Hostle Clownfish??

[idisc]

Quick Question:

Tank Live Stock:

1x Ice Mocha Clown (2")
1x Snowflake Clown (1") - Dead
1x Tail spot Blenny (2.5")
1x Diamond Goby (3.5") - Dead
1x Fire Fish ( 2.5") - Dead
1x Mandarin (2.5")
1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1x Peppermint Shrimp

I had the goby for 2.5 Months, Mocha and blenny for around 2 Months, Fire fish for over a month, snowflake for just under a month and RBTA for about 3 weeks. My main clown the Mocha used to sleep with my mandarin all the time.

Everything in the tank was peaceful. I decided to get my clown a friend (the snowflake), being must smaller I figured it would easily surrender and become male. They fought for the first day and then slept together up until I got the RBTA...the snowflake started to host and the mocha would go nowhere near it.

Then they both started to host it....The fire fish was really started to come out now and all was good.

Next thing I knew the fire fish was missing....and the little clown would not go near the rbta or the bigger clown....then a week later the small one had his tai missing...next day..was being eaten by a shrimp...

Now yesterday I noticed that my goby is missing....I have never once seen my big clown attack anything....but I work 12 hour days...has my clown gone rogue....??? is it the blenny... (doubt it)...

Should I get rid of the rbta or the clown?

[scooter31707]

I betting on the Clown. He may be taking over, especially if he's hosting an RBTA. Not enough space to go around for the other inhabitants.

[borderreef]

Agree with scooter31707. Mocha are one of the most aggressive of the clowns. As soon as it began associating with the RBTA, it became her territory. A single clown will consider 20-25 gallons worth of space as its territory. Anything entering that territory becomes competition. this can happen even if there has been no animosity before. Introducing a second clown is dicey at the best of times. Especially one of a different breed. I'm not saying it's impossible. The one being introduced must be one significantly smaller than the one that is established in the tank, and of the same breed. This reduces the risk of the one introduced being/becoming female. There will be bullying by the established one, at this point its hit or miss as to whether of not the established will allow the new addition to live.

[idisc]

Yeah I figured it was all territory once the RBTA was entered into the system. The 2nd clown was half it's size if not smaller. But I think with it being a 40B, there is not enough room for this clown with my other inhabitants.

Plan of action - - keep the RBTA and get 2 new small clowns - rid of the rbta and get another clown? Thoughts?

[davocean]

All clowns have great potential for being territorial and aggressive, and some worse than others, maroons being up there towards top of that list.
Also, having more than one pair, mixing species, or having two females often comes w/ increased aggression.
Occs and percs seem to be easier to mix and pair up even, and occasionally I'll see a mix of other species though that is not very common.
Having or not having the anemone does not make a whole lot of difference other than maybe giving them an area they may stake as their own claim of territory.

[borderreef]

Originally Posted by idisc

Yeah I figured it was all territory once the RBTA was entered into the system. The 2nd clown was half it's size if not smaller. But I think with it being a 40B, there is not enough room for this clown with my other inhabitants.

Plan of action - - keep the RBTA and get 2 new small clowns - rid of the rbta and get another clown? Thoughts?

You can keep the RBTA. They are so nice. If you have your heart set on having two clowns, you will need to get rid of the maroon. Something to remember though, when the pair you introduce become sexually mature they will become highly territorial. Another hit or miss as to whether or not they will play nice with their other tank mates. I have the same size tank as you and I have chosen to keep a single maroon because of all the issues discussed in this thread. Just my choice.

[kmbyrnes]

Ya think? My maroon has become so agressive she jumps up to bite me when I feed the tank!!!

[GHsaltie]

The OP said they have a Mocha clown, which is the offspring of an orange/white and a black/white ocellaris clown, correct? I'm not saying it wasn't the cause of the deaths but I didn't think ocellaris clowns, of any variant, were nearly as aggressive as maroons and tomato clowns.

[idisc]

Yes I have a "Ice Mocha" clown - Not Maroon

[Rubasu]

This happened to me, and I ended up getting rid of the RBTA to hopefully remedy the aggressive behavior...it didn't. The clown just protected the area where the RBTA used to be. It finally stopped once I upgraded my tank and it had a completely different layout.

Not sure if that's the norm...but that's what happened with mine.

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by GHsaltie

The OP said they have a Mocha clown, which is the offspring of an orange/white and a black/white ocellaris clown, correct? I'm not saying it wasn't the cause of the deaths but I didn't think ocellaris clowns, of any variant, were nearly as aggressive as maroons and tomato clowns.

This is very true and I've got a pair of Mocha's and they are overly friendly with all tank mates. You are correct with the orange ocellaris bred with a b/w ocellaris

[michellejy]

Although aggression isn't out of the question, it's not really common with ocellaris. Based on my experience, I tried to pair a juvenile ocellaris with my black and white ocellaris. I didn't quarantine the juvenile, thinking it would turn female if left alone in quarantine. It was swimming around fine with my female that day, but the next morning, it was gone. I couldn't believe my black and white ocellaris would kill him, but it was the most logical explanation...up until my 7 1/2 year old clown started acting weird a couple of weeks later.

First she moved to a different part of the tank. Then she stopped chasing food. Then I noticed her swimming pattern was off (nothing blatant to an outside observer, but enough for me to notice since she had been with me for so long). Then her breathing started getting faster. I started testing all of my parameters and noticed my salinity was off. I thought that was the issue and got it back in line.

Shortly after, part of her fin was missing, and her swimming was really odd. I thought the damaged fin was an injury and the odd swimming was a symptom of the damaged fin. A day later, her breathing was labored, and she was swimming almost vertically. She started losing color within hours. The same evening, she was dead.

Basically, my long story is to say that there is a chance the newly introduced clown brought in some sort of disease into the tank that is killing your other fish, and you might not even see the symptoms in advance.

[idisc]

I got the clown from a friend that had it for a few months. Like I said, I have never noticed him being aggressive, and never towards myself or shrimp or anything...

If other fish are dying, wouldn't he be affected? So far my mandarin, blenny and him are doing just fine...hmm

[michellejy]

If I remember correctly, mandarins have a pretty thick slime coat and are unlikely to show signs of disease.

Although I don't have experience with this scenario, I have read about fish building up immunity to illnesses over time yet still being carriers.

[Run4Fun]

My Maroon clown is extremely aggressive. Very territorial. It tries to bite me anytime I put my hand in the tank. Also, I found out the hard way, it loves to eat peppermint shrimp. It's a beautiful fish, but a royal pain in the butt.