Two Clowns in a Tank (One is Aggressive)

[talk2mejjv]

Hi everyone! I am new here and looking for some advice from seasoned clownfish owners. I have had a clownfish for approximately 1-2 years in a Fluval Evo tank. The setup has live rock and a few snails. I had a Coral Banded Shrimp but lost him recently after a few years. The Clownfish has always been happy and seems to enjoy life.

Just recently, someone had a clownfish that they surrendered because they ended up with a territorial issue with another Clown. (I believe the Clown that they surrendered was the one being attacked). I decided to see if the surrendered Clown would be compatible (probably a mistake on my part) with my Clown.

I was thinking that the Clown that I've had the longest would be territorial based on the longevity in the tank, however, the newer fish is the aggressor. I've been reading a lot on the forum about natural behavior from clowns and determining the pecking order. My confusion is this... The new Clown is the aggressor but is also the "shaker". The Clown will charge toward the established Clown and then do the weird shaking motion afterwards. Is this typical? What should I watch for? Is it possible there is no compatability between these two? I just do not want to expose my established Clown to serious injury but if this is typical behavior, I just want to know what to watch for to ensure that it's safe. Any help is appreciated. If you need any additional info, just let me know. Thanks!

 

[talk2mejjv]

Hi everyone! I am new here and looking for some advice from seasoned clownfish owners. I have had a clownfish for approximately 1-2 years in a Fluval Evo tank. The setup has live rock and a few snails. I had a Coral Banded Shrimp but lost him recently after a few years. The Clownfish has always been happy and seems to enjoy life.

Just recently, someone had a clownfish that they surrendered because they ended up with a territorial issue with another Clown. (I believe the Clown that they surrendered was the one being attacked). I decided to see if the surrendered Clown would be compatible (probably a mistake on my part) with my Clown.

I was thinking that the Clown that I've had the longest would be territorial based on the longevity in the tank, however, the newer fish is the aggressor. I've been reading a lot on the forum about natural behavior from clowns and determining the pecking order. My confusion is this... The new Clown is the aggressor but is also the "shaker". The Clown will charge toward the established Clown and then do the weird shaking motion afterwards. Is this typical? What should I watch for? Is it possible there is no compatability between these two? I just do not want to expose my established Clown to serious injury but if this is typical behavior, I just want to know what to watch for to ensure that it's safe. Any help is appreciated. If you need any additional info, just let me know. Thanks!

Original Clown



Mr(s). Grump

 

[OrionN]

How big is the smaller (newer) clown?

 

[talk2mejjv]

How big is the smaller (newer) clown?

Maybe 2 to 2.5 inches?

 

[OrionN]

2.5 inches is very large for Ocellaris. Maybe both are females. If this is the case then you won’t be able to pair them. Maybe you can trade one for a smaller Ocellaris.
Clowns are protandrous hermaphrodites, and the sex change is irreversible. Two females will not live peaceful together in your tank.

 

[talk2mejjv]

2.5 inches is very large for Ocellaris. Maybe both are females. If this is the case then you won’t be able to pair them. Maybe you can trade one for a smaller Ocellaris.
Clowns are protandrous hermaphrodites, and the sex change is irreversible. Two females will not live peaceful together in your tank.

Part of what is puzzling me is that the aggressor kind of charges at the other and does the shake but I haven't seen the other show any aggression or shaking. It seems that the one that is not aggressive keeps swimming to be in the same area as the aggressor though? Very confusing behavior.

 

[talk2mejjv]

Part of what is puzzling me is that the aggressor kind of charges at the other and does the shake but I haven't seen the other show any aggression or shaking. It seems that the one that is not aggressive keeps swimming to be in the same area as the aggressor though? Very confusing behavior.

If the original Clownfish is a female as well, would she tend to fight back? Kind of a battle of who is bigger and badder? The original Clown just kind of stays in the area and shows no sign of fighting back or aggression.

 

[littlefoxx]

If the original Clownfish is a female as well, would she tend to fight back? Kind of a battle of who is bigger and badder? The original Clown just kind of stays in the area and shows no sign of fighting back or aggression.

Im assuming your clown is female based on how long youve had her. Is there tail nipping and chasing or just the shaking? Get a video if you can. How big is your clown now?

 

[littlefoxx]

2.5 inches is very large for Ocellaris. Maybe both are females. If this is the case then you won’t be able to pair them. Maybe you can trade one for a smaller Ocellaris.
Clowns are protandrous hermaphrodites, and the sex change is irreversible. Two females will not live peaceful together in your tank.

My male is about 2.5 inches, his female is a little over 3 inches. Shes a big girl

 

[talk2mejjv]

Im assuming your clown is female based on how long youve had her. Is there tail nipping and chasing or just the shaking? Get a video if you can. How big is your clown now?

I would assume that mine is female as well just based on the length of time in the tank. However, I don’t have any history on this new Clown. So far, I haven’t seen any tail nipping. I’ve definitely seen some chasing. I separated the new Clown in a floating partition for about fifteen minutes today to give the non-aggressive Clown a break and where did she spend her entire time…. Swimming near the partition. ‍

 

[OrionN]

The new clown was removed from it’s tank because of fighting with a larger fish.
2.5 inches is a mature Ocellaris clown. Fighting with a larger Ocellaris indicates that it is a female too.
Very high likelihood of two females in this case.

 

[talk2mejjv]

Just wanted to give an update. I took the Clown back to the store today. I explained to them that they will need to give the next owner a heads up about the fact that it is most likely a female and should not be paired with a fish of similar size.