to wear gloves but if the clown is not going hard on the bites you should be fine.

Peace River · Aug 24, 2019

@TracyLynn - what you're describing is fairly normal clownfish behavior and is part of the frustration and mystery of clowns. Their life and wiring is based on dominance and aggression which, among other things, determines their sex. I have found that hand feeding reduces their aggression toward you. Good luck!

JoshH · Aug 24, 2019

Are they spending a lot of time around the condy? Its possible they have found there home and they will do literally anything possible to defend it.

TracyLynn · Aug 25, 2019

@NC122606 - I’ll try that, I have challenged her before. She chased me before when rearranging their area. This is WAY more, regardless of where I put my hand, she bites, hasn’t broken the skin but scared the ;Brb out of me.

@Bleigh - I hand feed/turkey baster feed & all of them know me & feeding time, as soon as I walk up or stop the power head they all come front/top center. The last 2 days this girl is off the chain! I hope it dissipates, not only the aggression, but she seems in a panic (giving human emotions to a fish)

@Peace River - Kind of a Nice/Naughty thing going on. What prompted the question was the overnight change. I’ve had this girl for 3 years now, maybe she’s old enough now for breeding & isn’t happy about it. LOL.

@JoshH - I placed to Condy close to their territory, hoping they would take to it. It may be that, eggs on the Big Daddy, both or neither. I’m trying to watch from afar to see if I can determine what’s going on. I haven’t seen them touch the Condy so far. But if putting it that close to their territory (or tank in general) is going to make her that defensive, I’d rather not have it.
To the right of the yellow line is their territory, I placed the Condy just to the left.