Is clown behavior becoming more aggressive?

[Brysen]

I picked up a percula clownfish last weekend. Since he's been in the tank, my firtideflow only comes out for food and maybe a couple times a day. If my chromis gets too close or tries to swim with him, he chases him off. Is my clownfish just naturally aggressive or is this a problem for my tank?

All the fish are eating and seem healthy, no injuries so far.

[Aurorax]

I'm no expert, but I'll be keeping an eye on the responses since I recently picked up a couple of clarks anemones and one of them seems to be nipping at my fire shrimp. I had the impression they were pretty laid-back, but I guess not.

[floralix]

They're probably still getting used to each other and will likely establish territories or something, percula clowns are known for hiding...it might stop this after a while, the clown's still a pretty new addition to the tank. Clarkii clowns are indeed more aggressive than ocellaris clowns, they might leave the shrimp alone or they might kill it...fire shrimp can fight back though.

[Korvix]

I picked up a pair of False perculas from the LFS and they only seem to get feisty when another fish gets too close to their anemone. They don't actually attack, just give 'em the boot. I'm wondering if this little guy will calm down once he finds a host, or if he'll stay aggressive throughout the tank. Anyone else have some insight on this?

[fleeton]

Clownfish can get pretty territorial, they don't necessarily need a host to defend. Sometimes they just pick a spot in the tank and claim it as their own. I've seen this with my own Perclas, they've taken a liking to one of my frogspawns. Any other fish that comes near gets chased away. My big solorensis wrasse is the exception, but then again he's always on the move and never lingers near the frogspawn.

[flynix]

I was down the LFS and I saw some clown aggression firsthand - they had 5 percula clowns in one setup and one had sadly passed away. What really caught my attention was that one of the other clowns was trying to protect the deceased one from the other clowns and fish in the tank. It was pretty intense, chasing them, bumping into them... it was actually quite sad to watch.

[Brysen]

Just checking in, my clownfish used to be out swimming all the time, now it's mostly hiding in its hole, only comes out for food or a few times a day.

[zeno9]

I'm having the opposite experience, my fish are all super chill. My blue damsel's worst habit is stirring up the sand just to annoy me. Meanwhile, my clownfish is always on the move, hasn't latched onto anything yet and it's been a few weeks. The feistiest thing in my tank is actually the fire shrimp, gets a bit testy if the cleaners come near his spot to feed.

[Brysen]

Yeah, update on my firtideflow - he's out a lot more now, just a few days and he's settled in. Must be getting used to the tank, was worried he was gonna be a hermit or something. Thanks for the reassurance guys.

[dixon9]

Firtideflow like being in small groups, so if you've got the space, consider adding a couple more, they'll be out swimming all the time, rather than hiding away, might help with the aggression issue too.