Bob

[Lunareclipse]

We bought a new fish last night. We named him Bob. He is 3/4 on an inch. Our big clownfish keeps picking on him. What can we do about it? Our other clownfish lost his mate a few months ago. I thought it would be nicce getting him another pal to hang out with, but he isn't very happy about it. Is my clownfish just making him run the gauntlet or will he end up killing him? Should I put the little guy in my sump until he gets bigger, or will it matter or should I let him be and let take his beating and hope they will be friends afterwards? Why doesn't he have black on his fins? He's supposed to be a false percula clown like my other one is and he looks nothing like the other one. Could that be why my old fish is pissy with Bob? I did baby proof the tank for the little guy. I put panyhose over my Koralia and took the filter plate out of my sump so if he sucked into the sump he will fall into the water instead of on the filter plate. Is there anything else I need to do? There are plenty of places my little Bob can hide in my tank, but he won't go hide. I don't know why. Bob is eating rather well though, so I don't think there is anything wrong with him. If Bob is near the other overflow where my other clownfish hangs out, my other clownfish doesn't beat him up. He only beats him up if he's over by the Koralia.

 

[rookie07]

Clowns is a baby...colors will come with age.
Clowns will fight to establish a hierarchy...but it leads to death about 1/3-1/2 of the time.

 

[Lunareclipse]

Clowns is a baby...colors will come with age.
Clowns will fight to establish a hierarchy...but it leads to death about 1/3-1/2 of the time.

That sucks. Should I have just let my other fish remain single instead of getting him a new clownfish?

 

[rookie07]

Thats your choice..i like to have pairs if fish, etc

 

[Custom05Taco]

You could try to Change something move the pump, aquascape or if you see him being aggressive put the net or something like it in the water and she will stop.
I have a pair of clowns they fight once in a while. But mostly they pick on my blue chromie. If they get in to it for to long. I just drop the net in the tank for a half hour. They forget what they where doing. It works every time.



Sent from my ADR6300 using Reefs

 

[Lunareclipse]

Thats your choice..i like to have pairs if fish, etc

I like to have a pair of fish too, that's why I went and got him another fish. I was hoping they would play nice.

 

[Lunareclipse]

You could try to Change something move the pump, aquascape or if you see him being aggressive put the net or something like it in the water and she will stop.
I have a pair of clowns they fight once in a while. But mostly they pick on my blue chromie. If they get in to it for to long. I just drop the net in the tank for a half hour. They forget what they where doing. It works every time.



Sent from my ADR6300 using Reefs

I took the big clownfish out last night and threw him in the sump and rearranged the tank. I put him back into the tank today and he was lost for a while, but now that he's used it again, he's back to picking on Bob. I am going to drop the net in the tank and see what happens. I hope he quits pestering. It doesn't seem like the big clown is trying to kill the other fish. He just chases him around and smacks him with his tail sometimes. I think I will leave them together until I think it's getting too rough and then I will toss the big clownfish back in the sump and give Bob a rest for a while.

 

[Lunareclipse]

I have another question. Where are Bob's stripes? Will they appear as he grow older or will he not have any stripes forever? He just has a dot near his fin.

 

[rookie07]

I have another question. Where are Bob's stripes? Will they appear as he grow older or will he not have any stripes forever? He just has a dot near his fin.

Some fish do not develop stripes....some have more than just stripes.
Your fish appears to be old enough that it will not develop anymore white stripes (But I may be wrong), but the black should fill in soon. (Your clown looks like it is 3-5 months old...Do you know how old it is?)

What you describe (Tail smacking) seems almost normal, you may be overreacting here.

How big is your tank?
What other fish do you have?

If you could post a short video of your clowns that would be very helpful.

 

[Lunareclipse]

Some fish do not develop stripes....some have more than just stripes.
Your fish appears to be old enough that it will not develop anymore white stripes (But I may be wrong), but the black should fill in soon. (Your clown looks like it is 3-5 months old...Do you know how old it is?)

What you describe (Tail smacking) seems almost normal, you may be overreacting here.

How big is your tank?
What other fish do you have?

If you could post a short video of your clowns that would be very helpful.

My big clown, Nemo. (Daughter named it...) He is 3 1/2 inches.
And we have a royal gramma (needs a name). He is 2 inches long. That's all we have. We have a 90 gallon tank. I will try to take a good vieo of my fishes. The big clown hides when I bring out the camera.
I have an Engineer goby, Goby Wan Kenobi, about 10 1/2 inches long.

A sailfin tang, Freckles. He seems to not be feeling well or something. He doesn't look sick, but he hasn't eaten in the past few days and he is now hiding under a rock, so I don't know what's wrong with him. He's about 6 inches.

A hippo tang. Dorothy. She is about 6 inches long too.

 

[Lunareclipse]

Some fish do not develop stripes....some have more than just stripes.
Your fish appears to be old enough that it will not develop anymore white stripes (But I may be wrong), but the black should fill in soon. (Your clown looks like it is 3-5 months old...Do you know how old it is?)

What you describe (Tail smacking) seems almost normal, you may be overreacting here.

How big is your tank?
What other fish do you have?

If you could post a short video of your clowns that would be very helpful.

I'm sorry, but I don't know how old he is. I only ordered a clown fish for a mate for my other clown and this is what they sent. He sure is tiny...They didn't have a 2 inch one so they sent me that one and gave me a partial refund on my money. I only paid $15.00 for him, shipping and all.

 

[rookie07]

You should be fine. Leave them alone.
Your tank is big enough for them to stay apart if they want. I would think the only real trouble would be if the bigger clown makes the smaller clown jump out if the tank or into the overflow. A good cover solves this problem. Kathyc made a great diy thread about net covers.

 

[KathyC]

You should be fine. Leave them alone.
Your tank is big enough for them to stay apart if they want. I would think the only real trouble would be if the bigger clown makes the smaller clown jump out if the tank or into the overflow. A good cover solves this problem. Kathyc made a great diy thread about net covers.

+1 I'd give them more time to adjust. It took mine quite awhile to adjust as my new one was much smaller than the other. ..and a cover is a must have. (thanks Phil! )

As for the Gramma's name - How about Prince Harry? lol

 

[Lunareclipse]

+1 I'd give them more time to adjust. It took mine quite awhile to adjust as my new one was much smaller than the other. ..and a cover is a must have. (thanks Phil! )

As for the Gramma's name - How about Prince Harry? lol

Thank you. I was thinking along the lines of Charles, but was my husband's dad's name and I don't know if that would seem inappropriate. Is there a reason why he can't be in the overflow? I already took the filter plate out of the sump in case he winds up getting sucked into the overflow. The spaces in my overflow where the water falls through is big enough for the fish to go through. So I took the filter plate out of the sump in case he got sucked into the sump so he would fall straight into the water and not die on my filter plate.

Another good name would be Flush.

 

[rookie07]

I actually like flush as a name (im a big poker player), but the pun (We all flush small fish when they die) is great!

You big clown is most likely a female. It is bad if the small (male) clown gets into the overflow bc it could in theory die or get wounded.

Truth is, if you can, always cover a tank, just a good general rule to follow.

 

[Lunareclipse]

I actually like flush as a name (im a big poker player), but the pun (We all flush small fish when they die) is great!

You big clown is most likely a female. It is bad if the small (male) clown gets into the overflow bc it could in theory die or get wounded.

Truth is, if you can, always cover a tank, just a good general rule to follow.

My tank has a canopy on it. Do I need more cover than that? How can it die in my overflow? There isn't anything in it like a pump or something that can kill it. I think you should call one of your fishes Flush.