fish fighting HELP!!! quickly

[ZooZ]

I bought a tomato clown fish today about 1.5 inches in length and I had a sixline wrasse 1.5 inches long and a azure damselfish 1 inche in length. As soon as i put the clown in the tank the 2 fish were fighting. Now the clown after 1hr of running away is in a corner of the tank just about the sand. What should i do???

[HecticDialectic]

take out the one you don't want?

[happyface888]

whos fighting who? the damsel and clown? how big is your tank and who are the tank mates. Clowns and damsels dont mix to well unless you have a big tank. catch the fish that is beating on the clown and move it some where for a while than readd maybe it wont beat up the clown anymore. Or you can fish out the clown and put it in another tank. Or you can get one of thoes floating boxes and put a fish in there once they get use to seeing each other maybe things might die down.

[willhoward]

2 things you can do:

1) Take out the aggressive fish. Put him in a bucket and let the bucket float in the tank, or clip it on the side of the tank so that the temp stays the same as the tank. You might also want to add an airhose for some O2. Keep him there for a day or 2 and add him back to the tank - he will then behave himself as he will then think he is the new fish in the tank {worked for my damsels}

2) Turn off the lights and darken the tank. The next day they will be better {worked for me last night with a angel and butterfly}

Hope u manage

[prugs]

Put a mirror on the side of the tank.

[ZooZ]

some great ideas...i think trying to take the sixline (aggressive fish) and putting him in a small bucket will work...if not i'll go to plan B

[ZooZ]

the clown died last night...:'(

[green_frogspawn]

sorry to head that, i guess these things happen some times though

[ZooZ]

what fish do you recommend i get for a 26 gallon reef with 35lbs of live rock to go with my six line??

[Sk8r]

You might try one of the sturdier blennies or gobies, like the lawnmower or the watchman, or even a jawfish---they're not inclined to fight, but usually don't get picked on, either, and tend to live in the rockwork if aggressed-against. Sounds as if clowns are not going to get along with that wrasse, and you will have to choose whether to have him or to have clowns or other fishes. Damsels, too, are colorful and probably able to stand up to Mr. Wrasse.

Anytime you have a fishfight start, turn out the lights and if necessary, throw a blanket over the tank to totally darken it. The light comes back, they think it's a new day, there's a fish they don't recognize, but now they've waked up with it, and every day's a new world if you're a very small brain. It doesn't always work, but it does sometimes. Moving the rock around also helps---the fish have to redefine their territories. Sometimes putting both combatants into qt together will do it, or taking the aggressor out to qt and leaving him there for a week will simmer him down. Best, however, not to have species that tend to go at each other, because as they grow, they may start up the war again.

[happyface888]

Try a different clown like a maroon or something.

[mattsilvester]

I would recommend a miniata grouper to eat the 6 line, then take the groupe back! LOL

Jokes aside, I do not know why the 6 line is recommended as an "ideal" reef fish in almost anything I have read. They are little terrors..... worse than any damsel in my books...... They are relentless, and will literally hunt down and kill anything small enough to be killed!

To be hoenst, I cannot think of any fish that is gonig to remain small enough that would stand up to the wrasse. If you did find something tough enough, chances are that it would then make in impossible to add anything else, because it would need to be tougher than the 6 line.

I would honestly recommend taking the little swine out!

Putting it in a bucket will not achieve anything. I have taken our 6 line wrasse and put them in teh sump for 2 weeks and it makes no difference.

Beautiful little creature though.

HTH

Matt

[stanlalee]

never put a simular sized clown in after a damsel, that will happen everytime. As long as you have the damsel and sixline you are going to run into the same problem over and over again trying to add like size semi aggressive fish. if you want a clown you are going to have to go with a maroon or tomato larger than the damsel. the more aggressive dottybacks usually take about 1hr of introduction to flip the script on whatever small fish tries to chase it on introduction. the lesser aggressive ones will probably suffer the same fate as the clown. small hawkfish like a falco, pixxy of flame may be able to hold its own as well.

sixline wrasses are unpredictable. some are relatively peaceful and many are going to be terrors.

[jda]

I agree - 6 lines are like little terror torpedos. I would not recommend them to anybody after having one. It is too bad too because they are really cool sometimes.

[Candi]

ditto on removing the 6 line (get rid of the damsel while you're at it)... I used to preach what wonderful colorful great fish they are (and they are, on their own or in a aggressive tank)... in my 24g aquapod my 6 line was a model citizen for 6 months, then he decided about 3 weeks ago that he hates my purple firefish, and keeps the firefish in hiding all day long. The tank is jammed with rock and coral so I haven't pulled everything to get him out but am planning to this weekend I miss seeing my firefish.

It's a shame as they are beautiful and fun to watch as they constantly swim around searching for pods but not if you want to keep calmer fish.

[ZooZ]

my sixline is definantly a one of the terrors. This guy would just not stop going after the clown. Anywhere he went hes right on his tail and nipped it off a couple of times also.

[crispyreef]

I would go with Matt's idea LOL.