Clowns fighting

[ReefMaster48]

So.

My two clowns, that I bought about 2 weeks apart, but have been together for about 6 months now, are suddenly fighting. Both ocelarris, one is normal, the other is a snowflake. The normal is a little bit larger then the snowflake.

Here's how they have been.

Virtually inseparable. "Hosting" my powerhead, and staying basically on the right wall of the tank. Eat, live, and sleep together. No issues.

Here's what they've been doing.

The snowflake chases the normal (what do you call a "standard" clownsifh coloration? driving me nuts calling them "normal"). When they both get to one another, they fight like crazy. Its like WWE, MMA all on for a few seconds. Then the normal clown goes back to hiding somewhere, while the snowflake returns to the normal hosting spots. Sometimes, when next to each other, they BOTH do the really fast wiggle thing. Sometimes, its just one or the other. But last night, they slept in different spots. The normal clown's face was getting a little beat up yesterday.



I think the snowflake is fighting for dominance. And hopefully they are both males, which is why they both twitch and wiggle to each other at times. Am I right? Thoughts? What does everyone think is happening here?

[homer1475]

Sorting dominance and whos going to become female. More then likely the bigger of the 2 will become the female.

The fighting should stop. It usually doesn't take long to figure out dominance.

When mine were doing the "dance", the larger would grab the smaller by the lower jaw and shake the heck out of it. Both have made it to adulthood and are inseparable.

Typical clownfish behavior.

[sde1500]

I'd second homer, sounds like a typical struggle for dominance. Mine went through that a few months ago. They'd been good hanging out together for a year, then it was a week of knockdown drag out fights, and now they are good again. Oddly I still can't figure out which is going to transition. My Wyoming White was tiny when I bought him, bought an even smaller misbar assuming the White was transitioned after being the sole clown for a year. The white is definitely in charge, but the misbar appears to recently have gotten bigger in size than the white.

[NS Mike D]

After a year, my female ocelaris turned on the male and it was fatal. That caught me by surprise as I expected they would find their own space, but nope. She hunted him down relentlessly - I pulled him into quarantine but by that time the stress was too much.

A woman scorned. She's doing well with his replacement. I think finding the new helped with the domestic peace.

In any case, not every critter reads mother natures rule book.

[ReefMaster48]

After a year, my female ocelaris turned on the male and it was fatal. That caught me by surprise as I expected they would find their own space, but nope. She hunted him down relentlessly - I pulled him into quarantine but by that time the stress was too much.

A woman scorned. She's doing well with his replacement. I think finding the new helped with the domestic peace.

In any case, not every critter reads mother natures rule book.

Sorry for the loss! That's terrible!



So now that the lights have been on, and everyone woke up, I can see their actions a little better today. They are still acting funny, but are much more friendly and accepting of one another. Swimming together for the most part, but still have a little wariness.

I felt bad for the one clown yesterday, they would swim on opposite sides of the rock trying to hide from the other. Meanwhile the chromis seem to get excited when they got to their fighting and would swim above them almost with amusement. I'm sure he would have kicked back on the sofa with some popcorn if he could. :lmao: