Aggressive clown?

[zero26]

I've had this clown for almost 5 years he's mated with my black clownfish. I added a few new fish and he was harassing them badly, so I moved the clown to the sump.

My question is after a week in the sump if I added him back to the DT would he be just as aggressive?

[snorvich]

Probably. Also, he is most likely a she since the female is normally more aggressive than a male.

[crissie]

Most likely. And as Snorvich said, he is probably a she.

How long ago did you ad the new fish?

[zero26]

Yes he is a she. She's the one laying all the eggs. But the funny thing is the male black clownfish will bite me 90% of the time my hand goes in. The percula only is aggressive towards other fish.

The fish were added about 3 days before I took out the percula clown.

[crissie]

When you get a mated pair of fish they can become very aggressive when they get new tankmates (especially if you have added another female clown, that would be a huge issue and can mean a fight to the death).

It takes time for them to assert their territory (not usually an issue with clowns but as a mated pair it will be) so in this case if you reintroduce the clown - in around a week or so she should stop attacking the new fish. As long as she's not doing the others any real damage I would let her get on with being bossy until she's settled down. She will be viewing them as a threat.

If it carries on for more than two weeks though, she's unlikely to stop at all.