Clownfish help

[johnehr]

I just bought my second percula clownfish today. Unfortunately, after acclimating and spending some time in a breeder cage inside the tank the two clowns started to fight pretty badly. I ended up having to split them up and put one back in the isolation net/cage. Does anyone have good experience with acclimating two percs together? I know to do it in the dark, after they are well fed, and that the rock has been moved. I also heard that a completely new tank might be helpful.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Does anyone think that putting these guys in a completely new larger tank without clowns would help? If so, do you have a tank that rents out space for a few weeks?

I'm planning on letting them back together tomorrow night after a full day of being in the same tank (for some weird reason I think that might help)... How do I know when fighting stops being fighting and becomes fish murder? I want to be able to stop them and put the aggressor or loser fish back in isolation.

Is the sump better than the isolation cage?

 

[johnehr]

Forgot to add that they are both small juveniles that are the same size (1.5"?)

 

[wooddood]

i dont know about perks but my clarki's did the same thing for a few days and now there a mated pair. i think they will settle in just give em some time.




dave.

 

[Krish]

I agree with Dave. I have 5 clowns (1 Tomato, 2 Percs, 1 Black Perc, and a sebae) and everytime I introduced a new one into the tank they would fight. Two days was the longest the fighting ever lasted for. Just give it a day or two and they should eventually stop.

 

[lovesalt]

It helps if they are not the same size. My GSM did pretty well when I had one that was much smaller than the other. Now they are a mated pair.

 

[BCT182]

I have a female GSM that was about 4 inches long and a while back I added a GSM that was about an inch an a half. For about 4 days the small clown was getting beat to crap. He had no fins by only the second day. One morning I woke to find both in my anemone sleeping. I think if your tank conditions are great (so that there is no other stress factors besides another fish trying to murder him) and you give it a week, they will settle their differences.

 

[Mauisreef]

Yup I had the same thing happen.
After a few days they fell in love with each other and are now a mated pair.
The one I added was much smaller than the one established in the tank already.

Maui

 

[BCT182]

The only other problem could be what everyone is asking you. Are they the same size? It usually goes alot smoother if not. Now Maui and I did a bad thing I think. It probably would have better to buy the small clown first and then add the large later. Maybe not? It ended up working for Maui and I so it would probably work for you too. My understanding is, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, if you have two clowns the same size they will battle to determine who is the dominant fish. If they don't kill each other, the one that establishes herself as the female (beats the other fish @ss) will have a growth spirt and the male will almost stop growing. I may be completely wrong, but I think I had read that in a book a while back. Goodluck

 

[johnehr]

That sounds correct. The fish are almost the same size. I'd say one is 10-20% larger than the other, which isnt much for their size. Should I most likely trade one away and wait a month? They one that I've had for 3-4 weeks hasn't grown at all. I assume thats because it hasn't assumed a sex... I just want to know if there is a good chance that one will kill the other. Is it worth the risk or am I most likely going to end up with only one fish?

 

[BCT182]

Being that they are so close in size, you might want to remove him. If you have alot of rock in your tank, its not worth pulling it all apart. In that case maybe let em sort it out. I'd say your chances are 50/50.

 

[Angelscrx]

Let them have at it. The loser will stay the male and the winner will become the girl. Every couple has their problems.

 

[johnehr]

Well, I let them duke it out a bit. They seem to have split the tank. The new one is slightly bigger and kicked the old perc out of his favorite sleeping place. The old one decided to swim up and down the corner of my tank right when I turned my lights off before the fight, kind of weird... Wish me luck. I think these two will get over their lover's spat and be a good addition to my tank. I'll keep you updated.

I'll promise to be extra frantic and extra annoying if anything weird happens that worries me. Hehehehehe.