I had a mated pair of Ocellaris and the female died suddenly about two months ago. They were about 6 years old. The male went through a bout of "depression" where he would not leave the sleeping area for about a month. I'm guessing he was transitioning to a female. He would not eat much unless the food passed right in front of him. He's now back to his normal self swimming around and eating. He grew quite a bit during that month, so I'm guessing he's now a she.
I've read tons of threads talking about introducing a new juvenile ocellaris to an existing tank with a single Ocellaris. The threads mentioned that it should be fine as the new juvenile would most likely be a male. The threads also mentioned that a juvenile can transition to a male in as short as a month if its kept by itself, so the suggestion was to get a juvenile that is still with the hatch. None of the threads discussed quarantine.
I do not want to risk the new one attacking my 6yr old clown. I would not mind as much if the existing attacked the new clown but obviously I don't want any fish to die.
My question is this: How safe would it be if I purchased a small 1" juvenile and quarantined it for a month before adding to my main display?
The safest answer appears to be not adding a new Ocellaris and just letting my current one live out its normal life.
Is there any way I can guarantee the juvenile will not transition to female during quarantine? Or is there a way to safely introduce/see if they will fight?
My tank is a 300g deep dimension and getting a fish out would be very difficult. Although I have done it using the inverted liter bottle trap.
Thanks!
I've read tons of threads talking about introducing a new juvenile ocellaris to an existing tank with a single Ocellaris. The threads mentioned that it should be fine as the new juvenile would most likely be a male. The threads also mentioned that a juvenile can transition to a male in as short as a month if its kept by itself, so the suggestion was to get a juvenile that is still with the hatch. None of the threads discussed quarantine.
I do not want to risk the new one attacking my 6yr old clown. I would not mind as much if the existing attacked the new clown but obviously I don't want any fish to die.
My question is this: How safe would it be if I purchased a small 1" juvenile and quarantined it for a month before adding to my main display?
The safest answer appears to be not adding a new Ocellaris and just letting my current one live out its normal life.
Is there any way I can guarantee the juvenile will not transition to female during quarantine? Or is there a way to safely introduce/see if they will fight?
My tank is a 300g deep dimension and getting a fish out would be very difficult. Although I have done it using the inverted liter bottle trap.
Thanks!
