Maroon Clownfish gone crazy...

[koralkathy]

I have had a pair of maroons that have been together for about 8mos, happily. I just introduced a GBTA just under a week ago. they both hopped in the nem within a day and seemed to cohabitate peacefully for several days.

yesterday eve, i noticed one of the maroons fins was a bit torn, and wondered what happened. then i spotted the (i think female) only sitting in the anemone not allowing the male to come back in. i watched for a bit and saw them fighting. they were shredding each other and it looked ugly. finally the male decided to leave and go swim on the other side of the tank. now this morning the female is being really territorial. anyone had this happen....? what did you do? did it work?

[nahtanoj]

happens a lot. how old are the clowns? did you buy them as juvi's? if so they are probably finishing off the sex change, ie. your female is becoming a true female and she is making sure the male knows who's boss. i have heard of this leading to death of the other fish, but generally speaking they work it out and settle down again.

[BigAir]

Very common behavior for clowns, especially maroon's.

[koralkathy]

nathanoj and big air, thanks for the help. i did get them as juvenilles and they are still pretty small, but it just became apparent recently which one was the fem and which one was the male. I guess we will just let nature run its course. thanks!

[SaltyReefs]

Yea thats normal. You could also see the male swimming upwards and twitching a little. This is all for dominance and who will be female.