Clown faking sleep to annoy Goby?

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Dewey115

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Well I just got two clowns (Ocellaris) and they went through their mild displays of dominance (well it was pretty one sided, but nothing more than some bullying) and that has pretty much stopped. About a week ago the dom clown noticed the Goby who lives under a piece of LR with a Pistol Shrimp. At first the Clown would just swim right up next to the Goby and just sit there right next to the Goby and the Goby would open up his mouth and occasionally "bite" the fins of the Clown. There was no attacking aggression (no attempt to actually hurt each other), but the Goby would open his mouth alot. The clown never seemed to do anything except get in the way. Now the Goby has gotten to where he will completely ignore the clown fish no matter how close he gets. No more opening the mouth or anything, Goby will just move out of the way and ignore the Clown completely. The clown however now will fake sleeping so as to fall on or next to the Goby. I am thinking this is a "testing" sort of action to see how the Goby will react, but it seems kind of strange. Almost like there is too much logic and thinking behind the whole thing just to see what will happen. Could there be something else he is doing or what? Any thoughts or ideas what is going on or if I should worry? Goby still completely ignores him, but do you think the Clown will turn aggressive to try and get a reaction once this fake sleeping thing runs its course? Thanks

Rick

PS Sorry if this is too rambling or worded badly, I have been up since 8pm yesterday (work) so I am pretty tired and not thinking clearly
 

OrionGirl

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Could be that the clown wants to live in the same spot--in which case, one of them will likely give up and move. I'd guess the pistol shrimp could hurt the cown if it became involved--I'd watch for that more than for a problem with the fish.
 

Dewey115

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From what I have seen so far the pistol shrimp stays pretty far away (well technically he stays under the rock and doesn't come out when the clown fish is there). He so far seems to be a pretty skittish unless the other animal is quite a bit smaller than him (like some of my smaller nassarius snails). Almost exclusively the goby will stay just a few inches outside the rock, but doesn't wander. He will swim up to about a foot from their den but only when he sees a piece of food he is going after, otherwise he is always in the entrance to their home. Would the clown really want the entrance to their den as a place to live? It seems like a very small specific spot, or do you mean the clown may want that general section and is trying to annoy/bother the goby into moving? Every time I see it I watch so I can intervene if something goes wrong, do you think I should make it a point to watch for it or do you think they will pretty much be ok? I dont want to spend all my time all day watching to make sure they are playing nice, but I dont want to be gone all day if you think this might become more serious of an issue. I guess so far it seems pretty harmless, so hopefully things done escalate too quickly. Thanks

Rick
 

Dewey115

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And is this action really what it seems? I know that marine fish tend to have much more personality than other fish/pets, but are clown fish really that "smart" to think about faking sleep to try and test each other? Seems almost like intelligence on a very basic level, not just instinct and reactions to the environment/tank mates

Rick
 

OrionGirl

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My guess would be that the clown considers that den entrance within in his/her turf (the larger of the pair will be the female) and is trying to pester the goby out of it. They can be sneaky buggers--not really intelligent, but very good at harrassing other fish. Wouldn't credit them with intelligence, just cunning. :)

I would just make a point of checking out the situation for several minutes, a couple times a day. IME, when a clown decides to attack another fish, it's not an on-again off-again thing--it's a constant assault, all day. So if you don't see damage to the goby, or hiding, it's unlikely that you'll have a serious problem. JMO.
 
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