Beat-Up Clowns

So this afternoon I came home from work to see my two new Black and White clowns had been beat-up on pretty good.

The one isn't in as bad a shape as the other. The one that's been pretty beat-up, looks to have lost a lot of its tail-fin.

I've separated the parties, the two injured clowns into a bucket with some water from the main tank for now.

Here are my questions:
1. Can I safely put them in my fudge with the macro allege just as someplace for now?
2. Would it be better for me to try and get a QT setup and put them in there?
3. What can I do for the injured fish in the meantime?

 

What else is in the tank that is beating them up? Could they be fighting each other?

 

well first of all i wouldnt put any fish in fudge... lol
you could put them in your fuge for safe keeping for the time being but i would recommend a qt. not only for your clowns but for any problems that could and most likely will arise. its a crazy unpredictable hobby i have found out.
what is beating them up?

 

There is a Coral beauty and two orange false percula clownfish. The two sets of clowns were added at the same time to try and avoid this issue. Its the orange clowns that were beating the black and whites.

I'm trying to get the QT setup now, but its going to take some time to get it up to temp. Am I ok with the black & white in the bucket for a couple hours with a heater?

 

yeah. you should be good with that. i would guess it was the false percs messing with them. clowns of different species dont get along well being the damsels that they are. it would actually probably be a good idea to set up a different tank for them, or bring them back to your LFS. well thats what i would do.

 

Is there anything I can do for the one who's fin is now messed up? Will it grow back? (Honestly now, don't laugh, but the whole Finding Nemo messed up fin thing is flashing through my head, so I'm trying to separate fact from fiction.)

 

Keep the water quality good, and watch for signs of an infection. But it should heal up on its own. But this issue probably wont go away, as soon as you re-introduce them its gonna start all over. One set is going to have to go back.

 

haha. i wouldnt think that there would be any long term effects, unless your clowns are totally destroyed. then i would be a little worried, but clowns and any damsel for that matter are very hardy and resilient fish.

 

Yeah, I realize that one of them is going to have to go. At this point it'll be the False Perc's once the B&W's have healed. I spent way more on them than I did the False.

 

Ok, I'm going to try putting some camera phone pics up so you can see the really bad one.....

In the second picture, the left most fish is the one I'm referring to.