mated clowns suddenly fighting

[rufus6642]

So I have a 30 gallon nano tank with a pair of mated clowns in it that have been peacefully living together for about 6 months now. I recently acquired a new torch which much to my surprise they have started occasionally hosting. Within the past couple days though I have seen the larger clown go after the smaller one a couple times. Now the smaller one is hiding in a rock crevice all the time and the big one still picks on him. Im assuming it was the introduction of a new host coral that has put them at odds. I cant really get rid of the torch but dont want to lose one of the clowns either. is this normal behavior for them? Will they eventually go back to peaceful terms or is this going to end in tragedy? that would be a hell of a divorce settlement; i get the house after i kill you.

[SomeDude12]

Difficult to determine whether things will return as they were. Were the clowns hosting anything prior to the addition?

[Neogenocide]

If the bullying gets bad enough....you may need to separate them for a while. I kind of had the same thing....2 clowns appeared mated, one day she turned on the male so bad they be basically chewed his tail completely off, there was nothing but a nub left. Separated them long enough for his tail to regrow, once reintroduced they have been inseparable ever since.

[rufus6642]

they were not hosting anything before

it makes me hopeful though that neogenocide's clowns rebonded. I'll keep an eye on them for now and see how it goes. So far with the lights off she has been less aggressive.