# Are your clownfish buttholes??? Your experience and what I've learned thus far



## 12273

Ok folks. Recently I was at a fellow reefers house and he mentioned his clown attacking him! I couldn't believe my ears. So, since leaving his house I've been obsessing about this odd behaviour. I mean, what other fish that small in there right mind Attacks much much larger threats???? 

I was under the impression that these were the peaceful, colourful, playful and curious fish you would assume. Boy! Was I wrong! I've always wanted one and always been intrigued with the clownfish and it's hosting behaviour. Even since a young age before finding nemo crap made it so very popular to have a hippo tang and clownfish. 

So after several youtube vids and articles on google I've come to confirm his experience and found out these fish are either satans little spawns or just plain crazy. I had no idea about this aggressive behaviour and I thought differently about them. I've also come to learn that these little buttholes are part of the damsel family and that pretty much explains this weird behaviour I suppose. Plus they become obsessed and latch on to the weirdest things on the tank. Assorted coral, power heads and even whatever rock they decide is there turf. 

Now. If you are just starting out in saltwater and you're reading this I suggest doing some reading and make sure it's something you want. They will nip at you when you dunk your hand or arm and this may not be cool with some people. This is not always the case but to me seems to be most of them LOL. 

These fish just got even cuter in my books. I mean come on... A little fish with character, attitude and a fearless reputation. How cool is that? Maybe not for everyone but they are such fascinating animals. I watched a video of a clown giving these two poor snails a ride down the rocks becaus they weren't impressed about there presence in their turf LOL. Cute but sucks for the snail. 

Interesting facts: 
They base there gender on a hierarchy system. They are born without a set and defined sexual organ. They are mostly males I think and can change to female depending on the needs of that particular group or school or pair. One will assert its dominance and become a female. The submissive one stays a male. In the event he dies the next one comes in. What's cool is if the female dies the next male in line becomes female and asserts himself as the leader and becomes a female or moves on. But once female they can't switch back hence I think why the female stays at the top. 

Colour and aggression. Some say that brighter colours and deeper reds and oranges are more aggressive and the darker the more submissive. Some say the darker the more aggressive. I am leaning more towards the fact that the female will tend to be more bright and vivid and people have reported that the submissive one (male) will become darker and develop a dark top half of the body. This leads me to believe in the theory that bright means assertive and dark means submissive. But obviously there will be lots of variables. No fish will be the same unless it's a clone LOL. 

I am looking forward to adding these little guys to my tank. They display weird behaviour, amazing ability to change gender. They host pretty much anything and will bite the hand that feeds them. These aren't traits that most people would look for In a fish but this is probably the most widely kept species on the planet and the yellow tang prob in second place. I find them so so fascinating and interesting. Even if I can't keep more than a pair of clowns in my tank id be ok with that. Although I don't think I'll have a prob with a goby and a royal gramma. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff but I recommend doing some reading because I was totally wrong about these fish and I'm sure a lot of people were when they added these devils in there tanks. Maybe a little more should be known about this fish and people should be aware. For instance, I'm sure even the most newb saltwater aquarist knows that a damsel is a butthole. And that is widely known and easily found doing a google search on "saltwater tank" and "how to cycle my tank". However, with all the late night reading I've been doing and forum reading I honestly didn't know these fish were little buttholes and wouldn't have known unless the fellow reefer told me his clown bit him when digging for some snails. 

Thanks for reading and hopefully this provides you with what should be basic knowledge about these fish and gets you started on what should be a lengthy research before adding these fish. In fact lots of research and asking questions should be done before adding ANYTHING to a SW or reef tank. Too many incompatibility issues with coral, fish and inverts. Ok, my head hurts now so I'll stop it here 


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## altcharacter

Hahahahaha!!! This was a good read!

You won't believe what will happen in a reef tank. When you read people saying a fish or invert is "reef safe" and you get it home just to find out that your clownfish has decided to host your bubble coral or even your torch then kill it by annoying it to death.

Or even better, your snails don't like your frags so they knock them all over.

Better yet, you get a engineer goby!!!

Even better one!! You go out and get yourself a damsel that has decided the whole tank is his.

My royal dottyback use to pick up all the aragonite it could find and pile it up on my hammer in huge piles. I would come home every night and have to redistribute all the sand again. He doesn't do that anymore for some odd reason. Actually my tank right now is pretty peaceful and i'm crossing my fingers.


