Need help feeding Submissive clown

[Rohirrimus]

Hello guys,
I got a pair of Clowns from an LFS about 5 days ago.
They were looking quite healthy and came from the same tank ( there are probably 100 of them in there).
Both ocellaris , larger black one and smaller orange one.
Since I got them the black one was attacking the smaller one into submission.
I know that it's normal for the clowns until they pair up, but my issue is that the black one is preventing the orange from eating.

If I give them floating food he doesn't let them go to the top part of the aquarium. if I submerge pallets he charges him into the corner.

Today I put one palet into a coral cup until a black one came and I captured him inside so that I can feed the orange one.

What way do you suggest feeding them so that they both get food? I don't want to keep capturing the black one to stress him out, but if I don't do anything he just eats all the food himself and I'm afraid for the health of the orange one.
thanks

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sounds like the female is going to kill the male tbh. At this point the aggression sounds pretty bad. You may have to separate for good.
What I would try is feeding the tank as usual, and while the female is distracted try to get it closer to the male.

 

[Rohirrimus]

Sounds like the female is going to kill the male tbh. At this point the aggression sounds pretty bad. You may have to separate for good.
What I would try is feeding the tank as usual, and while the female is distracted try to get it closer to the male.

The aggression so far is not too bad physically ( no ripped fins or something) but the orange is clearly submissive and is not allowed to go eat.
at the moment I only have clowns ( not counting on hermits and turbo snails), so they are the only ones being fed.
How long does the pairing process usually take?
Thanks

 

[Sharkbait19]

It really depends. The black clowns tend to be far more aggressive than the other breeds so they often make it hard for the mate to handle it.
Sometimes it’s within a few days, other times they never really pair up. My mocha and regular got along for a while, but after about 8 months the mocha killed the male. It happened exactly how you described.
For now, keeping the female away from the male during feeding is your best bet, at least until he gets his confidence back.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I had the same issue with mine. What I had to do was buy a floating breeder box and place the female in it. Sometimes it was up to a week at a time to allow the male to swim and begin feeding normally. I had to go through this process 3 times at almost a week maybe 4 days each. After the third time they both have now gotten along fine for well over 5 months now. Im not saying it will work, but in my scenario it was far worse, he had torn fins and was pale and losing color and hes completely recovered and theyre all over each other now.

 

[dedragon]

breeder box method works very well. My percula was way worse with her now mate of 4 or so years. She would literally grab the occy by its fins and drag it into the anemone (i presume to be killed and eaten by the anemone). Breeder box method works great with occys or percs others are still more hit or miss but usually these 2 dont turn on eachother over time

 

[Rohirrimus]

I had the same issue with mine. What I had to do was buy a floating breeder box and place the female in it. Sometimes it was up to a week at a time to allow the male to swim and begin feeding normally. I had to go through this process 3 times at almost a week maybe 4 days each. After the third time they both have now gotten along fine for well over 5 months now. Im not saying it will work, but in my scenario it was far worse, he had torn fins and was pale and losing color and hes completely recovered and theyre all over each other now.

Today the aggression got far worse, one of the fins of the orange clown got damaged, he was cornered I thought he would jump out.
I tried to replace the black clown at LFS with a less aggressive one but unfortunately, they don't replace livestock, so instead, I did the same.
ATM black ( dominant female) is in the breeder box as the guy at LFS suggested, but on youtube, I saw that he puts the male in the breeder so I'm a bit confused tbh.
It's funny that the male is so calm and stays next to the breeder box while the female keeps charging the walls of it. ( I swear if I didn't feed them same food I would swear that they put cocaine in it)

 

[Rohirrimus]

breeder box method works very well. My percula was way worse with her now mate of 4 or so years. She would literally grab the occy by its fins and drag it into the anemone (i presume to be killed and eaten by the anemone). Breeder box method works great with occys or percs others are still more hit or miss but usually these 2 dont turn on eachother over time

Thanks, in the breeder box, do you recommend putting female or male?
I saw online both arguments
-female in the breeder so she is not as territorial
-male inside so she learns to ignore him
LFS guy recommended female in the breeder but on youtube I saw inverse suggestion so I'm confused
Thanks

 

[Rohirrimus]

It really depends. The black clowns tend to be far more aggressive than the other breeds so they often make it hard for the mate to handle it.
Sometimes it’s within a few days, other times they never really pair up. My mocha and regular got along for a while, but after about 8 months the mocha killed the male. It happened exactly how you described.
For now, keeping the female away from the male during feeding is your best bet, at least until he gets his confidence back.

thanks, atm today it got out of hand as instead of cornering him on the bottom corner she was cornering him on the top and kept charging him, I was afraid he would jump out, so I put a female in the breeder box. gonna keep her there for 5-7 days and see from there. the male is so nice swimming next to breeder box while she keeps charging the walls.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I definitely would recommend the female. If she gets to keep her territory the whole time, she will be less accepting of a new one.

 

[dedragon]

i think it depends on the type of clownfish and individual personality. For maroons most of the time the female in the breeder box is best and get a very small male/juvi

 

[PP123]

If your aquarium is too small as in a nano size this issue will probably not solve itself until one fish is dead.

I had this same experience pairing up clowns... excessive bullying. Tried all the tricks like isolation etc for months. Would improve for a week or so then back to one fish being bullied constantly. Ended up re-homing the more aggressive clown... rplaced with a much smaller clown and now have a beautiful tranquil reef.

Best of luck..

 

[Bucs20fan]

Keep the female in the box for sure male needs time to explore and find territory

 

[Rohirrimus]

I definitely would recommend the female. If she gets to keep her territory the whole time, she will be less accepting of a new one.

Thanks,
I did so too.
Think I'll keep her in there for about 5-7 days and try again, then if they do the same repeat the process.

 

[Rohirrimus]

i think it depends on the type of clownfish and individual personality. For maroons most of the time the female in the breeder box is best and get a very small male/juvi

They are ocellaris, black feemale and orange male