Clownfish problem

Birchell · 08-24-2006, 05:07 PM

Hey everyone,

Ive got alittle problem here. Today I got a new percula clown, in hopes it would pair up with my other percula. But when I put the new clown in my current one, which Ive had for about 2-3 months, it went crazy and started chasing the new one like crazy. I was almost sure this would happen but not to this extent. How long does it usually take for them to figure out who is male and female. The new clown is alittle smaller than my old one. Was hoping to find one that was alot smaller, but all the small ones were missing there stripes

. I dont have another tank to put it in, so hopefully they will work things out soon.

Birchell

Bruce · 08-24-2006, 05:38 PM

Well, as long as they are not both female it should be ok. Mine took a few weeks...maybe a month untill they stoped fighting...heck it took a few months until they stoped completly. The small ones that didnt have all stripes means that they are most likley tank-bred. Tank-bred clown fish have different stripe patterns but usually get all the stripes as they mature.

Good Luck with the fighting couple.

Birchell · 08-24-2006, 06:42 PM

thanks for the quick reply. my clowns are tank raised, but show good markings. my larger clown is about 1 3/4", and smaller one is about 1 1/4". Not much difference, but i dont think they are old enough to have changed yet, or well I hope.

Monacle · 08-24-2006, 07:29 PM

Watch the small one closely and try to cover the top of the tank if possible. Usually the first night is the biggest worry of the big one chasing the small one right out of the tank. I have tanks back to back and I have 16 pairs of clowns... I have had the small clown jump into the other tank. I have also had them jump down below into my sump. After 2 or 3 days you should be mostly in the clear. Watch for the sign of submission. Its a vibration of the body of the fish and looks pretty cool. Looks kinda like they're having a seizure. The big one should do it, then the small one should repeat. That should be a sign your on your way to a bonded pair.

GL

Birchell · 08-24-2006, 07:49 PM

cool i hope to see it, right now the small one is under a rock and the big one keeps going there to make sure it has not moved, almost like it is gaurding it. i realy hope it is not already a female. how long does a clown normaly take to turn into a female when it is by itself?

Bruce · 08-24-2006, 08:19 PM

I just remembered, when i had them in the nano for QT the little one kept jumping into the bad area...i had to get him out with a spoon alot...hah

serotonin · 08-24-2006, 08:45 PM

Perhaps this belongs in a different thread, but monacle, im curious if your growing greenwater / rotifers yet for when your clowns decide to reproduce?

Birchell · 08-24-2006, 09:37 PM

no, right now im just trying to get a pair formed. ive just liked clownfish so long I thought I would give it a try.

the bigger clown(the one ive had longer) is doing the seizure thing, but the new clown seems to scared to do anything. if it gets out of the corner it will get chased until it goes back to the corner.

one thing ive noticed is that clownfish are alot like freshwater cichlids. they are easy to breed, but sometimes it takes alittle work to get the pair to form. more so if you have one longer than the other. i knew i should have got the two together.

also, im thinking of finally converting one of my 55g tanks to salt, can i have two pairs of different clowns in the same tank? or will this bring on a war? thanks for all the replies

nemo79 · 08-25-2006, 09:42 AM

that's funny, my cichlids do the vibrating of the body but that's usually when there mad and ready to pounce, then again I have never seen a cichlid be submissive if it's naturally aggressive. I have a clown and I purchased 2 originally but one died. The other clown has been by itself since the 7th of august and it doesn't bother any other inhabitants, will I have a problem adding another clown or has it not been long enough to cause a problem?

Monacle · 08-25-2006, 10:01 AM

When purchasing a 2nd clown the key is to buy one significantly smaller than the existing one. There are a couple techniques that I'll share with you on introducing a second clown to an existing dominant clown.

1) get your self one of those hang over the side acrylic boxes. Hang it on the inside of the tank. Acclimate the new clown to the tank water. Put the new clown in the acrylic box. Remember to put a net or something over the box because there is a good chance that it might do some jumping. Let the big one come and check out the new one. Once there appears to be no hostililties release the small one into the tank, net ready in case of some severe fighting.

2) I have used this method as well and it works too. Get yourself that eggcrate ceiling lighting grid and you can either put in a divider depending on the type of tank you have or use zip ties and make a box with a closable lid. Again, acclimate the new clown, insert the new clown into the box and set it in the tank somewhere until it appears the big one doesn't really care about its presence.

Birchell, if the big one is beating the crap out of the small one, you'll want to remove the small one a.s.a.p. You can try to reintroduce them again later maybe using of of the two techniques mentioned above. If the big one is just being really dominant, but isn't physically harming the small one... then that's what you want. If the big one is doing the seizure thing and the small one isn't. That explains why the big one is still being very aggressive. When the small one starts returning the seizure thing back, the big one should start to mellow out.

Serotonin: I have run my test colonies of rotifiers and greenwaters and even my baby brine, but I am not producing any as we speak because I am just waiting for eggs to be laid. At the site of first eggs, I will have some rotifers shipped overnight and get my production going again.

Gl Birchell

And GLTA