How long do it let my Ocellaris clownfish fight it out....?

[HermanoToro]

Hello,

About two months ago, I purchased a wyoming white clownfish and an orange storm clownfish from my LFS. They two were acclimated together and were both VERY small when I got them. Recently, the wyoming white has been growing at an insane rate while the orange storm has stayed, relatively, the same size. The wyoming white is now 2.5-3 times the size and has obviously asserted herself as the dominant female. Anyway, in the last couple days, things have gotten pretty violent. The wyoming constantly chases the storm around and nips at his tail / fins. To the point where the storm has no tail at all and his starting to lose his pectoral fins. Prior to all this, they seemed to be living in peace. I have read this is a process they must go through to become a pair but how long should I expect this to go on? Concerned that, if I don't intervene, she'll kill him. Thanks

-Andrew

 

[Bucs20fan]

Once the behavior changes and one starts to submit, if you do not do something the dominant one will eventually kill the other. The submissive one will eventually stop eating and this is when your timer starts. mine have done this on occasion as many of our clowns have. What worked for me is to buy a floating breeder box, place the aggressive clown in the breeder box for 5-7 days and allow the other clown to heal and begin eating again. After time is up, let it out of the box. You may have to do this several times. I had to do it 3 times and they have been fine for over 6 months now.


Edit: you also have different color morphs going against you. This is much harder to accomplish.