How long does it take for clownfish to bond?

Reefbuds · Oct 13, 2017

I recently added a new clownfish to my established tank. I've had the same clownfish for about 15 months now and really want to find em a mate. So far it's the normal bullying but I'm wondering, when will this end? How long does it take before my clownfish will allow the new one into the anemone?

aKlevans · Oct 13, 2017

I would say up to 2 months, but usually less than that.

Dsnakes · Oct 13, 2017

How big are they? Helps if one is larger/known female. Faster decision on who's the boss

Reefbuds · Oct 13, 2017

Dsnakes said:
How big are they? Helps if one is larger/known female. Faster decision on who's the boss

Mine is most likely femle, she's been alone for almost 15 months and is much larger. New came from a group of about 8 Blizzard clowns and is medium size.

jozekgawlak · Oct 13, 2017

It depends on when you introduced the clowns with each other mine paired up after a month. If they don't match then one will end up killing the other..

Reefbuds · Oct 14, 2017

Right now I'm more worried about my 6 line wrasse. I hate that fish but it is almost impossible to catch with my rockwork. *sigh*

Amoo · Oct 14, 2017

Until she feels like it. Legitimately.

Bonfish · Oct 14, 2017

Mine were almost two years, they could not figure out who wanted to be female.

scurvy dawg · Oct 15, 2017

I had a "bonded" pair of black ocellaris and the female for whatever reason decided she hated the male one day and bullied him into constant hiding. He would not even come out to eat because she was ruthless. He finally died and I left her alone for a few months. I then added a smaller black ocellaris and they instantly bonded and are doing great after a few months. Other than a few instances where she has to remind him who is boss, they get along great.

Reefbuds · Oct 15, 2017

scurvy dawg said:
I had a "bonded" pair of black ocellaris and the female for whatever reason decided she hated the male one day and bullied him into constant hiding. He would not even come out to eat because she was ruthless. He finally died and I left her alone for a few months. I then added a smaller black ocellaris and they instantly bonded and are doing great after a few months. Other than a few instances where she has to remind him who is boss, they get along great.

This is strange from information I have gathered.

scurvy dawg · Oct 16, 2017

wallace said:
This is strange from information I have gathered.

What's worse is the bonded pair I bought were from Divers Den, so they were not exactly cheap.

Reefbuds · Oct 16, 2017

One of mine is a black and white occi and the other is a blizzard percula. Could this make the bond more difficult?

Amoo · Oct 17, 2017

significantly, as in, they may never pair up...

Reefbuds · Oct 17, 2017

Amoo said:
significantly, as in, they may never pair up...

I see. I've seen a few places say that Percs and occi will pair and even breed tho?

Amoo · Oct 17, 2017

Yes, it's not to say they never will, but your chances go down significantly. If they were both one or the other it would be close to 100%, seeing as you have a perc and an occy, that's no longer the case. As far as the female is concerned it may just be another clownfish/damselfish and she may not want anything to do with him.

Reefbuds · Oct 17, 2017

Amoo said:
Yes, it's not to say they never will, but your chances go down significantly. If they were both one or the other it would be close to 100%, seeing as you have a perc and an occy, that's no longer the case. As far as the female is concerned it may just be another clownfish/damselfish and she may not want anything to do with him.

I see, I'll have to keep an eye on them then, for now they seem ok, just the normal picking

Philipgonzales3 · Mar 13, 2019

wallace said:
I see, I'll have to keep an eye on them then, for now they seem ok, just the normal picking

@wallace Did your clows ever pair up? I have two Picasso clowns but was just curious.

Reefbuds · Mar 13, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
@wallace Did your clows ever pair up? I have two Picasso clowns but was just curious.

Yea they did pair up for a little while, then I had a massive tank crash due to GHA. Have since rebounded fantastically and managed to pair up two clarkii clownfish to go with my haddoni.

JWalk3r · Mar 13, 2019

If you don’t have any other potential jumpers take your lid off and your wrasse will take care of itself lol

Oldsalt · Nov 14, 2019

I had a bonded pair of breeding oscilaris for 18 months. The female was much older (8 years)and the male was 2 when the female died. The male was left alone only for one week. I bought a tank bred smaller (likely still sexually neutral) osc a week later. I acclimated him for an hour then let him go. He immediately went to my lonesome male and he did the quiver thing for a few minutes then stopped and allowed the new one to rub onto the large anemone almost immediately. They started sleeping in the same host from night 1. The smaller (new) one started defending the territory within a few hours, chasing away any fish that dares enter the no go zone. They also feed in turns, as one defends then they swap. I was amazed at how quickly they took to each other. It looks like the original male is becoming female and is cleaning the rock where his original mate always layed, plus playing the dominance game that the deceased female played way back when. It's intriguing to watch.