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Paranoid about new clownfish pairing. Blacker Ice x Picasso?


LazyFish

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Any one know if Perc x ocellaris pairings are any harder than other pairings or has any one got an occi/perc pair? I have paired clowns several times before but all Ocellaris clown variants. Any tips on getting them to pair will be appreciated.

 

I got a bonded pair of blacker ice clowns at the LFS about 5 months ago.The male jumped out & died due to my stupidity (left the lid cracked open) I went to get a new mate for the blacker ice but the only unpaired clowns at the lfs were "davinci" but I was fine with having another mixed pair but I am now convinced this is a Picasso (perc) & not davinci (ocellaris). :wacko: I know some people have had perc/oce pairs but perc are supposed to be more aggressive so I am getting a bit paranoid about the pairing.

 

So far the Introduction of the two clowns after qt went like this..

 

1. Clear bag is in tank during acclimation & new fish is ignored by female. She hasn't even looked at him.

2. New fish in breeder box for several hours looked at him once then totally ignored him. Female not even acknowledging him.

3. No aggression noted from female after several hours. Put new fish in tank. Older fish then starts relentlessly chasing new fish but no biting.

4. New fish shows no aggression & runs rather than fight. After about 3 min the new fish starts to submit starts laying on his side repeatedly but then he aborts before shaking at her & runs.

5. The female then seemed to get really pissed.She GRABED him by his ventral fin & pulled him about 5 inches then started chasing him all over again! She is also head butting him now :blink:

6. After several minutes of relentless abuse I put the new fish back in breeder box.Female is now aware of him & runs up to the box & threatens him from time to time. No aggression from the "male" he moves away from her or runs when she goes at him. :unsure:

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The "male" is less stressed today & is showing the thick black markings around his white areas & his orange seems a more yellowyish shade....the female was very calm & was ignoring him again today so I decided to try again. She started chasing him immediately but no contact. She chased him into a corner & won't let him out but she is not beating him up. This went on for about 6 hours he even flipped all the way upside down showing his belly to her but still not twitching for her. She showed no signs of letting him alone so I put her in the box this time & rearranged the rock work... not really happy with how it came out but oh well. I'll leave her in the net over the next two days & try again. While in the box she is even running at him he just looks at her & sometimes turns on his side....but no twitching. Is it better to let her see him in the tank or not to see each other I have both clear & frosted breeder boxes if needed. Or.... should I just leave them together & hope they can work it out with out her killing him.

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The new clown has taken up in my large short polyp leather coral. The female was very calm in her container so I let her out a little while ago & it went I think quite well.

I skipped feeding the tank yesterday in hopes they would be more interested in food when I let her out. When I put her in she didn't even look at him & went straight to eating with him eating not 3 inches from her. They even swam together a bit! After eating he went back to the leather & she found her sea grass in its new location about 5 inches from the leather. She then ran over & got in the leather he started shaking at her & she is now going back & forth between the leather & the grass & runs at him to make him shake. She is even letting him sit on the very edge of the leather with her right in it & is not chasing or attacking him! I even saw her do a little wiggle back when he shook at her! I asked at the lfs about the clown being davinci or picasso. It looks like a b or simi grade picasso not davinci they ordered davinci but got picassos hence the confusion that & they were in the tank that usually has the davinci clowns.

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Just got to let them work it out. I've done this pairing before (occ/perc) with very few issues. The females can be just brutal but eventually they work it out and become a pair. I had a perc female that would every once in awhile grab my male picasso and shake him like a dog would. She just liked to point out she was still the boss. She never hurt him and they went on their merry way.

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Yikes...well the female is the occy & the male is the perc. I was worried he would be resistant to her attempts to dominate he is completely submissive but she's at it again I just found him cowering in the back corner behind a rock with a small tear in his fin. I just measured that witch I thought she was about 2 inches she's closer to 2.5 & way mean...I'm going to leave him to night & keep an eye on them & hope they can work it out.

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A small breeder box helps tremendously with difficult pairings if your female is causing harm. It is used on big meanie clowns like maroons.

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Now she is just being weird....She is looking at him all crazy bobbing up & down then starts hiding behind the rocks & darts at him to make him shake then hides & then peeks out at him & repeats it. She isn't attacking him any more & he is submissive...so fingers crossed...............and an hour later she is viciously chasing him again.

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This morning she cornered him while he was shaking at her & nearly killed him so I've got them separated again. I'm going to take him back & try with another "male" smaller If I can find one. I will probably have to wait for a new shipment to come in. The original male was pretty tiny.

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I'm glad at least the male wasn't killed. My male went MIA a while back and I got a small buckeye to replace him. The female didn't show any aggression at all. I thought about using breeding boxes of they ever fight.

 

When you use breeder boxes do you "change" the water in the box by lifting it up and let water drain into the tank, and put it back down? I have a lot of baby guppies and the first batch I didn't do this I had 2-3 die everyday, but ever since I started doing this every day I haven't lost one.

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I have one with slits in the bottom then I drilled many holes in the sides it has good flow no need to force the water out. I also have a big mesh breeder net box...that has the other fish in it right now. I'm hoping the clown is going to be ok he looks rough....

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I think it didn't work for my guppies because the breeder box has really fine grates or the babies will escape. Plus FW tanks don't have much flow.

 

Let us know how the new clown interacts with your female!

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I have one with slits in the bottom then I drilled many holes in the sides it has good flow no need to force the water out. I also have a big mesh breeder net box...that has the other fish in it right now. I'm hoping the clown is going to be ok he looks rough....

 

I would def try this, I got my maroon hybrid to accept a male occy using a breeder box. It took several weeks though. First I had him in it, then swapped them and trapped her in the box so he could see the tank, then I think I swapped positions again..... eventually... I was able to put them together without death. I mostly just watched for when the male was shaking inside the box at her and the female was no longer charging the box like a mad bull.

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