Two Clowns fighting

[scubasteve020]

I had bought two black and white clown fish a few months ago. I made sure to buy one a little bigger than the other hoping that they would pair. They got along great for a month but now the larger one is always going after the smaller one during , even corners it so that it has no where to go. At night they sleep on opposite sides of tank but before would sleep together every night. Seems to have gotten worse when my flame angel died. Seems to be just a jerk clown fish. Lol even when I use a mag-float to clean the glass he tries going after it.

 

[Katrina71]

Sounds like he is a she now. Protecting her home.

 

[Jon Fishman]

My larger Flurry started picking on the smaller one after 3 months, and ultimately the smaller one ended up on the floor. Probably jumped while being beat up. Make sure your tank has a lid

 

[Peace River]

I had bought two black and white clown fish a few months ago. I made sure to buy one a little bigger than the other hoping that they would pair. They got along great for a month but now the larger one is always going after the smaller one during , even corners it so that it has no where to go. At night they sleep on opposite sides of tank but before would sleep together every night. Seems to have gotten worse when my flame angel died. Seems to be just a jerk clown fish. Lol even when I use a mag-float to clean the glass he tries going after it.

Not necessarily a “jerk clown”. It sounds like she is using aggression to establish hierarchy. This is often part of the pairing process and normal clown behavior. Keep an eye on the male (smaller clown) to make sure that there are no life threatening wounds and provide hiding places. Good luck!

 

[homer1475]

Yup sounds like typical clownfish behavior. The larger one is becoming, or is a female and shes asserting her dominance over "him".

You may see "her" grabbing "him" by the lips and violently shaking "him", chasing, nipping, torn fins, bite marks on their sides, etc. It's clownfish's way of figuring out who's the boss. If it doesn't subsides in a month or so, you may want to remove one of them as you may have 2 females. Which if that is the case, the larger will violently kill the smaller.

 

[andyg1960]

I was thinking this

 

[scubasteve020]

Yea it just was odd how long it took cause I made sure to buy two young ones at same time one slightly bigger Hoping that would become the female. I think once I added in foxface the larger clown isn’t picking on the smaller clown nearly as much. Every time I use my mag cleaner he tries to attack it . I kept an eye on the small one he doesn’t have any damage everything seems normal.