Advice on pairing nigripes AKA blackfoot clowns?

velvetelvis

Active member
I'm trying to pair my female SA nigripes, who rejected her first would-be mate, with a smaller male. I floated him in a livebearer container for a couple of hours last night and then released him after the female seemed to ignore him. She made some intimidating gestures and then chased him at intervals all over the tank. I turned out the light to give him a respite and let her settle down.

Over 12 hours later, he's still hiding behind the heater, while she apparently ignores him. Obviously not a happy situation, but is this a bad sign, or just part of the process? I've only paired ocellaris before and never had a problem. However, the ocellaris weren't as aggressive as the nigripes (who at first also tried to bully the pair of white fangblennies I added to the tank--she ignores them now). If any of the experienced nigripes keepers on the forum feel like chiming in, I'd much appreciate it. TIA!
 
good luck. mine is terror, it goes after everything even things that have been in with it forever. i put another black foot in and it didnt make it.

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:( Such a beautiful fish, and so full of personality, but she's much feistier than my maroon ever was! She's actually still timid around me, but I've only had her a month or so. I'm sure that could change once I get her an anemone. I'm moving to another apartment in about a month and a half; I wonder if I might should have waited till then to add the male. Maybe all the fuss of moving and getting settled in would have set her back a little bit.
 
Should I try catching the female and temporarily isolating her in the container, and let the male have the run of the tank?
 
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