What are some of the most aggressive Clownfish?

[Reef Fever]

my female clarkii likes to nip my hand all the time and she steals food off the feeding stick straight in front of my lionfish

 

[temper76]

I would say the A. Mccullochi and a black saddle back

 

[Lita]

After a comment that was made on another forum the other day about the clownfish that I recently got my curiousity going. From what I have seen about the only clowns that are considered to be peaceful are Ocellaris. Many of the others are considered to be semi aggressive while Maroons are considered to be aggressive. From your experience or knowledge from realiable sources which clowns tend to be the most aggressive clowns out there? Also does this aggression seem to be shown more when they are breeding and protecting their area or does it seem to be shown most of the time. With my fw experience I had observered that my breeding pair of angels would become more aggressive towards other tankmates when they where protecting a recent spawning, however when they did not have any eggs that they where protecting they had no problems with any of the other fish in the aquarium including the other angels in the tank with them. Just curious about clowns and the fact that someone told me that I ended up choosing one of the meanest clowns out there When I asked them if they could provide any sources the only thing they told me was personal experience... so I would like to hear from the masses :bigsmile:

I personally think it’s a bit risky to start talking about them in terms of which one is more aggressive etc as the implication for many is that some are peaceful which they are not, just as you mentioned in your original question about ocellaris being peaceful. This can lead inexperienced keepers to think oh I can add more or can maybe get away with adding a more aggressive species after them but really this is likely to end up with dead clownfish. I have had many a pair of ocellaris and they were all quite territorial and aggressive and once they pair up they definitely will not tolerate any additional clowns. They regularly bite me and will chase off anything from what they think is their half of a six foot tank ! Whilst spiny cheeks, maroons, tomatoes etc are generally bigger and get a bad reputation for being more aggressive really it depends more on individuals and on tank set up, experience etc. I would not dream of adding clownfish Of any variety to a tank with existing pair again of any species because unless your tank is very large and can keep separate territories it’s going to be outright warfare. Too many people I know have added additional ocellaris to a tank with established ones in the tank only to have them killed!