Hi - New here - Need some help with my Tomato Clown - The terror

Hi 3reef peeps. Just joined and I need some advice.

I've a 3.5 inch tomato clown in a 55 gal with about 80lbs of live rock. We love the little bugger, but he's killed everything we put in with him. I just want a peaceful tank with several fish in it. Do I need to filet the little jerk, or can I find him some buddies that can stand up for themselves?

Thanks!

 

Tomatos are pretty aggressive so unless you want to try to rearrange your rockwork every time you add a new fish, you might want to get rid of it

 

How long has it been in there ?Did it just all of a sudden go crazy and get territorial of just a certian area or is it the entire tank ?

 

When you purchase a new fish, you might pull the clown out of the tank and QT him, then add your new little fish/es what ever then add the clown back.
Iv'e seen where you could add 2 fish at a time as well , the clown can't center it's agression soley on one fish then, or even at night as some suggest with the lights off.

 

Too late for now, but in the future, aggressive fish must be added last. If you can catch him, do so and get a smaller one. Luna

 

Ahh, I see you have never had a Tomato clown! It doesn't need to "center it's aggression solely on one fish" Trust me there is more than enough to go around with a clown that big, enough for a whole tank full of fish.

I agree with amcarrig, the best way to do it is to confuse it by moving your rock works, I call it adding a little chaos to the tank. This will usually put the resident EVIL off balance and it will go into hiding, giving the new fish time to stake a territory.

But if this isn't and option then to the local fish store it should go....

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>

 

Thanks. Tangster, he's been in the tank for about 2 years. We started him with a few other fish - niger triggers and a yellow tang. Slowly the others met mysterious deaths. I tried replacing the dead, but eventually all that was left was just him - my first clue. The last addition was a banner angel (??I forget the actual name - yellow, purple lips, black banner on his fin) that cost me $120 (New York City prices). He beat the heck out of him right away. I tried moving rocks, but it didn't work. I finally pulled the angel out, but I couldn't save him. Its a shame because Nemo has so much personality (not very creative, I know, but my neice named him - what could i do?) He's like a dog - he comes when you call him. But he's also a murderer, so we're torn.

From the posts here it sounds like I either need to dump him back to the aquarium store, or be satified with one little murderous orange fish in my 55 gal tank. Darn.

 

Yes thats pretty much what I had guessed it started out small and cute then one day it grew up and staked its territorial claim to the tank. Many fish do that .. Honestly I'm one to have had trapped it out by now and flushed the little Orange SOB . I don't get all tree huggy with animals , There are some that just get along for ever but 99% don't and if you gave it to someone else it going to do the same thing .. I would not appreciate someone sticking me with a problem and I'd not do it to anyone else .. I vote send it to the N.Y sewer system . Thats whats wrong with this hobby now to many pawning off pestilence , disease and problems onto others with a few dollars to pay for it. I'd not give it away myself but thats just me..

 

Welcome aboard!