please help! fish acting crazy!

Jonny Roks · 12/22/2009, 11:01 PM

ok so i added two clowns to my tank on friday. they were great until yesterday morning. they were fighting like crazy. then subsided. today i woke up fed them and one of the clowns was beating the other over and over. for over 2 hrs in front of me...even when i shut the lights... both are the same size but one is submissive. i left for work and came home around 9 hours later and the submissive one was laying against the overflow barely flapping. looks pretty light in color. he has moved now and just swimming and going sideways then swimming etc...almost like when they sleep... and the one that was beating up on the other is flying around the tank breathing heavy in and out of every crevice and hitting into walls and everything. literally crashing....and hes light in color but isnt touching the ther submissive clown

water parameters yesterday...

doing more tests now..

salt is 1025 [on a hydrometer]
temp 78
ph 8.2
calc 420
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
phosphate 0
alk 9dkh

what could it be?

tests now...

ph 8.2
salt 1025
nitrate 0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0

een running things through my mind on causes.

something to mention i have caulerpa prolifera [sea grass] in the main tank and they both have been picking at it...

tank is two months old, waited 7 weeks before adding fish, rock was from a 3yr reef tank , its a 24 gal nano, great flow, any more questions let me know

bertoni · 12/22/2009, 11:05 PM

If one is non-female, the fighting will subside when one establishes dominance. If they're both females, you'll have to remove one.

Boundless · 12/22/2009, 11:42 PM

+1 on dominance

singold · 12/23/2009, 12:15 AM

One will become the larger female over time or one will get killed, is bottom line.

Saltwat3rAddict · 12/23/2009, 12:39 AM

same problem that I used to have, mine lasted 2 days and it was a ufc octagon in my tank lol. So im assuming if you go more than 3 days and none of the 2 decided who is boss/dominant, then ide look into bringing one back to lfs and trying again cause im afraid its 2 females that will fight to death. =/

Daimyo68 · 12/23/2009, 01:12 AM

I recently had the same issue, and as mentioned here in the thread, it's a dominance game.

Give it a few days, and if it isn't stopping, then remove one of them.

When you bought them, did they come from the same tank in the store? If that's the case, then that is the best situation for getting them to pair now that they are in your home tank.

Zestay · 12/23/2009, 01:36 AM

welcome to reef central!!!

also your clown fish are fighting for the following reasons

1) they arent the same species
2) they are both female
3) ones becoming female

eventully you will have a pair of clownfish
or a single clown fish.

did you purchase them together? were they in the same tank?

what kind of clowns do you have? are they maroons or gold stripped maroons? tomatoes? clarkiis ? these are all the meaner fish..

Jonny Roks · 12/23/2009, 01:57 AM

thanks for all the replies.

they are BOTH ora naked clowns. [no stripes]

they were at the LFS for 1 month in a 10 gallon tank TOGETHER
i had my eye on them for a while while my tank cycled for over a month. In the fish store they got along great from what i seen...they were definitely not paired but seemed to just swim without confrontation lol. they were monster feeders .... both around 1 1/2 inch.

they were fine for a few days. then yesterday the fighting started. at first the one clown fish was getting attacked only whenever he came to the front of the tank, but he was and still is submissive every time he was attacked and NEVER fought back...he did shrug his fins a few times but then just swam away from the other.

the fighting stopped yesterday after i fed and they were just on different sides of the tank... then this morning the dominant one got worse and worse. this morning was brutal. the submissive one couldn't go anywhere without being chased or bit....all his fins are in tact just for reference but he seems a little shaken up and not like he was yesterday.

1 is slightly bigger and a little darker in color. They aren't competing ...its a one fish bully.... only 1 bites or chases. so im guessing that could be a good thing proving shes becoming or is the female and proving her role. and hes male.

i understand the concept of pairing and have done a fair share of reading before i bought them. I knew that they were the same size and there could be an issue. i wanted and want to successfully pair them....

i figured i would tell you guys whats going on because i didnt know what to think of this situation. hopefully the submissive is a male and they pair.

is there anything else that could cause this behavior?
possibly high salinity?
Stray current? [someone on MR stated it as a possibility]

jenjen · 12/23/2009, 02:13 AM

Is the dominant fish actually biting the submissive one? If the submissive one is turning it's side and the dominant one is stopping short of actually biting it, thats a good sign. You may want to try moving one of them to a breeding container within the same tank to give them a 'break' but still allow them to see one another.

