Behavior of Mated Clownfish???

[TheCoralReef731]

Hi, i have had a clownfish for a little over a year now, and decided that I want another in my 20G. So I got one the same size (they labeled them medium at the store) and they seem to be flicking their tails at each other and sometimes even biting. Is there any chance for them to mate, or should I return the clownfish?

[Physh1]

Are they perculas? Usually getting them the same size is ok but could be a problem...it's not common but you could have one taking a dominant position. You could also not have a male & female. How long have you had the new one?

 

Cameron

[TheCoralReef731]

as of noon, 5/1/05, I have had him for 1 day. They are perculas, and they have stopped biting, but my previous one is stopping the new one from eating, so I'm exchanging the new one. Hopefully this one will work better.

[reef hugger]

The old one in your tank is defending its territory from the new clown. You are going to have the same problems even if you get a different clown, unless you get a smaller clown. The smaller clown will be more submissive and will except the position of the male.

 

Adding 2 clowns to a tank at one time, is ok.

Adding a clown and, then another of the same size later on is going to be trouble.

Adding a smaller clown to a tank with an already established clown, the smaller one has to accept its role or it is going to get the crap beat out it.

[Physh1]

Well, you may not have much luck with another....but you'll also need to give it more than a day to know whether or not it will work out...

 

Cameron

[TheCoralReef731]

okay, I got a slightly smaller one. The LFS guy said that if I introduce it in the dark, they might get along better. I think thats stupid, but I tried it anyway. I also transfered my present clown into a 2.5 gallon tank so they were both new to each other at first. They seem to be getting along better though.

[TheCoralReef731]

they love each other. Well, they dont fight at all. I hope since there are no territorial problems now and no fighting that they will mate and stay near each other. My old one was hosting the top of the water ( ??? ) but the new one stays near the bottom where I can see it.

[mikej]

I just did exactly this a couple of days ago - I've had a perc for about 3 months, and was waiting for the LFS to get another shipment of juveniles in. I was worried about the old perc being territorial, so here's what I did:

 

Took a gallon of water from the cube (just like I would with a water change), but instead of throwing it out I put it in a large glass bowl.

 

Put the microjet pump into the bowl on low for a bit of movement.

 

Put the old perc into the bowl, let him settle for about 10 mins.

 

Acclimated the new perc to the water in the bowl by pinholing the bag and setting it in. I figured the water in it would mix with the bowl water over 20 minutes or so.

 

After 20 minutes, cut the bag and let the new perc and all its LFS water into the bowl with the old perc. Let them investigate each other for about 15 minutes.

 

Caught the juvenile and released him into the aqurium, and let him get settled for about 10 minutes.

 

Caught the adult and released him into the aquarium.

 

Threw the mixed tank/LFS water out.

 

 

Everything has worked out very well. There's been no problems that I've seen at all - In fact the first night they were hunting pods together under the moonlights

[TheCoralReef731]

yeah, they have grown more close to each other gradually. I think the old one is having troubles giving up it's habit of hosting the surface of the water.

 

By the way, the old one is the one in my signature.