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## 12273

See. Another butthole! What's with SW fish??? LOL. Cute though. Keeping himself entertained I suppose. 



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## sooley19

i currently have 6 clownfish, 3 damsels, one blue tang and other fish like mandarin and stuff like that and my biggest clownfish which was the last one that was added to the tank is a solid black and white one and he bites me as soon as i go near "its anemone" lol.. it has gotten to the point i have been bitten and i have actually bled lol.. they are very dominate and territorial fish and always have been.. my black and white clown does control most of the tank but my tang is the head of the tank lol.. its crazy how you wouldn't think that something like that would or could happen


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## Bayinaung

yeah I have heard of that and seen that in store tanks. Each fish has their own personality also, so I'd watch how they behave towards other tankmates and pick one that's the sweetest and gentlest.

I once had a nice bright clown that was the biggest in the LFS and yet was the gentlest - it would just nudge away other clowns that come close to it. While others would try and nip the smaller one's fins. those are keepers.


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## Kooka

I have a large Clarkii clown in my 75 gallon which I affectionately named "Fat Bastard" that actually moves rocks around that I place in its territory, attacks any object I put into the tank (including my hand) and even makes clucking sounds when aggravated  This guy ripped my first pistol shrimp into two pieces as soon as I put it in the tank and ripped off one of my skunk cleaners antennae. This fish is truly a bully, although it's still afraid of my flame angel which is the boss of the tank.


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## PACMAN

my two clownfish bite my finger when i get into their territory. Whent hey come from underneath and I can't see them, its a surprise, and i end upjolting my hand upward, and i get stuck ont he hood. 

Bastards


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## Kweli

My clown only nips me when hes really hungry and im working on the tank. Its very odd because he surprises me every time and i jump back. He is scared of my new blue gloves AND of my net. So sometimes i just throw the net in the tank and he will stay on the other side.

I had a mated pair of clowns, the bigger one (female) jumped out about a year ago. Recently i purchased a smaller (about 3/4 the size) clown to add and within days the black one was trying to be more dominate. Now, after 3 years of staying the same size, the black one is growing (noticeably fast).... which means after 3 years he is changing to a female with only 2 weeks of a new clown in the tank


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## SKurj

Not just SW..

My gold ocellaris were the first fish I ever had that bit me, they might be 1" long if they are lucky...

My Black Calvus will also attack the net when its coming too close.

And the clown which started it all, must have bitten me 4-5 times in the space of 15 minutes as I was removing the last of the rocks from her tank on Tuesday night.


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## 12273

^^^^^. Ahhhh, the reason I started this thread right here folks! LOL. If it wasn't for you I'd probably still think these guys were little angles . 

Hopefully your clowns will be happy in the new tank!


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## ameekplec.

I have a 2" ocellaris that's an arsehole of a fish. If I ever put my hands in the tank, he bites the space between my fingers (that webby part at the base of your fingers). No other location on my hand. Just there.


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## Letigrama

Aww man! I'm glad I'm not the only one. My clown are not that bad. But the male, the little 1.5 inch fish, once I put my hand on his side of the tank he will bump me fiercely. I make screams and curse him, of course, I'm a chick! Sp now I try to do stuff with my long stick on that side as much as I can. Also, they have no issues with other fish. As long as you stay away from their nem house. I have a diamond goby and a royal gramma with no problems. Watch it, royal grammas are actually fierce! They open their mouth lile an eel hisiing at other fish...

Lastly. My blue tang is quite large, I think she's probably 6 or 7 inc and shr will actually pick shells and rubble rock and re- arrange it. She has moved my hammer frag picking up the frag disk from the sandbed and actually sending it flying to the other side of the tank. I will say all Sw fish have huge personalities and most of the time not nice ones. Lol!


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## 12273

Awesome post! These SW fish sure have personalities and character Which makes them so intriguing and wonderful! I have a FW tank and have some really nice bosemani rainbows and they are nice. But nothing like SW fish to keep us entertained for hours LOL. I literally could get away with not having cable. I could watch my tank forever. 

Because they have quirky behaviour, symbiotic relations ships and little personalities I think it's much easier to get attached to a fish! Who would of thought ?! It's like a under water cat or dog. For me anyways. And when is see a tank full of sick fish it bugs me. Or to think some reef somewhere in the world is being raped and pillaged and ruining our oceans and seas around the world. I'm sure most are legitimate but I'm sure a decent porting of what we have is not so legitimate. 

