Overly aggressive "male?" Is he actually a she?

[champyeti]

I have a pair of clowns, female black ice longfin and a "male" black misbar longfin.

I have had the female since August, I purchased her with a much-smaller juvenile and they got along well. Both got Brook and he passed away from it, she went through formalin QT and fully recovered.

In, I would say September, I got her another mate, the black misbar longfin. This fish was closer in size to her but still a bit smaller. He also went through formalin QT as he came from the same store and he HATED it, I didn't know fish could get depression until him. Perfectly normal once he got into the DT and got along with her, they seemed to establish a pecking order, over time all the translucent long ends to his fins got nipped off by her but he never seemed stressed.

Upgraded tanks a week ago and I am wondering if the change of scenery has triggered something? I feel like as the months have gone by he's gotten closer in size to the female. Now he has started bullying her, he will chase her relentlessly and peck at her. Her long fins are getting nipped at and torn in a way they were not before. The black on her fins is much paler now like she's stressed. She'll hide in a corner. She doesn't seem to fight back at him very frequently, usually she just spreads her pectoral fins. They'll both do the quiver to each other.

They used to sleep next to each other all the time and so on. But now I'm worried that I either got the black misbar too far along in the process of him going from juvenile to female or somehow despite having another female in the tank? The only time they've been separated since he was added to the DT was being netted for the tank transfer lol.

She's currently swimming vertically against a corner by the powerhead while he swims normally nearby. She's been hiding at the top of the back of the tank by the return pumps. I'm worried him chasing her so aggressively despite supposedly being the male is a bad sign. If push came to shove I'd rehome him/trade him for a much-smaller juvenile because she was here first (and she has a prettier face, lol). Is this just new tank reestablishment of the pecking order/territory? Do males ever get super aggro to females, who don't fight back at all? Is this related to pre-spawning behavior as they reach maturity? I've only had them for 6 months or so but who's to say how old they were before arriving at my LFS.

He doesn't bother any of the other fish that I've seen - neither ever has, actually. I'm worried she's stressed and about both their behavior changing. Any thoughts on randomly aggressive males? Or if he's potentially not a male ;Nailbiting

 

[Sailfin11]

In my experience with clownfish pairs, the male is rarely aggressive towards the female. Usually, the female will chase and nip at the male, not the other way around. It is possible that you have two females, as that type of behavior is certainly unusual. Additionally, while maroon and clarkii clowns have noticeable size differences between the male and female, occelaris and percula tend to be fairly similar. Either way, a reef tank should be relaxing and having two fighting fish is not something that helps create that environment. I agree that you should switch one of them for a juvenile and try again. I would be sure to match long-finned with long-finned as they are less mobile than regulars and that would prevent one from being inherently stronger or more aggressive. Best of luck!