Clowns are fighting

[Crumb]

I bought 2 juvinile clowns for my tank. The person at the LFS I bought them from said becuase the clowns are so young, they don't actually have a sex yet. She said if I were to get one a bit larger than the other that one would become male and the other female. She also said that during this time, while they grew into their sexes, they would fight a bit. But, mine are nipping at each other so much that the smaller one is getting a beat up tail fin. The small ones black line also seem to be lighter then the black on the bigger one.

 

Is this all normal?

[lgreen]

well, last time i checked, fish don't have sex. they do infact spawn, and yes when they are mature.

 

actually, the larger one becomes the female, and the smaller one the male.

 

they should start to settle down eventually. probably just refreshing their dominance issue.

[lgreen]

is there are fairly significant size diff?

[chrissreef]

both are probably male (clowns are born male, they aren't born without a sex). They are defining their dominance and should stop fighting if they're the same species. Give them a day or two and PM me if you're still having issues.