Neptune Aquatics

Dealing with a Evil Clown

So am I the only one with a clown that bites? Haven’t been able to get a hand anywhere in the tank without being attacked by the ungrateful b*tch. I’ve been trying to done some aquascaping and every time when I least expect it *BAM* she takes a little hunk of skin off. She seems to know to bite above the glove line and hit the nice soft flesh under the forearm.

So short of cyanide or an M-80 how do you deal with it?


-Gregory
 
oh, thought this was about Pennywise :p


I have a small B&W that wouldn't go after me if my hand went in the tank but has nipped at me when I got too close to his host (open brain). Also heard about tomato (or maroon?) clowns biting and drawing blood.

Only suggestion would be to wear gloves. Won't protect your forearm unless you get long ones.
 
nemosushi.jpg
 
I have the same issue. She bites the wedding ring usually, go figure ;-)
Sometimes I want to just setup a 5g tank for nems and clowns, maybe next year.
 
I'll have to get some long gloves. Always thought they looked kinda goofy but she's evil enough to figure out that for maximum damage to rub her mouth on some palys before the bite!

So anyone considering one of thoses cute little ORA Black Ocellaris THINK TWICE!

-Gregory
 
My female maroon does the same thing, she draws blood every time. Now the male has started joining in on the fun. Fortunately, no sharks in the tank...

On the other hand, my true percs are sweethearts.
 
If you've got a friend/girlfriend/neighbor, have em distract the fish with a turkey baster or something while you work on the tank.
 
As much as i do like tomato and maroon clowns getting nipped every time your hand is in the tank cleaning yhe tank gets really old really fast.

I decided to stick with clowns that weren't quite so defensive - true and false percs
 
@Jess - We kinda tried that but it was difficult while re-arranging the rock work.

@ Eileen - it IS a false perc and it's hateful.

-Gregory
 
I would try showing it you are not the bad guy by holding mysis shrimp in your hand and letting it eat it. Maybe this will make it view you as a provider of food and not an intruder.
 
Oh no I hope you don't develop Coulrophobia.

Sorry no advice other then you're gonna get bit. I have worked on countless tanks with ticked off fish like that. Be thankful it's not a large Naso with streamers and an attitude bigger then it.
 
GDawson said:
Somehow encouraging it to bare its teeth at my flesh seems counterproductive.....
-Gregory
My clarkii clown was very peaceful until I tried to target feed my new amenone with pieces of frozen shrimp (stupidly using my fingers instead of tongs). After that, she often swam toward my hand when my fingers entered the tank, nipping on them to see if they held shrimp. Fortunately, she didn't bite hard. I miss her.
 
I had a big perc do that to me before.....I gave her a finger flick where I hit the fish.....it layed stunned on some rocks for about 10 minutes ( I actually thought I flicked it too hard and it was going to die) then it got back up and swam away and never bit me again. Now its up to you if you really want to try this. Not sure if I would do it again either, but it really pissed me off that one time.
 
GreshamH said:
Oh no I hope you don't develop Coulrophobia.

Sorry no advice other then you're gonna get bit. I have worked on countless tanks with ticked off fish like that. Be thankful it's not a large Naso with streamers and an attitude bigger then it.

Don't you mean coulroichthyphobia?
 
gerbilbox said:
GreshamH said:
Oh no I hope you don't develop Coulrophobia.

Sorry no advice other then you're gonna get bit. I have worked on countless tanks with ticked off fish like that. Be thankful it's not a large Naso with streamers and an attitude bigger then it.

Don't you mean coulroichthyphobia?

Did you try clicking on the hyperlink?
 
Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. The term is of recent origin, probably dating from the 1980s,[1] and according to one analyst, "has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary," however the author later notes, "regardless of its less-than-verifiable etymology, coulrophobia exists in several lists."[2] The condition is a specific phobia (DSM-IV Code 300.29).[3]

The prefix "coulro-" may be derived from an Ancient Greek word meaning "stilt-walker",[nb 1] although the concept of a clown as a figure of fun was unknown in classical Greek culture.[5]
 
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