Clown pairing not working

catfishblues · Nov 2, 2018

I got a pretty large Clarkii clownfish in my 66-gallon tank. I had been wanting a pair but the color and movement on this one was so nice I decided if it didn't pair off then I'd be happy with just this clown. The lfs didn't have any males for her so the next day I got another one that is significantly smaller and put him in. She hadn't let him on the half of the tank with her anemone and would occasionally chase him on his own side, but also seemed to like to spend time near him more than the nem, just not in a pairing kind of way. after about 4 days it didn't better so I moved the nem into his territory which stopped the aggression for about a day. She slowly reclaimed the nem from him and although she does let him very close to it if he tries to get in with her she goes crazy. I managed to get her into my refugium for a timeout and moved the nem again. Will some time to let the territories belong to the submissive male help at all or is she going to continue to reject him?

JasonK84 · Nov 2, 2018

I've read before that if you imprison the male in view of the larger female that the female would slowly get used to it being there without the threat to the male. I have no first hand experience with this but this was something I read on the clownfish and anemone forum. That may be a good place to search for what you need.

mort · Nov 3, 2018

The fact she didn't kill it out right is a good sign. Clown pairing can be rough as essentially the male is bullied into staying a male. Without the constant bickering there is a chance the male will challenge her, so it needs to be dominated.

I'd put them together and leave them to it. You might see the odd bite mark or split fin but unless it is physically cowering or relentlessly attacked, you don't need to intervene. They won't just cosy up together in a day or two (some clowns might but not the more aggressive species) but in time he'll show she's dominant and they should live together but perhaps not in the same anemone which is fairly normal unless it's big enough.

catfishblues · Nov 3, 2018

Okay I'll put her back in. I've only paired maroons once and they instantly bonded so it was stressing me out to see the poor guy not allowed on one half of the whole tank, but he's very submissive. He does the vibrating thing and goes belly up when she's aggressive

JasonK84 · Nov 3, 2018

Hope it all works out for you. I bought a couple lightning maroon clowns from my LFS back in February. They looked at the store like they were getting along nicely. Had them in QT at home and all was fine. Moved them to the 30 gallon and all was fine. Added an anthias and within a week I came home from work one day and the larger clown had every fin ripped to shreds on the little guy. I pulled him out right away and back into QT but he didn't make it. Still have the larger one but she hasn't been the same since either.

Best of luck to you!

Neptune 555 · Nov 3, 2018

Actually the vibrating thing and going belly up is the right response... to show his submission. It might take a while but I think they will bond... it is never 100% tho... But yes the fact that she didn't already kill him is a good sign. I tried to pair up an existing clown... and within 2 minutes I was SCREAMING for someone in the house to bring me a net. They had locked and were biting each others necks... both had injuries... both survived but were separated into 2 different tanks. After I had set up a way larger tank I tried to place them together again.. BAD IDEA. In such a huge tank I have no idea how they still found each other again in seconds and engaged in a death bite. I had thought a new house might make the happier : ) It didn't!

davocean · Nov 3, 2018

Sounds like typical bonding process, it may take a while for the female to let male into nem, but just the fact it's submitting and she's not killing it is actually a good sign, just give it some time