Clowns "nipping" fins"

[tender]

I often read (on other forums) that clowns enjoy nipping on fins (guppyes, Betta etc.). My (limited) experience is that clowns are as peaceful as any other community-tank fish, and they have never shown any aggression against fellow tank-inhabitants. Is there anyone else who has the same experience?

[04_si]

my 2 clowns just chase each other, and once in a while, chase someone else who will put up with it.

[bizbomb]

my clowns keep to themselves except when schooling with my tiger barbs.

[chefkeith]

The tail fins on a few of my bristlenose plecos were shredded for about a year, and I didn't know the cause of the problem until I saw a small clown loach nibbling on them a few times.

I moved those pleco's to the paludarium sump tank about a month ago and the tail fins have already grown back. IME, all clown loaches have their own personalities. It was basically one small clown loach that was causing the problem. Most clown loaches are peaceful, but there are some that can be bully's of the tank. Out of my 40+ clowns, I have 2 big bullies and few small ones.

[ensign_lee]

Mine bothered my betta relentlessly. I took the betta out, healed it and then stuck it back, then went on an errand. When I came back a few hours later, the betta was nothing but a skeleton.

My 10 clowns I'm also pretty sure took out a favorite angelfish of mine that was significantly larger than they were. I think my angel was about 5" in diameter. Just kept nipping away (the angel was only supposed to be in there for a few weeks while I got another tank set up), and one day I came back and #*(& #^* There's only a skeleton of my favorite angel.

Now I have them in a tank with some rasboras, but fortunately, the rasboras are fast enough to swim away when the loaches get near them. In my opinion, keep only other loaches or fish fast enough to swim away from clowns.

Long tailed slow fish = certain death.

[JWhipple]

Interesting...

I've got my clowns in with a multitude of fish, and never once have I seen any aggression towards any of the others.

I do from time to time see them horse playing amongst themselves (arched back, grayed out stripes), but never anything towards the other fish.

I've got 6 of them in with:

4 different types of rainbows (total of 8 fish, ranging from 2 to 5 inches each)
4 Zebra loaches (3 inches each)
3 Pakistani loaches (3 inches each)
3 Yoyo loaches (3-4 inches each)
5 different types of corydoras (total of 8 fish)
1 somewhat large lace-finned catfish (6-7 inches)
4 upside-down catfish (2-3 inches each)
3 "clown" angelfish (3 inches from top to bottom)
2 "clown" plecos (babies - only 1" long each)