That's why I'd prefer to get my fish from someone who gave a crap about them. And not just a person looking at dollar $$$. I got my clowns from a great member at an even greater price and they have a good home. 


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## Greg_o

Mine is ultra aggressive towards other fish (literally nothing survives with him ) but never went after me.


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## PACMAN

ameekplec. said:


> I have a 2" ocellaris that's an arsehole of a fish. If I ever put my hands in the tank, he bites the space between my fingers (that webby part at the base of your fingers). No other location on my hand. Just there.


SON OF A B*TCH. That is exactly where mine strikes!!!!


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## TankCla

At one time I had one clown in 75g tank. Just one 2" fish in 48" long tank, and she bit me every time I had the hand in the tank. From the other corner of the tank she would come charging to my hand. When I has scraping the algae of the glass, she would attack the finger that went only 1" below the surface of the water (holding the cleaning tool). Crazy clown. I had to get rid of her. The new owner, here on forum, can share his experience with the "mean fish" 

On the other hand, the maroon clown I have now, it is very calm and gets along with everyone in the tank. The only big difference between the old clown and the new, is that the maroon is feeding the anemone. She is taking bits of krill and lets go in the anemone tentacles. The maroon is really taking tare of BTA.

In the end, don't discourage yourself. You will find the right clown for you.


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## CRJ

answer to first line.... damsels. 



my clowns are fantastic! they still have barbs on their gills, but they are friendly. the do try to eat my fingers though lol


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## altcharacter

I owned the worst of all clowns. I picked it up from another member after it killed its mate and then it killed 3 fish in my tank. It now lives in Alex's tank and is still the devils spawn


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## Flexin5

i had this black and white clown that chased my onyx clown and made him jump, he was always a jerk and bit me all the time.


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## characinfan

I've never kept saltwater fish but I love this thread.


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## Car2n

I added a firefish goby to my tank last night. One clownfish killed it within minutes.


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## Andyn

I have 2 clowns both a not aggressive towards other fish or coral, but when I dip my hand in the tank he goes straight for it. When ever I do anything inside the tank I have to first spend 20min catching the little bugger.


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## jamie1985

I have a black and white and an albino tangerine clown that are paired and they attack me everytime I stick my hands in the tank...I have to keep them in a corner with a net when I clean the tank lol

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## 12273

An update.

Mine are slowly coming out of there shell. The female is a bossy lady and the male isn't learning LOL. He needs to have more seizures. He will submit but apparently not enough. During the day they swim together for the most part. During the night she pushes him into the opposite corner and sits in her own corner. She makes him sleep on the sofa every night! Brutal. Poor little dude.

When I stick my hand in the tank it's like a stand off LOL. They won't quite attck but stand there ground and will eye my hand down and follow it around. It's kinda cute and honestly I'm not worried about them attacking.

Definitely a cool fish. I am hesitant to add another fish but I think they'll be ok. Fesso had them with other fish. But now they've been alone for a while so....

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## 12273

Another update.

I have a frogspawn that's getting huge fast!!! My little clown has shown interest since day one. The female couldn't care less. Until today.

It's almost like the male is baiting her into it. He twitches and puts in little moves than she'll fall for it. Just now she out her mouth on the frogspawn and it must have stung her LOL. She swam away pretty quick and did a head shake. They are interested in it but don't actually go in it. Which is good I guess. It's not a natural host and I can see some sting marks on the fish from trying. I feel kinda bad and wish I could give them a nem. They would probably host it but it's WAY to early for one .

They seem to have a strong hosting behaviour but haven't quite found a suitable place. The female likes her corner but the male is looking for a more "natural" host I think. Shouldn't it be the female looking and male following?

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## jamie1985

One of my clowns is hosting my hammer coral and has been for quite some time now with no stings or anything. ..arent anenome stings more potent than coral stings anyway? 

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## 12273

Torches, frogs and hammers are known for there sting and aggressive behaviour towards unwanted visitors (almost everything). All I know is mine have stings and the female tan for the hills after a very brief encounter with the frog. They swim near it but not in it.

And as for nems that's the clowns "natural host". I think scientists are still trying to figure out why the clown gets a free pass and other do not. There are many theories but sometimes years of evolution just can't be explained in a text book. Some say the clowns developed a coating that mimics the nems bio chemistry and tricks it into thinking the clown is part of the coral. I don't think the theory of a symbiotic relationship based on food holds water because the nems are so dependant on light for zoo algae. Hence I believe more in the theory that the clowns evolved to trick the nems. The clowns need nems in the wild. Nems don't need them. Also probably why the clowns have such a. Strong hosting behaviour and always have to host something. Either a power head or piece of glass. Something.

