Isolating clowns due to aggression

[jasonrusso]

I've had a pair of midnight clowns for 3 years. They were the same size when I got them. Recently one of them got noticeably larger, so I assume one made the change to female.

They have always been a hostile couple, bickering back and forth, but this week I noticed the male in the corner in the sand which is very unusual. He LIVES for the anemone. I caught the female really picking on him. His fins are all tattered and he has bite marks.

I tried catching the female as I was under the impression that you catch the female so she will lose the territory aggression and let the male recover. I couldn't catch her, but I did catch the male and put him in an acclimation box for his protection.

Do I need to catch the female and swap them or could I just leave the male in the box? Does it matter? What happens after I put them back in together.

 

[JBendel]

I have a pair of tomato clowns, and before they were a "pair", I put in a small piece of plastic egg crate between the two (4" x 6") and it was just enough to slow the female's attacks down for the male to get away. The male would keep going back, but would get chased off - dodging behind the egg crate. Both would sleep in the anemone at night (opposite ends) and she would run him off as soon as she realized he was there (a real stalker). Took a couple of weeks for things to calm down, but never got to the point of "tattered fins". .. now they crank out eggs every couple of weeks, Good luck

 

[jasonrusso]

Caught the female tonight, I just scooped her up while she was sleeping. I'm not sure if she even noticed, lol.