Aggressive ocellaris

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by canadianbudz604

Mike, my clowns host a colony of variable star palys and blue mushrooms that are very close together. It's like a pit of death for the other critters in my tank. It's funny though because the clown gobys are allowed to go and sit right in the lair and don't even get chased. The cleaner shrimp is also allowed close, but he gets nudged out if he's in too far. I've thought of moving the mushrooms out of their but there is sponge attached to the rock they are on And I don't want to kill it or rip it off. Soon or a later I'm going to upgrade ao maybe the clowns will just own one corner of the tank. I was wanting to add another fish to my current tank maybe another aggressive damsel like a 4 stripe.

Ya, so my theory, whether it's valid or not, is that since they're not hosted by a stinging critter (anemone) that would protect them & kill intruders, they make up for it by being more aggressive? If they had the protection of an anemone, they may feel safer & there would be less requirement for aggression & chasing?

Just a thought. Only way to find out is add a nem & see if behaviour is affected.

On the other hand, maybe you just have a pair of bad a$$ clowns. Are they spawning at all?