My clownfish keep pecking at each other and didn't used to??

[Meadowofdragons]

So I have a 75g tank that currently has two ocellaris clownfish in it and two Banggai cardinal fish. My clownfish have been in this tank for almost 6 months and they've been the best of friends! Before the Banggais, They used to be the only fish in the tank. They would follow each other around, swim circles around each other, etc. But just recently, I readjusted all the stuff in the tank to destroy territories so I could add the two banggais. But ever since I put the banggais in the tank, now ClownA keeps pecking at ClownB, making ClownB retalliate. The problem with this is it doesn't last very long, just one or two peck here and there, but ClownA starts it, ClownB pecks back, and ClownA is the one getting hurt!

So ClownA is trying to pick a fight with ClownB, but A is the only one who gets hurt from it! ClownA has a torn fin, which has been like that for days. But today, one of his bottom fins (don't know what they are called) is ripped! They only started doing this after I added the banggais. But it's a 75g tank! And the banggais are peaceful! Why are my Clowns suddenly pecking at each other when they didn't used to?? And what should I do??

[Kizzy911]

Theyre fighting to figure out which ones going to be the dominant female. It gets pretty rough and theyll keep fighting but im sure they wont kill each other. Once that they figure it out, the female will get bigger and dominate then youll see eggs right after. Clowns can get aggressive but thats how they decide whos dominant

[HobosReef]

I call mine the bickersons because they are constantly fighting over nothing. Nothing really serious. Just lots of bumps and tail whips.

[cichlidsrcool]

Probably 2 females trying to figure out whos queen

[e048]

It's called puberty... Fish go through it too

They do fight it out for dominance that's normal if you see any visible damage on them id split them up for a few days (banish one to the sump) and try again

If you want to reduce some agression place a mirror on one side of the tank, the dominant clown will attack the reflection

The way to see if the other clown (one getting pecked) is submitting is if he shakes/vibrates that's him submitting to the female

[Meadowofdragons]

Thanks guys! The whole thing about them trying to figure out who's male and female makes a lot of sense. They are about the same age and only recently they started doing this. It's never anything serious, just a ripped fin occasionally, but only on one fish. You can really see which one is stronger because that fish never gets hurt. But the other clown just isn't ready to submit fully yet

[JammyBirch]

Originally Posted by Kizzy911

Theyre fighting to figure out which ones going to be the dominant female. It gets pretty rough and theyll keep fighting but im sure they wont kill each other. Once that they figure it out, the female will get bigger and dominate then youll see eggs right after. Clowns can get aggressive but thats how they decide whos dominant

Exactly what happened in my tank... Clowns sex is determined bby dominance, it's wierd. My clowns lived together in harmony for ~6 months they were the same size when i bought them. Over the course of 3-4 months they figured out who is top dog... The dominant one becomes the female and will get larger.

They are cool now, you're clowns will figure it out too and it will be fine. If you have little kids this is a great opportunity to show them this phenomenon. My daughter thought it was really cool and now has named the fish based on there sex...