Clownfish pairing (what to expect)

[Fish?]

Hello, I just got a new clownfish to go in my 24g cube from aquatop, a davinci and a nearly naked. The nearly naked clownfish is the new and slightly larger fish. So should I expect fighting and what should it look like, so far they are swimming close to one another and the nearly naked clownfish seems to be slowly swimming toward the davinci and possibly biting it. They haven't been chasing or anything just what looks to be shaking, making it look like they are hitting the other fish with their tail and the possible biting and a wide mouth open from wither fish. Thanks for the response and help!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Who knows how they will react? Lol, sounds like they are getting along so far. enjoy! Good luck.

 

[elorablue]

My 2 clowns do very similar things and they've been together since birth. They're very funny and peculiar fish

 

[Fish?]

Who knows how they will react? Lol, sounds like they are getting along so far. enjoy! Good luck.

seems like they are getting along now, just swimming side by side, I guess wounds is too far so I'll react then and stop worrying lol.

 

[Azedenkae]

Hello, I just got a new clownfish to go in my 24g cube from aquatop, a davinci and a nearly naked. The nearly naked clownfish is the new and slightly larger fish. So should I expect fighting and what should it look like, so far they are swimming close to one another and the nearly naked clownfish seems to be slowly swimming toward the davinci and possibly biting it. They haven't been chasing or anything just what looks to be shaking, making it look like they are hitting the other fish with their tail and the possible biting and a wide mouth open from wither fish. Thanks for the response and help!

You should expect anything within a spectrum from nothing, and both are chill and get along well to full on battle to the death. Though given the behaviors you described, seems more like it'll be closer to the former than latter. What size are they?

 

[Fish?]

Hello, here's an update because I figured I should wait and se what would happen..... so now the newer bigger one (possibly a little under 1.5 inches) is chasing the older smaller one (about an inch maybe a little over) and making him hide, and when he finds him is looks like he slaps him with his tail and darts after him if he tries to get away, also behavior coming from the newer one is tilting from his one side to the other when engaging the other clown, and when he does anything to the clown he will only sometimes fight back, like just biting his mouth then fleeing. Today has been the worst of it b/c yesterday he was just hiding at the top corner and was only harassed a little. So today I caught the newer bigger one and kept him in a net for a few minutes, it did nothing. So I have no idea what to do because I really don't want either to die. I heard about getting a breeder box or something and isolating the fish, but I don't know if it will work. So any suggestions? thank you for the help.

 

[FlowGod]

Yea pairing clowns can be hard. From my experience with paring my two maroon clowns my female was quite a bit larger than the male (probably around .5" to 1"). When there is not a big enough difference between the two in size is when you could run into a problem. One of the clowns needs to submit to the larger clown. When I added them at the same time they swam together and looked like they paired. But after a week or so my female clown bullied my male clown extensively. His fins where all torn up and he had a hard time swimming. It was a few months of rough times for that little guy. I didn't do anything because I knew my male had hiding places within my live rock. When he got his strength back he hid in my toadstool leather and she in her anemone. Over time he started to submit to her dominance within their relationship. He would kiss her cheeks and vibrate his body (looks like he is having a seizure). Those were the two submissive behaviors my male clown would demonstrate to the female. You should look for submissive behaviors within your clowns relationship and monitor the male's health closely.

 

[Azedenkae]

Hello, here's an update because I figured I should wait and se what would happen..... so now the newer bigger one (possibly a little under 1.5 inches) is chasing the older smaller one (about an inch maybe a little over) and making him hide, and when he finds him is looks like he slaps him with his tail and darts after him if he tries to get away, also behavior coming from the newer one is tilting from his one side to the other when engaging the other clown, and when he does anything to the clown he will only sometimes fight back, like just biting his mouth then fleeing. Today has been the worst of it b/c yesterday he was just hiding at the top corner and was only harassed a little. So today I caught the newer bigger one and kept him in a net for a few minutes, it did nothing. So I have no idea what to do because I really don't want either to die. I heard about getting a breeder box or something and isolating the fish, but I don't know if it will work. So any suggestions? thank you for the help.

Welp, that's no good.

I never had such issues, but people generally suggest that yeah a breeder box could help. The idea it seems is to put the aggressor in the box, that seems to work better in getting the fish to bond.

 

[FlowGod]

Here is a thread on reef central talking about ways to pair

Pairing Clownfish - Reef Central Online Community

Pairing Clownfish Anemones & Clownfish

www.reefcentral.com

 

[Fish?]

Welp, that's no good.

I never had such issues, but people generally suggest that yeah a breeder box could help. The idea it seems is to put the aggressor in the box, that seems to work better in getting the fish to bond.

ok sounds good. Any in tank hang on cheapy boxes you know of? I dont want to buy a pump and bubbler and all that. Thanks

 

[Fish?]

Here is a thread on reef central talking about ways to pair

Pairing Clownfish - Reef Central Online Community

Pairing Clownfish Anemones & Clownfish

www.reefcentral.com

Thanks, I'm gonna read this.

Ok this is an edit and I just noticed I read this somewhere else, not on reef central and the person who wrote it stole the entire thing lol

 

[Azedenkae]

ok sounds good. Any in tank hang on cheapy boxes you know of? I dont want to buy a pump and bubbler and all that. Thanks

I don't have any specific suggestions, sorry. Hopefully someone with a better idea can come by and suggest something.

Maybe ask again in a new topic in the Anemone and Clownfish subforum to see if you have more success there.

 

[FlowGod]

I tried to put my male into a hang on box and it didn't do anything. Again I had maroons and they are more aggressive. It might work for you, but I would be more worried about trying to catch him which would stress him out even more. Make sure he has hiding places throughout the live rock, if not then go the hang on box route.

PS: I just bought mine on amazon for like 15 bucks

 

[Azedenkae]

I tried to put my male into a hang on box and it didn't do anything. Again I had maroons and they are more aggressive. It might work for you, but I would be more worried about trying to catch him which would stress him out even more. Make sure he has hiding places throughout the live rock, if not then go the hang on box route.

PS: I just bought mine on amazon for like 15 bucks

Which is apparently why people suggest putting the female in the box, not the male.

 

[FlowGod]

Which is apparently why people suggest putting the female in the box, not the male.

Well its definitely worth a shot if it gets to a point where you have to separate them. They are worth the head ache when paring in the end. (Here is my lady)

 

[Fish?]

I tried to put my male into a hang on box and it didn't do anything. Again I had maroons and they are more aggressive. It might work for you, but I would be more worried about trying to catch him which would stress him out even more. Make sure he has hiding places throughout the live rock, if not then go the hang on box route.

PS: I just bought mine on amazon for like 15 bucks

So what if neither are the female because both were the smallest fish of the groups in the store and could that mean neither would be submissive? Also I have found a box to buy and its like 8x3.57x3.75 would that work? It's not the one I'm getting but is the size fine, even for a few weeks?

 

[Azedenkae]

So what if neither are the female because both were the smallest fish of the groups in the store and could that mean neither would be submissive?

No, that just means one will become female and become dominant and the other submissive fish. Which seems to be what is occurring here.

 

[Fish?]

No, that just means one will become female and become dominant and the other submissive fish. Which seems to be what is occurring here.

Oh ok, I just thought that if one wasn't mature enough it wouldn't be submissive, But I'm glad for the help.

 

[dhnguyen]

Hindsight is 20/20 but next time you should try to pair a big clown with a significantly smaller one. That method has always worked for me. My pair just had another batch of eggs today, it's a weekly routine it seems.