In mid february, I purchased 3 Percula Clowns for my 75. They all swam together very nicely. One died in a week due to unknown illness but the two were still ok with each other. However after about two weeks one started to host with a large LT anemone. Once he started to host he became very hostile towards the other clown with fin nipping even when he was not near the anemone. The agressive one does not bother other fish in tank. I removed the fin nipped clown into a hospital tank to allow him to heal. Any suggestions on how to reintroduce? I was thinking of reintroducing him with one more new clown or, temporarily remove the aggressive one so that he losses his territory.
Problem with agressive Percula Clown
- Thread starter johns120
- Start date
dont do anything, the fish are probally pairing, sounds like you have a male and female "he" the one picking on the other is actually a she... shes the queen, its normal for them to push the guy around especially when they first "pair up" read a little about clowns, dont reintroduce this is normal, eventually she wont be as rough, but this is kinda the way it goes, the girl will always push around the male..... imagine that 
imo you shouldnt have removed him unless it was really bad, this is normal behavior... unless the fins were really tore up, small nips heal within a day or so with perculas, this is the exact behavior i experienced when i added a juve with my already grown female, they have paired up now, and shes not so aggressive anymore.... its normal though.
Yeah clown pairs are formed by thier own unique social situation. This process can include a lot of fighting and chasing. Once the dominant fish is established that will be your new female. Even in the future she will show some aggression to the male at times. Definately put the other fish back in the tank, they will pair up. Perculas usually do very little actual harm to eachother. Once the weaker fish shows signs of submission he will be accepted by the female. After that they will be inseperable.
If you add another clown to the tank after the pair has formed the new one might not have much fun. IMO
If you add another clown to the tank after the pair has formed the new one might not have much fun. IMO
Hi John,
How big were the fish you added?
If they were adults and wild-caught then it's possible, if not likely, that they are both female. Once a clown becomes a determined female they can not change back.
If you do have two females then they will likely not live happily together in the same tank. To complicate things further, female clownfish can display the same submissive shaking behaviour as males in response to aggression.
Percs don't have a reputation for being overly aggressive. A couple of nipped/split fins during pairing is perfectly normal but a vicious attack and badly shredded fins are not.
If you're going to reintroduce the fish then try using a breeder bag or something else transparent so the fish can see each other but remain separated. If the attacks don't abate after a few days then try to get an undetermined juvenile or male and try again.
How big were the fish you added?
If they were adults and wild-caught then it's possible, if not likely, that they are both female. Once a clown becomes a determined female they can not change back.
If you do have two females then they will likely not live happily together in the same tank. To complicate things further, female clownfish can display the same submissive shaking behaviour as males in response to aggression.
Percs don't have a reputation for being overly aggressive. A couple of nipped/split fins during pairing is perfectly normal but a vicious attack and badly shredded fins are not.
If you're going to reintroduce the fish then try using a breeder bag or something else transparent so the fish can see each other but remain separated. If the attacks don't abate after a few days then try to get an undetermined juvenile or male and try again.
Both of them were approximately 2 inches in length.
I did not observe any submissive shaking behavior. I did observe on one occassion the agressive one bite the abdominal area of the other one and hold its bite for approximately three seconds before letting go. Would this biting action be additional evidence of male/female pairing or female/female aggression?
I did not observe any submissive shaking behavior. I did observe on one occassion the agressive one bite the abdominal area of the other one and hold its bite for approximately three seconds before letting go. Would this biting action be additional evidence of male/female pairing or female/female aggression?
Hey, you never know what someone has unless you see it yourself. They may be females already they may not, just observe them a little while longer. Even if the two Percs are females they probably wont kill eachother. Maroons are the ones that fight to the death.
Johns120:
If they are already full grown and the same size then take one back to the store and get the smallest Perc you can find. The pair will form easier that way. If they still look like they are young then leave the two alone and see if they form up.
Check out this book, it will help you a lot.
Clownfishes
by Joyce D. Wilkerson, Thomas A. Frakes
Publisher: Microcosm Limited; ISBN: 1890087041; (June 1998), 240 pages
Hope that helps
Johns120:
If they are already full grown and the same size then take one back to the store and get the smallest Perc you can find. The pair will form easier that way. If they still look like they are young then leave the two alone and see if they form up.
Check out this book, it will help you a lot.
Clownfishes
by Joyce D. Wilkerson, Thomas A. Frakes
Publisher: Microcosm Limited; ISBN: 1890087041; (June 1998), 240 pages
Hope that helps
Thanks for all the replys. I can not believe how quickly the one is healing up in the minibow. When they were purchased, i got one from a tank filled with about 5 Occeleris and 3 percs and two from a tank with about 10 occeleris and 5 percs. The two seperate tanks were from different shipments and have no idea if the two that i have now were together or not.
what he said is right on the money, very hard to tell and make assumptions without seeing the tank.... but if you get a small one you have a good chance of getting a pair.... also i think 2 females would settle down together eventually.... but i wouldnt really recomend that a pair is ideal.... if you've never seen it though its kind of a alarming when the female "picks" on the male.
Two female will kill each other eventually rather than settle down. Two inches is large for A. percula. If the two Percula were the largest in their group, then you have to females (or two that start to become female).shr00m":3uxt4nja said:
It is best to return one to the LFS and get a smaller, if not the smallest in their tank. If the size different is large and if the smaller of the two was not the largest (or the only one) in the LFS's tank, you should have no problem with them fighting.
IME It is possible for two female Percs to tolerate eachother. Death is often the end result with other clown species. I have known many poeple that have kept two female Percs among a social group in an aquarium none of them killed one another. Percs actually tolerate other members of thier species. However all fish can be unique and share different levels of aggressions, but my point is female clowns that fall into the Perc/Ocellaris complex generally dont fight to the death, they usually end up tolerating eachother.
My definition of a female Perc would be an Amphiprion percula clownfish that happens to be female. Maybe I should add something to this: Wild caught Percs can be very aggressive towards thier other tankmates. Tank raised Percs however are much more passive and amiable towards thier tankmates.
Again this is all IME as I have kept wild caught pairs and raised thier young. I understand that everyones experiences are unique and the opinions that I share are simply based on my own experiences.
Again this is all IME as I have kept wild caught pairs and raised thier young. I understand that everyones experiences are unique and the opinions that I share are simply based on my own experiences.
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