Arrrghhh! Stupid clownfish keep commiting suicide!

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

I am not surprised. There should be a lot of aggressivity at the begining. You may think that they are best friends but they are probably fighting for dominance and who's going to be the female.

If you get clowfish about the same size you will always have this problem, and eventually you run the risk of having 2 females kill each other.

Best way to go is to buy an existing couple already established with the much larger female. I had a very nice black ice that jumped after a few months of being in the tank and they seamed to get along ok but eventually there was some aggression and now the black and white female is alone. Will I pay another 90$ to get another black ice? nope...not even 20$ to get another black and white. She would probably harrass it to death again. Clownfish are ok alone, and surely better alone than a pair of them fighting for dominance.

If you absolutely want another clownfish, make sure you pic one smaller than your existing one...or even better do as I did and take the existing fish OUT and into a quarantine tank and put both fish together in the new tank at the same time. By the time the quarantine is over there is a good chance they will have formed a pair and the existing one will not be so territorial in a new tank. When you return them both to the main tank they will not be fighting if they have formed a pair, at least we hope so.

The new fish was much smaller than the existing fish - like 65% the length. There was no aggression. The smaller fish submitted right away (did his little seizure dance) and they were fine all night and all the next day. It was the big fish that jumped. The new fish is a totally pussy made no charges at the big guy.

These aren't my first clowns and I've been follow all the typical rules for clowns. Just... Haunted tank as Mike said.

[Rogue951]

off chance of stray voltage?

[Ryan7]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

The new fish was much smaller than the existing fish - like 65% the length. There was no aggression. The smaller fish submitted right away (did his little seizure dance) and they were fine all night and all the next day. It was the big fish that jumped. The new fish is a totally pussy made no charges at the big guy.

These aren't my first clowns and I've been follow all the typical rules for clowns. Just... Haunted tank as Mike said.

Did you consider after the first 3 jumped, that maybe the tank is too small to house two clowns that are not already paired?

Please share your "typical rules" for clowns?

[Rogue951]

edited for edit.
=)

[Ryan7]

sorry, that was uncalled for, i deleted that portion of my post.

I just hate hearing these stories of people replacing fish after fish, without even knowing why they are not having success with the fist one.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by Ryan7

sorry, that was uncalled for, i deleted that portion of my post.

I just hate hearing these stories of people replacing fish after fish, without even knowing why they are not having success with the fist one.

Hey dude, I get what your saying but coming on here like that is uncalled for.

I go to great lengths to take great care of everything I own (one tank is built specifically for two fish I own and this one was done specifically for the clowns). The people who know me know how obsessive I am about taking the best care possible. I do a ton of research to make sure I'm doing the best possible work. If it wasn't for past experience with clowns in this exact tank, I'd maybe agree with you, but we did well in the past (with maroons) and I've taken even greater care this time around with everything I've learned over the years.

The fact that I lost one fish is heartbreaking. The fact that I lost several kills me. When the first fish got into the back somehow, I machined a custom acrylic guard to cover the back. ****, I've done two different designs! I've changed return pumps and flow patterns to keep waves from potentially pushing them over the back wall (the first pair liked to sleep near the top back corner and I suspect that a ripple in the water could have easily pushed it over the edge). I completely sealed the back area (or so I thought) and yet one got into the back (I still don't know how). There has been little to no aggression between fish (I work next to the tank all day and can say this for certain), so I haven't been able to say that was the cause. Saying I don't know what caused the lack of success with the first one is BS because I've spent a ton of time to try to determine and fix the cause (which I thought I had), and I spent a ton of time watching them throughout the day/ night to watch for aggression and other behavioural problems to rule this out (I pick clowns of different sizes to minimize this). I went for several weeks watching the lone clownfish in the tank to make sure their weren't any other stressors and, when I felt it was safe, finally added another. The fact that the old fish (which was twice the size of the new fish, whom submitted to the old fish right away) jumped blows me away. I was shocked as hell... Hence the thread of frustration.

I haven't exactly just been throwing fish in there all willy-nilly without thinking about what I'm doing. I hesitated for a long time to add another fish but eventually did so because I was seeing negative behavioral changes in the other fish from being kept in solitary confinement for weeks. I've been putting in more effort than the average ****ing reefer on this tank.

