Aggressive Clown

[Tazmin]

Hi,

I have a 125 gallon marine set up which has been running for almost 6 months. I have a clown fish which I have had from the beginning and at the moment his only tank mates are a cream Angel and a wreck fish.

Around 3 months ago I lost all of my fish except for the clown - A couple of them died out of the blue with no visible signs of illness so I took the rest of them to my lfs where they kindly looked after them all, tested for parasites etc etc. They could not find anything wrong at all with the fish or my water or tank set up but unfortunately I lost all of the fish except the clown.

Since then, I have taken their advice, I let the tank run with nothing in it for nearly a month and then put the clown back with a small mustard tang. The tang died after 10 days, again, with no visible signs of illness. A week ago I added a wreck fish and a couple of days ago I came home to see the clown pushing the wreck fish into the corner and biting his tail - he is now hiding in the corner of the tank and doesn't look well at all.

My question is, is it possible that my clown fish is causing the other fish to die of stress through bullying? There is an anenome in the tank and the clown is quite protective of it - could this be the problem?

I really don't want to get rid of the clown but cannot face putting any other fish in there for him to kill! Is this normal behaviour for clowns? I know he is not tank bred, could this be a factor?

Please help!

 

[SkiFletch]

Clownfish can become exceptionally territorial so what you're describing is not entirely out of the question. What species of clown is it? My suggestion is to completely re-acquascape the tank and then add another fish. The clowns will be confused that their territory is gone and their aggression will be tamed.

 

[Tazmin]

Thank you for your response. We are setting up a smaller tank to put the clown in for the time being, then will add some new fish to the original tank and put the clown back once the other fish are settled.

Hopefully this will tame him a bit!

Thanks.

 

[sianeds]

Agression has alot to do with the type of clown you have. All clowns are pretty agressive IMO much more so than most people realise. I have just had to remove my maroon clown from my reef tank because she was bullying the fish and also the corals!

 

[Lynden]

Wreck fish (better known as Anthias) are absolute weaklings when kept alone, especially the females. I would suggest boosting their numbers, including at least one male to form a harem. The male will hopefully retain his Serranid heritage and 'protect' his females, thus forming a territorial dominion.

-Lynden