Clowns paired already?

SouthWestSalt · Sep 4, 2022

Hello everyone! I have cycled my tank over this last week using bio spira, finally today I added some fish and Cuc! I went to my LFS “Scenic Cove in El Paso, TX about 45 mins away” I picked up three bumble bee snails, and three blue leg hermits for the Cuc so far. For the clowns they were running out of options quickly from what they had posted online. I originally wanted an orange storm pair but they were sold, so I decided on a small standard ocellaris clown and a slightly larger black ice. I added the smaller clown first thinking it would reduce any aggression. However the standard was very shy, which was soon justified because he took a few good nips to the face after I added the black ice who was very active and curious immediately. My wife and I had to leave about an hour after I added everyone and I was nervous to say the least. Luckily I came back to no missing fins, in fact it seems that my clowns have found a small low flow open cave to call home. They are both together In close proximity maybe trying to pair? They haven’t had any bright lights on them and I don’t want to flash a pic just for the post thinking maybe it will disrupt this new “pairing”. I will post plenty of good pics in the morning though. Do clowns pair this quickly? And what advice do you have for a newbie? Any other foods you recommend? Things to look out for as far as signs of stress/illness? Thank you for reading!
-SouthWestSalty

Garf · Sep 4, 2022

SouthWestSalt said:
Hello everyone! I have cycled my tank over this last week using bio spira, finally today I added some fish and Cuc! I went to my LFS “Scenic Cove in El Paso, TX about 45 mins away” I picked up three bumble bee snails, and three blue leg hermits for the Cuc so far. For the clowns they were running out of options quickly from what they had posted online. I originally wanted an orange storm pair but they were sold, so I decided on a small standard ocellaris clown and a slightly larger black ice. I added the smaller clown first thinking it would reduce any aggression. However the standard was very shy, which was soon justified because he took a few good nips to the face after I added the black ice who was very active and curious immediately. My wife and I had to leave about an hour after I added everyone and I was nervous to say the least. Luckily I came back to no missing fins, in fact it seems that my clowns have found a small low flow open cave to call home. They are both together In close proximity maybe trying to pair? They haven’t had any bright lights on them and I don’t want to flash a pic just for the post thinking maybe it will disrupt this new “pairing”. I will post plenty of good pics in the morning though. Do clowns pair this quickly? And what advice do you have for a newbie? Any other foods you recommend? Things to look out for as far as signs of stress/illness? Thank you for reading!
-SouthWestSalty

I’ve had 4 pairs over the years. All of mine have paired (hang around which each other) immediately then had little scraps between there selves to see who controls the money. After a while they have all settled down to breed. Mine have always been similar in appearance to the other though (not sure if that has any bearing).

SouthWestSalt · Sep 4, 2022

Garf said:
I’ve had 4 pairs over the years. All of mine have paired (hang around which each other) immediately then had little scraps between there selves to see who controls the money. After a while they have all settled down to breed. Mine have always been similar in appearance to the other though (not sure if that has any bearing).

Thank you for the response, that was an initial concern of mine however the manager at the LFS said he has paired a few different colors and convinced me it would most likely be fine. I did originally want two orange storms which were sold so i thought let’s try it. I am hoping they breed eventually that would be awesome. Which pair do you think you have enjoyed the most? “If possible to pick haha” cheers!

Garf · Sep 4, 2022

SouthWestSalt said:
Thank you for the response, that was an initial concern of mine however the manager at the LFS said he has paired a few different colors and convinced me it would most likely be fine. I did originally want two orange storms which were sold so i thought let’s try it. I am hoping they breed eventually that would be awesome. Which pair do you think you have enjoyed the most? “If possible to pick haha” cheers!

My first, of course lol. 2 black saddlebacks in about 2004/5. Vicious little buggars. They seemed to have a sex addiction, lol.