As many others have stated, if they're both female you won't be successful. But if one's male and the other is (or is becoming) female it should just be a matter of time before they sort it out. This is likely a good situation to re-post in the clownfish forum as well.

jenjen · 12/23/2009, 02:14 AM

Oh and...

To Reef Central

Jonny Roks · 12/23/2009, 09:52 AM

hey ALL!
i turned on the tank today and they were both looking good. i watched the dominant one go over too the other 3 times and finally he followed...they are hanging out and swimming together. no fighting at all but he seems a little timid of her and keeps straying around gracefully in the front of the tank . seems like they are ok... maybe they paired.

i don believe they are both female because only one was actually fighting. and she really wasnt doing any tearing or bad biting since all of his fins are in tact, more or less showing dominance with the chase and him cowering down submissively lol...

like i said in original post. the behavior that was making me nervous was him acting like the verge of death laying on the overflow thing and her swimming around rapidly into walls and crashing like mad.. but this all seemed to correct itself overnight

both fish color seems to have revitalized and possibly getting along! got my fingers crossed, these guys are awesome i would hate to take them out. if they start to fight i will put a breeder in for sure.

12/22/2009, 11:01 PM	#1
Jonny Roks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 119	please help! fish acting crazy! ok so i added two clowns to my tank on friday. they were great until yesterday morning. they were fighting like crazy. then subsided. today i woke up fed them and one of the clowns was beating the other over and over. for over 2 hrs in front of me...even when i shut the lights... both are the same size but one is submissive. i left for work and came home around 9 hours later and the submissive one was laying against the overflow barely flapping. looks pretty light in color. he has moved now and just swimming and going sideways then swimming etc...almost like when they sleep... and the one that was beating up on the other is flying around the tank breathing heavy in and out of every crevice and hitting into walls and everything. literally crashing....and hes light in color but isnt touching the ther submissive clown water parameters yesterday... doing more tests now.. salt is 1025 [on a hydrometer] temp 78 ph 8.2 calc 420 nitrate 0 nitrite 0 ammonia 0 phosphate 0 alk 9dkh what could it be? tests now... ph 8.2 salt 1025 nitrate 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 een running things through my mind on causes. something to mention i have caulerpa prolifera [sea grass] in the main tank and they both have been picking at it... tank is two months old, waited 7 weeks before adding fish, rock was from a 3yr reef tank , its a 24 gal nano, great flow, any more questions let me know

12/22/2009, 11:05 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	If one is non-female, the fighting will subside when one establishes dominance. If they're both females, you'll have to remove one. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

12/23/2009, 12:15 AM	#4
singold Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lake Saint Louis, Missouri Posts: 1,827	One will become the larger female over time or one will get killed, is bottom line. __________________ "If there is no wind.....row." Current Tank Info: 75gal Reef w/29gal Refugium

12/23/2009, 12:39 AM	#5
Saltwat3rAddict Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 78	same problem that I used to have, mine lasted 2 days and it was a ufc octagon in my tank lol. So im assuming if you go more than 3 days and none of the 2 decided who is boss/dominant, then ide look into bringing one back to lfs and trying again cause im afraid its 2 females that will fight to death. =/ __________________ "A handful of patience is worth more than a toilet full of fish" ~FISH~ 2 Percula Clowns (Albert & Terrance) 1 Red Firefish (Thinking of name) 1 Blue Tang 1 Pearly Jawfish ~CORAL~ Galaxy Coral Hammer Coral Orange Ric Green Goni ~CLEANERS~ 3 Nassarius Snails 1 Cleaner shrimp (Pierre)

