Clownfish pairing question.

[Brandochili]

I have two ocelaris clownfish. One orange and one black. I got the orange ocelaris clownfish about 14 months ago. It's was about 3/4 to 1 inch long at the time. After a little less than a month I bought a black ocelaris clownfish with hopes of pairing them. They are the only fish in the tank. At the time I got the black one, it was a little smaller than the orange one. They got along really well for the first week, then started to fight quite badly for a week or two. The black clownfish always looked more rough than the orange one. Ripped fins but nothing too serious. I've never had to separate them. Since then, they've gone in and out of fighting. They will be fine for a while and then fight for a few days. They have been sleeping within 3 inches of eachother for probably 12 months now. The black one sleeps in pulsing Xenia while the orange  one sleeps in the  corner of the tank. Together but not really. The orange clownfish clearly the dominant one and is about 1 3/4 inches long and noticeably bigger than the black clownfish now (who hasn't grown much). The orange clownfish will go up to the black clownfish and shake. Sometimes the black clownfish shakes back and sometimes it doesn't.

 

I'm just wondering if I can expect them to pair soon or if I have two females or what the deal is? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Clown79]

This is normal behaviour. Unless there is aggression to the point of constant damage.

 

The female constantly bullies and herds the male. They do it in nature to keep the males, male. 

 

There is no time frame for pairing. Males are always smaller than the females

 

 

[SXReefer]

Take one back and get one that is alot smaller

[OPtasia]

Isn't it just like a woman to want to dominate her man?

[markalot]

Sounds like they are paired, the behavior at night is key.  If they sleep together then pairing is complete.  The male is useless, in my big tank I have to feed him separately because he's only allowed to leave the right side of the tank for a few days a month.   

[SXReefer]

My female will swim up to my male's face and he would twitch as if he had a seizure.  She stares him down.  He continues to twitch.  She swim away after satisfied knowing who's the boss but sometime turning a quick 180 degrees and right back into his face, causing him to twitch seizure-like.  She'll be like, "that's what I thought.  I'm the female.  Remember that!" She swims away and everything is all groovy.  So long as he twitches (not her, NEVER her) and she wears the dress they will not have any issues.

 

So, what did we learn?  My male twitches, never her.  My male is 1/3 her size.  She comes to him, he twitches.  He comes to her, he kisses her fins.