attempt at a pair of gsm clowns

[CorbetJackson50]

I just got a tiny little gsm yesterday and added him to my 90g with my 3". the small one is about an inch tops more like .75" just staring to get gold color in his stripes. i added him to the tank and the big one was harrassing the new guy. i know i should have just let them be but i dropped a divider in the tank. Reason i did this is because the new clown had about a 4hr dr home and was disoriented and couldnt find a place to get away. The little guy is ok now, what would you guys suggest doing to get them to pair up. I know it is hit or miss but this tank has only been cycled for a couple weeks and the big maroon has only been in there for 3-4 days herself so she hasnt established territory to much yet. what will be the best way to get them to pair you think.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

any opinions or thoughts?

 

[StephenHV]

I actually had my smaller one first, but no gold in stripes yet, then 2 weeks later added a larger one and they paired up without ever really fighting. I am sure I got lucky with this route but who knows, lightning can strike twice after all.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

well i put the two together today and they seem to be very happy with eachother i waited until today because i dont work and i can observe all day long to see if anything changes. I am so excited but still crossing my fingers. They have not fought at all and seem very interested in eachother the male does a little dance for the feamale every now and then i suppose this could be a good sign. It looks like courting jesture that you see in chiclids. 1hr down and they have spent about 25% side by side

 

[CorbetJackson50]

now the female has started to be tad bit aggresive allthough she hasnt touched the litlle guy at all she just kinda darts after him and as soon as he swims the other way she is done.

 

[km133688]

that sounds good to me. My tomatoe clowns where the same. She is just re-inforcing her dominion over him. Soon he will be a MADE MAN. I give them a week, maybe two. I advise feeding them Hikari Mysis in good quantity if your tank can handle it, say 1/2 cube three times/day. More if they will take it. Keeping the female well fed seems to help with the mating and breeding process and reduces some aggression.

Good luck, Kevin

 

[sundance1]

We have 2 gsm in our 125.We purchased them seperatly and after a few days of fighting,they paired up.That was 2 years or so ago.Now they are together in their LTA all the time.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

after staring into my tank all day long, this is what i have seen. The small male likes to stay at the surface as he has for the last 4 days since i have had him, i would say he spends 50% of his time in the top 3"s of the tank the rest of the time he is everywhere else. The big female will dart after the little male sometimes if the male swims off she forgets about him and does her own thing, if the male sticks around they will swim side by side or in circles with little or no aggresion towards eachother. I am going to keep a close eye on them when the lights go out and makes sure they behave. So far i am fealing pretty good about my chances because i have not seen the female try to hurt the male at all just scare him a little bit.

 

[km133688]

you are in good shape. This is exactly what mine did. It may still take nine months before you see eggs, but their bonding behaviour sound right on.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

well a sudden change of events today i came home and could not find the small clown i eventually found him as he had 2 small wounds on his fins he then came out and as soon as the large female saw him she stormed right over and got him llike 4 more times so now he is pretty beat up, i seperated them to let the male heal a little more and i guess i will try it again any suggestions, oh yea this morning seemed to be the best yet they were side by side most of the time following eachother around etc i left for work at 3 and when i came home at 8 this had allready happend but up until the time i left they were doing great. i just cant let my little guy get beat up to much.

Any suggestions

 

[stykthyn]

Maroons are frustrating like that. I had a par living together for over a year and one day the female decided to just beat he snot out of the male. I tried three times over the course of a couple months to pair them back up, but it wouldnt work.