12/23/2009, 01:12 AM	#6
Daimyo68 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Palm Beach, FL Posts: 2,270	I recently had the same issue, and as mentioned here in the thread, it's a dominance game. Give it a few days, and if it isn't stopping, then remove one of them. When you bought them, did they come from the same tank in the store? If that's the case, then that is the best situation for getting them to pair now that they are in your home tank. __________________ 120g, 50g Sump, SRO XP2000i, MP40W x2, DIY Hybrid LED/T5 Fixture, Apex PBMAS VP 2010-11 PBMAS 2017 President

12/22/2009, 11:42 PM	#3
Boundless Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Richardson,Texas Posts: 140	+1 on dominance

12/23/2009, 01:36 AM	#7
Zestay Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: gainesville, FL Posts: 1,622	welcome to reef central!!! also your clown fish are fighting for the following reasons 1) they arent the same species 2) they are both female 3) ones becoming female eventully you will have a pair of clownfish or a single clown fish. did you purchase them together? were they in the same tank? what kind of clowns do you have? are they maroons or gold stripped maroons? tomatoes? clarkiis ? these are all the meaner fish..

12/23/2009, 01:57 AM	#8
Jonny Roks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 119	thanks for all the replies. they are BOTH ora naked clowns. [no stripes] they were at the LFS for 1 month in a 10 gallon tank TOGETHER i had my eye on them for a while while my tank cycled for over a month. In the fish store they got along great from what i seen...they were definitely not paired but seemed to just swim without confrontation lol. they were monster feeders .... both around 1 1/2 inch. they were fine for a few days. then yesterday the fighting started. at first the one clown fish was getting attacked only whenever he came to the front of the tank, but he was and still is submissive every time he was attacked and NEVER fought back...he did shrug his fins a few times but then just swam away from the other. the fighting stopped yesterday after i fed and they were just on different sides of the tank... then this morning the dominant one got worse and worse. this morning was brutal. the submissive one couldn't go anywhere without being chased or bit....all his fins are in tact just for reference but he seems a little shaken up and not like he was yesterday. 1 is slightly bigger and a little darker in color. They aren't competing ...its a one fish bully.... only 1 bites or chases. so im guessing that could be a good thing proving shes becoming or is the female and proving her role. and hes male. i understand the concept of pairing and have done a fair share of reading before i bought them. I knew that they were the same size and there could be an issue. i wanted and want to successfully pair them.... i figured i would tell you guys whats going on because i didnt know what to think of this situation. hopefully the submissive is a male and they pair. is there anything else that could cause this behavior? possibly high salinity? Stray current? [someone on MR stated it as a possibility]

12/23/2009, 02:13 AM	#9
jenjen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Langley BC, Canada Posts: 1,710	Is the dominant fish actually biting the submissive one? If the submissive one is turning it's side and the dominant one is stopping short of actually biting it, thats a good sign. You may want to try moving one of them to a breeding container within the same tank to give them a 'break' but still allow them to see one another. As many others have stated, if they're both female you won't be successful. But if one's male and the other is (or is becoming) female it should just be a matter of time before they sort it out. This is likely a good situation to re-post in the clownfish forum as well. __________________ "Challenges forge the greatness in you" Current Tank Info: 180gal softy reef (Apr '09)

12/23/2009, 02:14 AM	#10
jenjen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Langley BC, Canada Posts: 1,710	Oh and... *To Reef Central* __________________ "Challenges forge the greatness in you" Current Tank Info: 180gal softy reef (Apr '09)

12/23/2009, 09:52 AM	#11
Jonny Roks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 119	hey ALL! i turned on the tank today and they were both looking good. i watched the dominant one go over too the other 3 times and finally he followed...they are hanging out and swimming together. no fighting at all but he seems a little timid of her and keeps straying around gracefully in the front of the tank . seems like they are ok... maybe they paired. i don believe they are both female because only one was actually fighting. and she really wasnt doing any tearing or bad biting since all of his fins are in tact, more or less showing dominance with the chase and him cowering down submissively lol... like i said in original post. the behavior that was making me nervous was him acting like the verge of death laying on the overflow thing and her swimming around rapidly into walls and crashing like mad.. but this all seemed to correct itself overnight both fish color seems to have revitalized and possibly getting along! got my fingers crossed, these guys are awesome i would hate to take them out. if they start to fight i will put a breeder in for sure.