4 yr old clownfish suddenly aggressive towards each other, video attached

konatown · Mar 24, 2024

These were my first clowns, had them close to 4 years now. They’ve been paired since day one and typically always healthy and happy

Lately, they seem to be super aggressive towards each other, constantly throughout the day. They head butt, push each other around, and chase each other. It’s literally non stop. It seems to be the smaller male darting at her and being the most aggressive.

Is this mating behavior? (I have not seen this from them before, and they have been my only pair) They have not laid eggs that I’ve seen. It’s been a couple of weeks of this aggression. It’s hard to catch them in the video because they stop when I walk up to the tank, but there’s a little bit of it in there.

See video attached, sorry for dirty glass and some aiptasia.

YouTube Video

Uncle99 · Mar 24, 2024

I see nothing of concern.
Maybe preparing for spawn.
Agressive clowns is when the female grabs the male with her mouth and toss him back and forth, or pins him in a rock.

Mine do that sometimes, seems to be pre-spawn for my guys, but also could be just coincidence.

Spawn would be on a rock and one, at all times will both protect it, pick out the bad ones, and fan with tail.

konatown · Mar 24, 2024

Uncle99 said:
I see nothing of concern.
Maybe preparing for spawn.
Agressive clowns is when the female grabs the male with her mouth and toss him back and forth, or pins him in a rock.

Mine do that sometimes, seems to be pre-spawn for my guys, but also could be just coincidence.

Spawn would be on a rock and one, at all times will both protect it, pick out the bad ones, and fan with tail.

Thanks. I don’t see any biting, but the male did have a white dot on his face for a couple days. I’m more wondering if it’s stress related. The video I posted is not anywhere near the amount of actual aggression they show to each other, which is all day, for a couple weeks now.

Again, no biting, no other wounds, and everyone is happy during feeding. I’m thinking it has something to do with mating, but I just wanted to make sure, because I feel like it looks a little stressful, the way they are constantly at each other.