Killer Yellow Clown Goby

[Teeb]

Yes, you did read that right. I had a small yellow clown goby and a junvenile percula clown in my biocube. A few weeks ago the clown slipped through the overflow grates and ended up in the second chamber of my cube for a couple of hours. He got a little beat up from being bashed against the rubble in the chamber. I had him checked out, no fin rot, just some damage to his dorsal fin and some lifted scales. I guess this brought out the killer instinct in my 1" long goby. We've been keeping an eye on him and he didn't seem to be getting any better, in fact we noticed a few more lifted scales. We thought maybe one of the emerald crabs had got ahold of him, but they barely come out of the rock and I doubt they could catch him. Well, I come home yesterday and my little clown that my 2 year old son affectionately named "Beach" was on his last leg and clown goby was all over him. I didn't want him to suffer, so he got the porcelin burial.

I rushed home after work to replace him before my son noticed Beach was gone. Reefs2u was out of the smaller clowns and I ended up with one about 2" long, MUCH bigger than the goby. After aclimating and putting him in the tank, what do I see, but the goby is nipping at his fins. Any time the clown would come near where the goby was perched, he would attack him. I tried to catch the goby, but even in a little biocube, he was not easy to catch and I was unsuccessful. We went on about our nightly routine and the goby seems to have settled down. I don't know if the clown finally had enough and the goby realized he was on the wrong end of the size stick or what, but everyone seems to be getting along for the moment.

Moral of the story: Has anyone ever heard of an agressive clown goby?

[recoiljpr]

Any fish can and will become agressive given the situation and opportunity. Even the calmest fish can and will attack sometimes.

If something like that happens again, try moving the fish to a different location. You should have a quarantine tank, that would be the perfect tank to move the hurt clown to. Youd be suprised at what a fish can survive given the time to recoup and the right care. If you don't have a quarantine tank, a bucket with an airstone will work till you can find if another reefer would take him. I'm sure there are quite a few of us who would try to take it.

I know you were doing it out of compassion and care for the fish, I cannot fault you there. But, if the time happens and you have to euthanize a fish, please, please place it in a bag and put it in the freezer. It will die much quicker then flushing it down the toilet. Any stenohaline marine fish can handle different levels of salinity (or lack of) for a suprisng amount of time. It can survive for a suprising amount of time in the sewer lines before dying.

I apologize if this sounds preachy, but I am just trying to let you know there are different options if this ever happens again.

[Teeb]

He wasn't twitching out of water and once in the toilet, he didn't move. If there was a chance he could pull through, I would have tried, but he was literaly on his last leg. When I saw him in the tank, he was stuck next to the overflow. After I helped him away, he just fluttered a little and sunk. He was gone. I'll try the freezer next time something happens.

[recoiljpr]

He wasn't twitching out of water and once in the toilet, he didn't move. If there was a chance he could pull through, I would have tried, but he was literaly on his last leg. When I saw him in the tank, he was stuck next to the overflow. After I helped him away, he just fluttered a little and sunk. He was gone. I'll try the freezer next time something happens.

Reminds me of a line from Monty Python. "I'm not dead yet!"

But yeah, there are times when you know they already found ol' Davey Jones's locker.

[addboy]

I had no Idea about the sewer system, but what do you do with the frozen fish if he re-animates ??? Should I load up my .38 with a silver bullet?? or just simply burn him??