fish, fish, fish...

[Guy W]

I ordered 2 pairs of False Perc's on tuesday. Shipped out yesterday and arrived today. My LFS ordered them from ORA for me. They are supposed to be a mated and breeding pair. Apparently they had to many breeding False Perc's so they let them go.

The fish themselves look great. The females a around 3 to 3.5 inches, the males are a good 2 to 2.5 inches. Excellent coloration and the appear very healthy. If I had to guess I would say they must be atleast 3+ years old, possibly more. Thats my only real concern, their age. I hope they are "past their prime" so to speak.

So now we've got a pair of Maroons and 2 pairs of the False Percula's.

We also started growing some brine shrimp for practice and started a green water culture. We haven't tried growing any Rotifers yet, we will probably hold off on that until we see some spawning.

Just thought I'd post an update.

Guy

[Joey D]

sounds cool, Im gonna try to breed fish soon, except clowns never like new additions(other clowns) to the tank. Even though when i bought my perc, it was in a tank with about 30 other percs, now the he owns my tank and has his own anemone, he's become very territorial. I guess i just have to buy 2 at a time from the same tank, and see what they do. of course, I could also buy a breeded pair. Good luck with your fish farm.

[Guy W]

With my Maroons, they were not a pair when I bought them. I kept the seperated for a week in 2 different tanks when i got them, then put the smaller (I assume Male) into the large (the Females) tank. I made plenty of refuge areas for the little guy so he could hide from the female if needed. They never fought and immediately began swimming side by side.

Interesting since everyone I've spoken too says never add 2 Maroon Clowns together... But how else am I supposed to get them to "do it" :)

So far everything is going well... So even if a fish is established I think it can be done if care is taken in selecting the potential mate (choosing a significantly smaller or significantly larger fish) and providing good places for refuge.

Thanks,
Guy

[mogurnda]

Joey,
The way to pair your clown is to get a very small one. Sounds like yours has already developed into a female, and therefore you'll need to get a juvenile to pair off with her. There will be some chasing, but the smaller individual will submit and become a male.

Maroons are supposed to be harder, but the key is apparently to put a barrier between the fish, so that the female can see the smaller fish but not kill it. I haven't done it, but JHardman has an excellent sticky thread regarding this very topic at Reef Central.