Clarkii Turned Evil!

Early afternoon yesterday, we put a smaller clarkii & the anemone he was hosting in into the tank. We already have a LARGE carpet anemone with a large, peaceful clarkii in the tank. If anything, I was expecting the two clarkii's to have an... er... adjustment period? A little chasing here & there... maybe checking out each other's anemones...

Instead, last night, we noticed our once peaceful clarkii (who is larger than most of the fish in the tank, less the yellow tang) is terrorizing the entire tank! Fish are jumping out of the water, staying in the corners of the tank, etc.

This morning, we woke up to find the new clarkii is torn up pretty bad & everyone seems to be in hiding.

My amazing girlfriend channeled her anger and caught the (now evil) clarkii out of the 85 gallon tank (Fluval Osaka)... I expect with her bare hands, but she will neither confirm nor deny.

At any rate, I have the evil clarkii (once deemed "Mr. Cuddles" but I assume I will be forced to rename) in a breeder basket, but I am at a loss on what long term solutions I have.

What do I do??

 

Clarkiis can be just down right evil.The larger one(female) didn't like you upsetting the balance in the tank.The other one you added eventhough smaller might still have been transitioning into a female which the original one will not except.Even if find what you know to be true male or a juvi clown there is a good chance she will kill it.They are one of the hardest clowns to pair once they mature.The only thing I would suggest at this point is to take her to your lfs and let them have.I wish you luck.

 

^ +1 also, it is possible you added another female. Once they have been away from other dominant clowns, for as little as a few weeks, they can start turning female. 2 females is not a good thing, but as mentioned clarkii's are tough to pair, even if you add add a male.

 

mr cuddles is no longer mr cuddles, is ms terror! Sorry about her behavior but dont think she will ever resettle down in your tank.

 

Wow... the delicate balancing act continues. I suppose Ms. Terror will be donated this afternoon. 'tis a sad, sad day.

A quick ode to the Cuddles of yesterday: Mr. Cuddles & the Kraken - YouTube

Thanks for confirming what I was afraid of.