Aggressive Clownfish?

[ichwill]

Hey all,

I have a situation here;

About three weeks ago, we added a pair of wild caught Percula Clownfish, added them to the tank, and that was that.

On about the second day in, we noticed the female giving her partner a few little nips, here and there, we assumed it was because of the new location and that she was just asserting her dominance/position in the tank. He seemed fine, and only had a little ripped fin, he still swam next to her all day and she seemed to settle down okay after about a fortnight.

More recently, a few days ago, we added a Coral Beauty and a Long-nosed Butterfly fish to our tank. They seemed scared, hiding and not really coming out to eat or anything, fairly normal introduction activity.

However, this morning we awoke to find that both of the coral beauty's fins have been taken off, on either side. The butterfly fish has a few nips in his tail, and now has one cloudy eye. Both the Beauty and the butterfly fish have been hiding together under a rock all day.

The only fish in the tank without damage to her name at current is the female clown. We have since sectioned her off in her own little area, and will see if anything occurs tonight and tomorrow afternoon.

Do you guys think that she is the villain behind all of this? As the two other fish, as previously mentioned seem to provide each other with company all day/night under the same rock and the male clownfish doesn't seem bothered by their presence at all.

Could you guys give your recommendations on what to do, and further if you think she is the bully, we haven't actually seen them fight at all.

Furthermore, how are we to treat the damaged fins, and cloudy eye?

Thanks guys, hoping to here some helpful suggestions. :D

[reefmanmatt]

every clown ive ever owned has bit me evrytime i reached in the tank near there spot . they are aggressive , and depending on tank size etc... they may not have been able to flee .isnt a 55 a bit small for a copperband butterfly anyway ?they get huge ... edit .. 50 gallon ...

[pentrix2]

clowns are pretty agressive when you go near their area. they are also agressive towards new tank mates.

you have a pair of "wild caught" clowns and mixing them with tank raised (i'm assuming the two new fishes are tank raised) is not recommended from what I've been reading. I would say keep her separated until the others have somewhat healed. as for the cloudy eye, IMO only time can tell if it heals up.

[ichwill]

Thank-you guys for the info.

Is there anything at all I can do to help his eye heal?

It's not a copperband butterfly fish, it's a long-nosed butterfly (Forcipiger longirostris), and also I was under the impression 50 gallons was sufficient. :)

[Angel*Fish]

I don't know who would say 50 g is big enough, This is a fish that gets 8 inches long. That will look pretty silly in a 50g tank, not to mention the difficulty for the fish. While long nose's are easier than most other butterflies, they still aren't beginner fish. It's advisable to wait until your tank is 6-8 mo old before adding butterflies or angels.

It's extremely unusual for a clown to bully an angel. If it is, your angel is probably sick or otherwise impaired.

[thebkramer]

I don't know who would say 50 g is big enough, This is a fish that gets 8 inches long. That will look pretty silly in a 50g tank, not to mention the difficulty for the fish. While long nose's are easier than most other butterflies, they still aren't beginner fish. It's advisable to wait until your tank is 6-8 mo old before adding butterflies or angels.

+ 1 million x's over!!
In the very beginning I had a LN Butterfly.. and after 3 mos I brought him back to LFS.. a 50g is def not big enough for them :(
even in LiveAquaria it states atleast 70g.. IMO thats not even big enough!!

On a side note.. I really hope your fishies heal up quickly :lol2: