Clown- distressed!

[Rlumenator]

Location: Cape Coral, FL,
Occupation: Lighting rep office mgr.
Posts: 448



Clown distreesed?
I've had an Amph. Ocellaris probably over 2 years now that thinks my large Squamosis clam is his anenome. He's never been a problem, until one day- about 2 months ago- a piece of rock came loose near the clam and had to be reglued. He started biting at my husbands rings- funny at first, but then it progressed to attacking anytime we put our hands in the water. We tried the Tunze thin gloves, but he bites through these, and the thick gloves are too difficult to use for most things other that when cleaning. Last night I easily caught him and put him in a qt. tank that has live rock, sand, and a reef background. he seems highly aggitated this morning, swimming around and trying to get into the reef background. I am thinking of giving him away, but will my clam suffer (miss the closeness of the clown)? Will the clown calm down, or stress himself to death? Thank you.

 

[mr_X]

he bothers nothing but your hands? does he actually remove flesh when he bites? i would put him back in and let him enjoy his life.

 

[Rlumenator]

Back of hands and arms. He draws blood and it hurts- he's almost ferocious in his attacks.

 

[mr_X]

yikes! i have a clown tang that yanks the hair out of my arms when i am fussing with things, but i'm thinking your issue is severe. i would trade him in.

 

[JKDMan]

i say put him back in the tank,its just he nature of the clown fish. i got a large tomato clown and he used to bite me w/e i put my hand in the tank. i got it to stop by shooing it when it got close, my friend says he would flick his marroon clown when it would attck him. while mine never drew blood it stll hurt, i think its kinda funny tho : D

 

[cindre2000]

Every full grown clown I have encountered would attack hands in the tank. However, I have never lost any blood. Domino damsels are also fairly mean.

 

[SnowManSnow]

i caught mine by the head as he attacked my hand last night and just popped him in a bowl while i did things

bet he didnt see THAT coming!

b

 

[Rlumenator]

The only time I can catch him is when he goes to sleeo- not a time I'm going to be working in my tank.

 

[WRASSER]

IME, i have had a few fish do this to myself also (triggers). Try standing your ground, not to hurt but to let the fish know that you are there not to be messed with. Kinda like pretending your a bigger fish. It may or may not work. If not you just have to keep your eye on her so she dont bite

 

[Rlumenator]

She's calmed down in the qt tank and is eating- of, course, she's not attacking now- pretending to be sweet! If I kept my hand in the reef tank- she would just keep biting, and getting madder. The only wyt we could work in the tank, was with 2 of us at a time- one pushing her away while the other worked- not ideal.

 

[pcardone]

mine used to attack me all the time. but through the years they have stopped. i guess they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

It may be that your clown has mentally related "the hand" to food. Seeing as how it only sees it at feeding time usually. Perhaps you could try feeding him before you do your tank work.

We have a problem with gators here in florida cause people feed the gators food, then the gators relate people to food, then the gators attack people wanting food. Its not the gators fault, they just want food.

 

[Rlumenator]

That doesn't work- he will ignore the food to attack- he has adjusted to the qt tank now. What a joy to work in my tank without having someone nearby to keep him away! I live if Fla, I am aware of gator attacks. I understand that Nemo is just a nasty smiling damsel!

 

[Anonymous]

She's calmed down in the qt tank and is eating- of, course, she's not attacking now- pretending to be sweet! If I kept my hand in the reef tank- she would just keep biting, and getting madder. The only wyt we could work in the tank, was with 2 of us at a time- one pushing her away while the other worked- not ideal.

No, it is that she's outside her territory. Once she finds something to attend to and becomes familiar with her surroundings she'll go back to that behavior.

The old-timer I used to work for used to tell people, "Keep your hands outta the damned tank! Quit messin' with things so much!" He was right (of course if rockwork comes down you can't leave it).

Use kitchen gloves, or even chemical gloves (a thicker latex glove), or rubberband a hand towel to your arm leaving your hand free. Don't get rid of the fish, she's just doing what comes naturally. To me that indicates that the fish is doing very well in the environment you've created for her.

 

[Rlumenator]

Would you believe she bit right through the Tunze gloves, which are thin enough to work with. I have an algae problem, so I'm always , once a week, in the tank with my modified toothbrush. Also, gluing new frags in, and holding them while they set up.

 

[Anonymous]

:shock: Good lord... just how big is this fish???

 

[metalac]

:shock: Good lord... just how big is this fish???

when he said that the fish is a clown, he meant an actual clown he keeps it in a glass cage

 

[Rlumenator]

It's average sixe- I guess about 2 1/2 inches. It doesn't just nibble- it's ferocious in it's biting.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless you are planning on getting another anenomefish and trying to breed these guys, I would trade him in for another more docile fish. Having to fight with a territorial fish every time you want to relax with your tank sucks.

OTOH, it sounds like this little one could use a mate. You could be a fry grandma pretty quickly.