Tons of stories about clowns hosting other corals but it seems as though my coral don't wanna play nice.

In fact, my shrimps little whiskers brushed up against my torch and it almost looked like the torch was sticking to it. Almost as if the shrimp was gonna be dinner.

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## Norman

I just brought home two little clowns on Boxing Day. So far they're very cute and entertaining. They are hosting a hairy mushroom (I think that's what they're called). It's only a 30G tall but they seem to be getting along with my watchman goby, pistol shrimp and six line wrasse reasonably well. As long as they don't venture into the other fishes territory... Now if I could only find the missing sea hares.


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## 12273

You'll love em. I wouldn't have a saltie tank without them. It's not because of the movie though. Just because they are such a interesting fish.

I wouldn't worry about the clowns being picked on. If they do get picked on the damsel in them will show. Damsels are notorious for being major butt holes. But clowns are pretty decent. But with other clowns! Watch out LOL. Ok sure your will have a domestic disturbance once in a while. It's part of being a couple .

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## jamie1985

I have a black and white clown and an albino tangerine clown (who are paired) along with a cleaner shrimp, blood shrimp, peppermint shrimp, and sixline wrasse and a percula clown (lone survivor of my daughters tank explosion) and everyone gets along great! Also, in my daughters new tank she has a maroon clown and a yellow clown goby and they are also doing fine!

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## Nicole

my ocellaris clownfish are horrible. They've claimed the entire tank as their territory and they bite me between the fingers anytime i try to clean or install a pump or feed corals. i'm pretty sure they are beating up my flame angel now too. and i blame them for the death of my royal gramma 2 weeks ago. total buttholes.


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## 1200assassin

altcharacter said:


> Better yet, you get a engineer goby!!!


Engineering gobbies rock  never had a problem with them.


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## 12273

An update. After 10 months they finally paired. The female is still very aggressive and won't let the male leave the host (huge frogspawn). He's fine as long as he doesn't leave fe house. The female darts everywhere making sure of it. They are both really aggressive and anything in there territory is a major issue. Including the mag float. 

I added a cleaner shrimp and the poor thing choose to chill under the frogspawn. Big mistake and he won't leave. The male has already bit the shrimp multiple times. If the shrimps makes it the night I'm sure he'll know to stay away from that area. 

The only thing allowed is the 6 line wrasse. He swims with the clowns lol. 


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## NovaRaven

I think my sebae clownfish has something against my rock flower anemone.

Every now and then, he'll wag his tail around the RFA which ends up burying my RFA in sand. Sooooo annoying!!

He's digging everywhere now and whenever I go in to undo what he's done, he does it again! I'm this close to trapping it and banishing it to another tank.


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## darcyr

My male ocellaris attacks my hand when it's in there for an extended period of time. I think it started to realize it didnt hurt me too much so now it grabs on to the skin between my fingers and chomps and shakes. The pair are completely fine with all my other fish even in their territory. When im leaning over the tank working on it, on two occasions he leaped out of the tank, bounced off my chin once, chest the other time and fell on the floor. How did he think he was going to win that one? Aggressive little bastard but ill give him some credit for not giving up.


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## NovaRaven

Update:

The verdict is in. My clownfish will be trapped and put into another tank as he keeps digging into my substrate and burying my corals. I came home today and I found my RFA absolutely BURIED in substrate! What a butthole!! 

That is all.


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## Crayon

Yeah, I have a pair of platinum clowns that did the exact same thing. Every day. Same corner of sand always dug up. So I netted them and moved them into another tank. Even though the new tank has the same sand, they don't dig it in at all.
Now they just chase the magnet glass cleaner all along the front of the tank.


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## 12273

Ha ha ha. Mine HATE the cleaner . 


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## J_T

aquaman1 said:


> Ha ha ha. Mine HATE the cleaner .
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


My cleaner ate one clown egg. Then my female bite him into two pieces...

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## NovaRaven

J_T said:


> My cleaner ate one clown egg. Then my female bite him into two pieces...
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Wow!! These fish are vengeful too eh?

Revenge is a dish best served cold...


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## J_T

NovaRaven said:


> Wow!! These fish are vengeful too eh?
> 
> Revenge is a dish best served cold...


My trigger i swear looked at me "i didnt do it" but then gladly cleaned up 

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