Should I Worry about this clownfish behavior?

[moz71]

Bought 2 new young onyx clownfish from lfs hoping they pair. They were young and in tank with many others. Got them home and staying close together I guess which is good. But they are constantly going face to face and doing this spinning in circles really close together. Not sure if they are battling or this is the behavior when trying to figure out who wants to be female. I only worry because they are so distracted that they are not eating. Should I worry or something I should do?

 

[VB313]

Bought 2 new young onyx clownfish from lfs hoping they pair. They were young and in tank with many others. Got them home and staying close together I guess which is good. But they are constantly going face to face and doing this spinning in circles really close together. Not sure if they are battling or this is the behavior when trying to figure out who wants to be female. I only worry because they are so distracted that they are not eating. Should I worry or something I should do?

How big are they ? Just hope you don’t have two females

 

[moz71]

About 1 and half inches. If 2 females wouldn’t they try to stay separated

 

[GK3]

Bought 2 new young onyx clownfish from lfs hoping they pair. They were young and in tank with many others. Got them home and staying close together I guess which is good. But they are constantly going face to face and doing this spinning in circles really close together. Not sure if they are battling or this is the behavior when trying to figure out who wants to be female. I only worry because they are so distracted that they are not eating. Should I worry or something I should do?

Are both spinning in circles or is just one of them? Generally when clowns pair, one will establish themself as the dominate one and this one will turn female. The male will acknowledge the dominance and will signal this by doing a goofy kind of dance to signal it is submitting. You can google this and see videos other reefers have posted.

Given that your clownfish are new and came from a large group, it seems unlikely you have two females. Although it’s not impossible. If you had two females, I’d expect them to fight anytime they were near each other and one would eventually kill the other. Be on the lookout for signs of torn fins etc.

I recommend posting a video or waiting a little while (as long as they aren’t hurting each other) to see if one starts getting much larger (that’s the female).

 

[moz71]

Thanks I will take a video tomorrow. I don’t necessarily see one giving in to the other. But what I really find odd is that I have a 125 gallon tank and they never separated more than a half inch. I will follow up tomorrow