Still worried about my clownfish

[melypr1985]

Looks like your "pair" could actually be two females, or two clowns that were in transition to be female when the were put together. They only go one way, so if they started to transition they can't stop and go back. You'll probably have to split them up and get a true juvenile to pair with your favorite female.

 

[michellejy]

Could it happen when they are that young? I got them from one of the sponsors on these forums. :/

 

[rayn]

Looks like your "pair" could actually be two females, or two clowns that were in transition to be female when the were put together. They only go one way, so if they started to transition they can stop and go back. You'll probably have to split them up and get a true juvenile to pair with your favorite female.

Is that a mis type or not? You say they can go back if in transition? But they can't go back if fully female.

 

[melypr1985]

Is that a mis type or not? You say they can go back if in transition? But they can't go back if fully female.

lLOL!!! Yes !!! a typo!! fixed it! I even read it back twice before posting it!

 

[michellejy]

lLOL!!! Yes !!! a typo!! fixed it! I even read it back twice before posting it!

I knew what you meant

 

[dbl]

I agree with the others...no submission behavior in the vids that I can see. I agree with Meredith that one may have to go back and be replaced with a smaller one that hasn't started the transition.

 

[rayn]

I just wanted clarification for anyone reading through the thread at some point. Mel knows, michellejy knows, I know, but somebody new might not and get confused.

It's all good. Now back to your wee little clowns.

 

[Humblefish]

You can double check by asking here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/anemone-clownfish-discussion.182/

But I'm pretty sure those are two females, based upon what I'm seeing in your latest video.

 

[michellejy]

Crap. That would be really bad. They were not purchased locally.

 

[michellejy]

I have been working in the room where the quarantine tank is set up since about 7:00 this morning (so for the past 7.5 hours). In that time, I haven't seen him on the bottom even once. Oddly, I also haven't seen him charge the larger clown in that entire time. However, I did see her charge him once, which I haven't seen her do before. He did a side shimmy, but since she charged at him from below, he was above her. I'm not sure if that counts. LOL

At this point, I am not sure exactly what is going on with them. I will probably do a "just in case" treatment of methylene blue, but I am waiting for the smaller tank to stabilize first rather than risk putting medication in the tank that is already stable and set up with live rock.

Fish are so fun, right?

 

[dbl]

Not to repeat myself, but clowns are weird! I'm glad things seemed to have settled down, at least for now.

 

[michellejy]

Not to repeat myself, but clowns are weird! I'm glad things seemed to have settled down, at least for now.

Hey, I appreciate reassurances. I am definitely a worrier, which has not been helped by losing my last clownfish to brook after introducing a juvenile to pair with her. (In case the thought crosses anyone's mind, nothing in my quarantine tank has had any contact with the tank that had the fish with brook.)

 

[Oceansize]

Is it possible this is some sort of stress reaction to the constant dominance displays with the larger clown? They only last a matter of seconds, but they are pretty frequent.

This was actually my guess. I've lost more fish to stress than identifiable disease, things like having more than one of the same type of tang, adding a clown that the first clown didn't like, etc etc.

 

[s2nhle]

I had the same situation before with my almost same size clowns. They were not living together for awhile. one of them started bigger and the smaller one was hiding. but then one day, I saw they swam together and they are together ever since. Still not laying eggs yet.

 

[michellejy]

I had the same situation before with my almost same size clowns. They were not living together for awhile. one of them started bigger and the smaller one was hiding. but then one day, I saw they swam together and they are together ever since. Still not laying eggs yet.

I had my ocellaris pair together for 7 years, and they never laid eggs. My tomatoes did after being together a month. Fish are weird.

 

[dbl]

...Fish are weird.

LOL...I"ve never heard that expression!

 

[michellejy]

LOL...I"ve never heard that expression!

Yes, a wise forum member once told me this when I was freaking out.

 

[michellejy]

I wanted to give an update, not only for everyone who gave advice but also for anyone who might come across this in a search.

Today I caught the male swimming normally and then diving to the bottom of the tank to lay on his side and play dead so I finally know what caused it. It was a reaction to being startled.

He was swimming normally in front of me while I was running some tests on the second quarantine tank. Without thinking, I started shaking the test tube in front of the tank. He immediately darted to the bottom, collapsed on his side, and froze in place.

I now realize that every time I was already in the room for a period of time, he didn't do it. However, there were a few occasions where I walked in to find him on the tank floor. I didn’t have any lighting over the tank, so I am fairly certain that turning on the light in the room elicited the startle response from him. It also explains why I never saw the female do it if it was some sort of toxin/medication reaction in the tank.

I put a light over the tank the day I made the last post in this thread, and until today, I had not seen the behavior again.

 

[dbl]

Thanks Michelle for the update...and I'm glad it turned out to be nothing serious.

 

[Peterson88]

I would say they are too close in size typically clowns that are that similar in size have issues getting along.