how to get to clowns together

[dpmac10]

hey whats up will i bought a pair of clowns and brought them home and about 15 hours later one died so i took it back and they replaced it but the only problem is that they other one is kind of chasing him around the tank for a little while now all its doing is swiming at the top of the water, what can i do so that they well get alone thanks

[Gealcath]

Sounds like a territory dispute. Clown fish are the same familiy as Damsels, so will get VERY territoraial to any new invaders (Arrivals) in thier territory. One thing that can help is moveing the decorations around as it disrupts territory borders.

[Kurt]

Make sure your water quality is good.
Then they must be also be Both Juveniles, or One female and one juvenile. So one or both should be a smaller size.
In a small tank then also should maybe not have other similar clowns or damsels around as they will make the clowns more upset and stressed. There will be some time to settle who is boss, that is normal.

[DEmigh]

Despite the presentation in the movie Finding Nemo, in clownfish pairs, the lady is the boss ;) Also, little Nemo couldn't have been a boy, because clownfish don't make up their minds about that until later in life. :D

I'm not suggesting that you would try to derive important information from a feature length cartoon, I just couldn't resist mentioning a cute movie that I enjoyed a lot :)

If the original clownfishes that you bought were already sexually differentiated, it's remotely possible that the mortality was murder (pescicide?) Now that you're adding a singleton to a tank where another clown has already staked a claim, the new one must be a juvenile, as Kurt says. The original clown, even if it was a juvenile, may already have got enough of a taste of dominance to be headed on the (one-way) path to femaledom.

[Tessa_Marie83]

hi im sorry I dont know if my post/reply made it to you? Let me know!!! ***TESSA

[my03]

hey guys, sorry to hijack, but do these sex changes and taking on a host anenome, only happen to wild caught clowns? or will it work for captivity bred ones?

[reefpicker]

Hi,

The short answer to both question is yes.


Sex change occurs in captivity. Clownfish are protandrous (male first), thus the fish begins its life as a young adolescent male (I do not agree with the poster that Nemo could not have existed.).

The female in clownfish is the most aggressive fish (this fact was well shown in Nemo), and she will harrass the male all the time.

Once a female is killed or dies from natural causes, the biggest male in the spawning group takes over and becomes female. (This was NOT SHOWN IN THE MOVIE!!! Marlin would have been MOM not DAD !!! :o ) The next fish in the pecking order becomes a functional male...

Clownfish do not require an anemone to thrive in captivity, but they will usually choose something in the tank (a rock, an algae turf, etc) as a surrogate host. To be happy, clownfish need somewhere to seek cover.... but an anemone is not necesarry.

The clownfish-host anemone relationship is exhibited in captivity and they may choose a species of anemone different from the one they are usually associated in nature...