clownfish help

[Susie Q360]

Ok I have a few questions and need some advice. These are percula clowns, I’m talking about. We were told are very easy going and not very aggressive. I got a new clown for my son before he had dental surgery. Our present clown is 1.5 in long and 1 in tall. We‘ve had it for about 2 weeks, we had it in a tank with a Coral Banded Shrimp (CBS) until the night before the new clown arrived. From what I’ve read the larger clown would be the d. female. And that a clown this size (1 ½ in L x 1 in T) should already be sexed. So I special ordered the smallest clown that the lfs could get so I shouldn’t have a problem with putting them together. It came in while I was in Lexington for his surgery. Well my husband did everything to get it into the tank (an air stone, 2 hour drip acclimating regulated with a valve, and then floated for 30 min), .
Well our bigger clown and the smaller clown started swimming around together. The bigger clown then proceeded to back it’s tail fin up to the little one. After a while the clowns started just swimming around.
Now the trouble started the big clown stated grabbing the smaller clown’s fins. Before he could get it out of the tank, the bigger clown killed the little one. So now we have a 4 yr old in pain and begging for another “nemo”.
I just want my son to be happy, so I went to the lfs today to get another clown. I've got a new breedery too, with a lid. I put the new clown in it for a few hours and then released it into the main tank(18 gal Isolation tank),because the bigger clown was paying no attention to it. Well they started swimming on their sides and shivering at each other. They almost looked like they were schooling and even swimming in and out of the rocks that the bigger clown has been sleeping in. This went on for about 30 min then the bigger clown hit the smaller one. I recaught the smaller on and put it back in the breedery. Is this normal? Or a [/ATTACH]
What did we do wrong? Any suggestions will be welcomed.
Oh this is a pic of the bigger clown.
[ATTACH]13433

[Fish Crazy]

Hi Susie Q sorry to hear about your clown troubles - when I sat up my first reef tank 2 years ago the LFS sold me a pair of Orange Perc clowns and a pair of Black Perc clowns to go in the same tank and said no worries after a week of watching the orange clowns beat up the black clowns I had to move the orange clowns to another tank (I was very lucky that a person I worked with had just giving me a 55g tank they had for SW and did not want to move)

So when I recently upgraded to a 180 I tried putting everyone into the new tank - more water more space I thought they would be fine - wrong in 20 mintues the orange clown beat up the black clowns.

So I have seen tanks that had many clowns with no issues then you have this issue I wonder if you could trade you current clown and get two from your LFS at the same time maybe it would help?

[RyanG]

Sometimes separate clowns will pair up sometimes they wont. Unfortunatly because of that movie this situation is played out over and over again in many homes across america.

Demand for 'Nemo' puts clown fish in danger of extinction | L.A. Unleashed | Los Angeles Times

[GSELLERS]

looks like an a. oscellaris to me...how many dorsal spined does it have 6 or 8?

anyway. When the smaller fish "shiver" its letting the big clown know they want to hook up. i see it with my breeders. The male presents himself submissive with these shivers. Now as for the fin nipping, well i would arrange the tank so that the big clown loses its territory and has to claim it again. during this time you might be able to add another clown. Also adding a clown during dark might help. When i add fish to my tank i have a 3 day lights out period so they can gradually acclimate to eachother. hope this helps

[jeremyault]

My female still likes to beat up on my male from time to time, just like my wife.

[Susie Q360]

Fish Crazy, I’ve already asked if they would exchange her for a new one and I’d buy another one at the same time but they said no they would take it but now give me any thin in place of it. This is a mom and pop pet store (the only one in a 3 hr drive that We’ve found that deals in saltwater).

RyanG, I’m not getting clownfish because of that movie. I have had fish from the time I was 5 and have wanted a salt water tank for a while. Yes I did say that I wanted my son happy because he is helping me pick out my fish. Parents that buy animals because of movies are wrong. I know of three kids that were bitten by Dalmatians that were brought on impulse. I have never brought an animal on impulse.

Gsellers, They were sold to me as a. percula clowns. I’ll post a picture of the new one. They both have 10 spines, this is counting from the start of the front dorsal fin to the start of the back dorsal fin, am I counting the right place? I kept the new clown in a breedery all night and day, kept the lights off. We removed both fish and rearranged the tank rearranged the tank. They seem to be doing fine now, no fighting , just swimming around together and shivering.

Jeremyault, my husband said he’s glad he’s not the only guy gets hit by their wife (referring to the female hitting the male clown). LOL.
Thanks for the help, everyone.
new clown 002b.JPG
This is the New Clown. Size 1 in L x 3/4 in H
new clown 003b.JPG
This is the old clown. Size 1 1/2 in L x 1 in H

[rmlevasseur]

Susie: Be VERY aware that most LFS workers are clueless. Sites like this should be consulted first.

[GSELLERS]

i got my numbers wrong i was thinking of a different species all together
anyway looks like a youns percula here is more info if you would like it:
True VS False Percula Clownfishes - How Can You Tell Which is Which?