Amphiprion melanopus paired, weird behavior

drshdow

New member
I got my first a Melanopus 2 years ago, but he was identified as a Tomotoe, LoL. I just found a better lfs in my area, and last night i saw he has another, much larger A Melanopus. When i asked him if it was, the owner said he didn't know. There wasn't a price on the tank, and he told me the fish had been in the store for 9 months. Got her for 20 bucks :)
So the one i had already is about 2" while the new one is more than double, 4-4.5" I'm assuming that the larger one is a female and the one i had was male.
After dropping the new one in tank, the smaller one "played dead" for about an hour. His white stripe turned almost completely red/brown. Any time the female got near him, he would go limp, i'm assuming establishing dominanve thing?
After a few hours they were swimming side by side and rubbing against each other. No fighting, nipping, jawlocking, etc.
My question to all of you seasoned clown owners is :
Do any of you have a pair of A Melanopus?
Are these behaviors normal/good?
Are my pairing/sexing assumptions correct?
How long should i wait to add an anenome?
Would you recommend a BTA or Ritteri?

Any more info advice would be greatly appreciated


My newest addition
100_3593.jpg

The male
100_3560.jpg
 
A couple of things here to note. Two years alone I would have assumed that your male would have been a female by now. The fact that they are not fighting is a good sign that i could be wrong. Are your clownfish swimming together and sleep in the same general area when the lights are off.

As for the anemone cinnamons which is what you have host in bubbles and sebaes. If you aquarium can handle an anemone than i would choose the bubble as they are easiest. Get them a large anemone at least 2-3 times larger than the female.
 
I thought the 2 year old would be female also, but because of the size difference i assumed the new one is female. The larger was in a smaller tank at lfs for 9 months. Mine was in a 90gal w/ 4 damsels for 2 years. It took them a few hours to even swim w/ each other. When i went to bed they weren't "sleeping" together but they weren't fighting. Both alive today, no scars or torn fins, no fighting. At work right now, don't know what they are doing :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14271252#post14271252 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drshdow
I thought the 2 year old would be female also, but because of the size difference i assumed the new one is female. The larger was in a smaller tank at lfs for 9 months. Mine was in a 90gal w/ 4 damsels for 2 years. It took them a few hours to even swim w/ each other. When i went to bed they weren't "sleeping" together but they weren't fighting. Both alive today, no scars or torn fins, no fighting. At work right now, don't know what they are doing :)

Maybe you'll be lucky and have them pair, but I'd be keeping my eye on them just in case. I would think that both of them would be female in that timeframe, but I could be wrong.
 
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