Question About Clownfish Mated Pairs

[pletlibo]

Hello everyone! I am a new reefer who just set up my first tank a couple of weeks ago. It's a 75 gallon display with a 30 gallon sump. Well, for my first fish I decided to get a pair of little juvenile clownfish, as I had done lots of research and wanted a mated pair. Everything was fine for the first couple of days, and both fish were eating. However, there was what I could only describe as a freak accident causing the death of one of the fish. They were very small fish, and one of them got their head and tail stuck in the skimmer box's holes. He was like this for maybe an hour before I noticed and got him out. Right after, he swam for about a second then sunk down to the bottom and was blown around freely by the flow of the tank. After a couple of minutes, it was clear that he was dead. It seemed as if his neck or spine got injured because his head was inside of the skimmer and his body was outside. Since, I've put a fine holed strip over the holes of the skimmer, so my other fish would not get stuck in. My question is this: in order to get a mated pair of clowns I've read that you have to get two juveniles and add them at the same time. Since I just had this fish die, can I put another juvenile in, and will the process still be successful? It's only been about three days since I added them both. The remaining clown is still very small.

Thanks!

 

[jefra]

When pairing clownfish it's better for one to be larger than the other, even if it's a barely noticeable size difference. This reduces quarreling as one transitions to become the more dominant female. If your tank is cycled, you've since removed the dead fish, and your ammonia is undetectable, I don't see why you couldn't add another now.

 

[recess62]

Glad this thread came up. I have a similar situation. I had a mated pair together for 2 years. One died. Can I introduce another clown?

 

[Mar]

I would think adding a little larger fish would help on bullying. The new environment might minimize initial aggression

 

[Tahoe61]

What types of clowns are these?

They were probably a bonded pair based on size and description. It's fairly easy to created another bonded pair as already posted, choose a smaller clown if able.

Most juvenile clowns will readily take up with another smaller clowns if the clowns are not yet established.

An acclimation box can be of great assist when introducing one clown to another.

Welcome to REEF2REEF.

 

[meir]

Actually on this topic, I had a pair of gnm. My male died about two weeks ago. I just picked up a regular gsm baby, I put the established female in qt with the baby in hopes that they will pair. Is this a good idea?

 

[pletlibo]

Thanks for all of the responses! They weren't a mated pair, as they were both juveniles. I just picked up another, smaller ocellaris clownfish to introduce into the system to hopefully get a mated pair. He's acclimating now. I will post here how it goes, in case anyone in wondering.

 

[don_chuwish]

They were very small fish, and one of them got their head and tail stuck in the skimmer box's holes.

Skimmer box holes? Do you mean the overflow teeth? I'm confused by the visual of having a protein skimmer in the display tank... or maybe it's a HOB skimmer?

 

[pletlibo]

Skimmer box holes? Do you mean the overflow teeth? I'm confused by the visual of having a protein skimmer in the display tank... or maybe it's a HOB skimmer?

I do mean overflow teeth. I don’t have a protein skimmer in the display.