Clownfish pair are fighting quite rough

[konatown]

I have a clownfish pair that have been together for over 4 years. They are always together, and happy. They are fat and well nourished usually

For almost a week now, they have been very very aggressively fighting. A lot of their fins are heavily nipped, and the male has scars all over his face.

She is chasing him around, running him off their zoa home, running him into the corner, and making him jump out of the water. I have a lid thankfully.

This is just nonstop throughout the day. Are they starting to mate? They have not laid eggs that I’ve noticed yet. It’s a little violent, they’ve just never done this before. Usually he vibrates for her while fighting. Today I saw her vibrate quite a bit for him.

 

[Jekyl]

What size tank and what other fish? Any other aggression? You can put the bully in an acclimation box for a couple weeks to give the bullied time to heal.

 

[konatown]

What size tank and what other fish? Any other aggression? You can put the bully in an acclimation box for a couple weeks to give the bullied time to heal.

It’s just them, a wrasse and a blenny in a 30 gallon. They’ve all been together for 1-1.5 years. No other aggression. It’s been super peaceful this whole time and now the clowns seem to suddenly hate each other after over 4 years paired.