2 Large Ocellaris. Danger!

[Hugeness]

It seems I'm a sucker for punishment. Once I get everything under control and peaceful as can be I have to create another drama in the tank...

Well I bought 2 large false percs and introduced them to my tank yesterday. My pink margin wrasse started flashing and attacking them viciously today when I finally turned on the lights. So I removed him to my refugium and will reaquascape and so forth before I reintroduce him to the tank.

Anyways, I'm wondering if I have 2 females on my hands... I've yet to see any lip locking fighting... but the larger of the two is defintely being more aggressive towards the smaller. No physical attacks yet, but quite a bit of posturing. In addition I've seen the big one go close by the smaller one and wave her body a few times at it. It's not the lil "sexy" dance that i've seen so often with male/female pairings. It's almost a menacing... "look how big I am" dance. What I don't want is for my stupidity to cause the death of the smaller clown... so does anyone know if this "scary" dance is a sign of future aggression? Instead of turning on its side to expose its belly, the smaller one kinda flops a lil bit and then runs. Another question that i'm sure has been asked many times... s there any physical way to determine if they are females or males?

Thx.

 

[GSMguy]

usually the aggression is worst the first day

 

[bwest]

From what I've read on the boards here, the female is usually the larger of the two, but isn't always the case. I would assume it helps to know the background of the fish, and how they were kept prior to you owning them, i.e. by themselves, with others, etc.

 

[rkelman]

I agree with gsmguy. It is totally normal for the first few days. They may bite each other some too. One of them will become dominant and you'll be fine.

 

[phender]

I guess you will have to define "big". If they are both over 2.5"- 3" then they are likely both females.
If they are both female, they may tolerate each other in your big tank but they will never pair.
In ocellaris clowns there is no external sexual differences. Once a pair is established the female will be the larger fish, but in a tank full of clowns there is no way to tell.

 

[GSMguy]

in a tank full of clowns they remain sexless and clowns can live a long time over a decade in a group never becoming male or female its not all about size although it is a good indicator just due to age

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8667088#post8667088 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
in a tank full of clowns they remain sexless and clowns can live a long time over a decade in a group never becoming male or female its not all about size although it is a good indicator just due to age

In a tank of wild caught ocellaris, it is very likely that every clown in the 2.5" to 3" range is a female.
Your example would be valid if all the clowns in the tank came from the same wild anemone. If the fish were captive raised then the most dominant fish will become a female and will grow quickly, the second most dominant will become a male and the rest will form an interesting pecking order that keeps the fish sexless and the fish one step below slightly smaller than the fish above it.

In a tank full of wild ocellaris, clowns from many anemones will be represented and there may be many females in the tank.

 

[GSMguy]

well even if there not from the same nem in the wild there is always the chance they came from a community its not probable just possible also in the situation you talk about i think some of the females would return to males i know that can happen

 

[phender]

I don't think I can respond to that without sounding mean, so I won't.

The point is, Hugeness needs to be aware that if his clowns are both very large ocellaris, it is likely that they are both females and will never form a pair.

Going from female to male has been documented only in one rare case in a clarki clown as far as I know. It is not something that happens routinely.

 

[GSMguy]

are you this impaitent with your students
i agree with you phender

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8667678#post8667678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
are you this impaitent with your students
i agree with you phender

Nice try. I'm not taking the bait on that one. I've been very patient with you.

 

[GSMguy]

im sorry i feel like i killed this threadn i dont want to fight

CLOWNFISH are the COOOLEST
i hope these clowns are getting along now any updates hugeness