cardinal fish missing part of his back fin

[slipknotgrrl83]

So I just noticed my maroon clownfish chasing my banggaI cardinalfish and upon closer examination I can see that hes
missing part of his tail.. I have noticed that they (I have two) hang out on the opposite side of the tank then my clown does. should I be concerned? he only goes after the cardinal when they venture to his side.. will he be ok without that fin?

 

[utkgreg]

Hey there,

Sorry you're having aggression issues. :/

How long have these been together? If it's been a short timeframe, it could be establishing a pecking order and the cardinals will learn where it's safe to go. If it's been more than a month, I'd personally consider moving somebody to a new home.

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

been about 3 weeks, not sure when it happened though because they usually hang out in the corner with backside away from me. I have decided to try feeding little amounts 2 times a day instead of one and see if that makes a difference, I will keep you posted

 

[utkgreg]

Good luck!

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

another odd thing is they only seem to come out of that corner at night and at feeding time, other than that the are always huddled next to each other in that corner..is that the norm for these?>

 

[utkgreg]

For which ones? I know that clownfish typically do pick a certain area that they will call home. I'm not 100% sure with cardinals.

One other factor to look at is water movement. Banggai's are not good swimmers. If you have a lot of water flow, they will try to find a calm spot in the aquarium and they'll spend the majority of the time there so they don't get exhausted.

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

The banggais.. that makes sense as I have a powerhead on one side and the filter on the other so it creates a cross current. they hide to the side of the filter where there is not much movement and sometimes venture over behind the power head as well so I guess they just don't like the current

 

[utkgreg]

Yeah that's why I had to give up on the banggai's. Both of my reefs are smaller tanks, and since I have coral I had to keep a good flow going. They just were not happy and I actually lost several when other fish were doing fine. Some day when I get a larger setup and can have more area for different water strengths I'll try them again.

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

Its the weirdest thing, the past few days they have been out in the open and seem to be doing fine now with the other fish, I started feeding them twice instead of once and now they all seem to be getting along better...I guess they figured out where the can and can't go.. how big are your tanks? mine is only a 29

 

[utkgreg]

My reef tanks are 29 and 28. Glad they're starting to feel a little more accustomed.

I've noticed with my cichlids that feeding twice a day instead of only once has helped with aggression... guess they know the food is going to be coming regularly so they don't have to scare off the competition!

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

update: UNfortunatly I woke up to one bloody and dead so I whipped out my QT and put the other one in there until tomorrow, gonna see if I can give the other one to the pet store and pick out something else

 

[utkgreg]

Oh no! Was really hoping that things had worked themselves out. Sounds like you have a pretty territorial clown.

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

Me too, well I have the other one in my qt tank until I get to the store to see if they will take him. Never thought clowns would be so aggressive, although I do have a maroon which are known to be more aggressive then the others.