I understand it's dissappointing to hear about fishing dying. Believe me, I'm disappointed. But coming in here like that isn't called for, especially when you haven't been here to see what's happening.



So a few points to answer other questions from people:
- I've had a pair of maroons in this tank in the past without issue. Both came in when small and paired in the tank

- aside from the first pair which squabbled when I first put them in for a day or two until they sorted stuff out, there has been no aggression. I literally work right next to the tank all day and haven't seen any aggression

- no stray voltage that I have measured.

- I have guard which covers the whole back area

- the clowns are the only fish in this tank and there are only a few snails, hermits, a conch and SPS colonies

- tank gets weekly water changes and has immaculate water (for the sake of the SPS colonies)

[cblair]

Well said scubasteve!! I've had a couple clowns recently do the exact same thing even though my tank has a screen top. It's frustrating and sad. Anyone who has the time and funds to set up a reef and take care of it everyday, should understand that it can be devasting to loose livestock. I know for myself I take it personally almost to the point I question if I'm doing the right things... And that's what's great about these forums. You can gather all the knowledge and experiences of other reefers and try to do something about it. You shouldn't be put down for caring about your reef.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Hey dude, I get what your saying but coming on here like that is uncalled for.

I go to great lengths to take great care of everything I own (one tank is built specifically for two fish I own and this one was done specifically for the clowns). The people who know me know how obsessive I am about taking the best care possible. I do a ton of research to make sure I'm doing the best possible work. If it wasn't for past experience with clowns in this exact tank, I'd maybe agree with you, but we did well in the past (with maroons) and I've taken even greater care this time around with everything I've learned over the years.

The fact that I lost one fish is heartbreaking. The fact that I lost several kills me. When the first fish got into the back somehow, I machined a custom acrylic guard to cover the back. ****, I've done two different designs! I've changed return pumps and flow patterns to keep waves from potentially pushing them over the back wall (the first pair liked to sleep near the top back corner and I suspect that a ripple in the water could have easily pushed it over the edge). I completely sealed the back area (or so I thought) and yet one got into the back (I still don't know how). There has been little to no aggression between fish (I work next to the tank all day and can say this for certain), so I haven't been able to say that was the cause. Saying I don't know what caused the lack of success with the first one is BS because I've spent a ton of time to try to determine and fix the cause (which I thought I had), and I spent a ton of time watching them throughout the day/ night to watch for aggression and other behavioural problems to rule this out (I pick clowns of different sizes to minimize this). I went for several weeks watching the lone clownfish in the tank to make sure their weren't any other stressors and, when I felt it was safe, finally added another. The fact that the old fish (which was twice the size of the new fish, whom submitted to the old fish right away) jumped blows me away. I was shocked as hell... Hence the thread of frustration.

I haven't exactly just been throwing fish in there all willy-nilly without thinking about what I'm doing. I hesitated for a long time to add another fish but eventually did so because I was seeing negative behavioral changes in the other fish from being kept in solitary confinement for weeks. I've been putting in more effort than the average ****ing reefer on this tank.

I understand it's dissappointing to hear about fishing dying. Believe me, I'm disappointed. But coming in here like that isn't called for, especially when you haven't been here to see what's happening.



So a few points to answer other questions from people:
- I've had a pair of maroons in this tank in the past without issue. Both came in when small and paired in the tank

- aside from the first pair which squabbled when I first put them in for a day or two until they sorted stuff out, there has been no aggression. I literally work right next to the tank all day and haven't seen any aggression

- no stray voltage that I have measured.

- I have guard which covers the whole back area

- the clowns are the only fish in this tank and there are only a few snails, hermits, a conch and SPS colonies

- tank gets weekly water changes and has immaculate water (for the sake of the SPS colonies)

Hey man, he apologized.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by naesco

Hey man, he apologized.

I know. I saw that after the fact. I started writing that before he changed his last post. It hit a raw nerve at the end of a ****ty day, so it probably came out more blunt than it should have, so, for that I'm sorry.