Attempting to pair Maroon Clowns.

[glenns]

I bought a mated pare of Maroon clowns from my LFS in 2009. A few months later the smallest one(male) died of Brook. I've been waiting for my female to get larger so I can buy a new male. Well, I came across a tank bread one that is only 1.25". So I bought him and a hamster ball. Acclimated him to my QT and he is in there now with the female. So far she only checked him out in the bag and ball a few times. Doesn't appear to be aggressive. BTW, it looks like the female's stripes may be turning gold.
So I know eventually I should move him to where she is hanging out. How long do you wait before you place an isolated clown in the same are as an established clown? Then how long after that before you release him from the ball?

 

[davocean]

It just depends, if she is not trying to kill it through the ball/container, and just seems curious, you may be ok.
Some people will float the new guy for about 3 days near female and her nem.
I did that twice w/ my last maroon and she wanted to kill the first 2 males(and they were as small as it gets, certain males) yet on 3rd try it was so obvious I released the male right away, no problem.

 

[glenns]

She doesn't have a nem. But she has been hanging out by a rock full of Palys. I may introduce a nem to my DT after all the fish are moved back and appear to be doing well.

 

[glenns]

The female clown hasn't paid much attention to the Juvenal male in the hamster ball. So I released him today. She chased a little, trying to nip. Nothing like my Mbuna Cichlids, but I decided to herd him back into the ball and give it more time.

 

[mr.iacuessa]

i think the chasing/nipping is normal, maroons are just like that, mine did that for a while when i first set up my tank...i believe its a territory thing and the new guy just has to learn his place in the aquarium... BTW, gold stripe maroons are my favorite clown

 

[glenns]

The male clown is dead. I let him out again. She chased a little, but it looked like he found a place to hide. I guess after the I left and lights were out, she found him. She beat him pretty bad while I was at work. So I put him back in the ball last night. This morning he was still a little stressed. He was dead when I got home.

Maybe I should just trade her in and get another mated pair.

 

[mr.iacuessa]

maybe, but mated pairs are pretty expensive... maybe trade her in and just get 2 little ones, that way you get to enjoy their cute phase again... sorry to hear about the dead guy though, maybe shes just switched teams?

 

[vaporize]

maybe, but mated pairs are pretty expensive... maybe trade her in and just get 2 little ones, that way you get to enjoy their cute phase again...

You can do that with "most" clownfish, but never get two of the same sized maroon, even two little ones. They will just kill each other guaranteed.

Maroon is one of the easiest to pair up if you know what to look for. Find the largest female you can find, at least 4-5" & find the smallest you can find ~1", throw them in together, they almost always pair up.

the trickiest part is when you already have one around +- 3" , those are hard to pair unless you know their exact sex.

 

[glenns]

Hmmm. She is about 3". I can either wait, or trade her in on a larger female. Then pair that one with a ~1" male.

 

[davocean]

I would just try again w/ another juvy, but take your time, float it for a couple days or so, let her get used to it.
Sometimes they just don't want to accept some males for some reason.
Took me 3 tries last time.

 

[wheelspin]

We just paired some this week. The larger is over 3" I would say and the new one was about 3/4" my wife found at petco for on sale for a great deal of $14.99.

We floated him in one of the little critter acrylic boxes for about two days and she had swam over to him several times but never did show any aggression. We let him out and the moment we did the new one swam as fast as he could to the larger and it looked like we was rubbing against her. Now wherever the larger goes the smaller follows like a puppy.

Though our GSM has never been aggressive like you hear many are and she has been living with a pair of ocellaris for a few years with no problems.

Here is a terrible cell phone pic of them. They are in a temp home while I set them up something permanent just for them and no other fish.

 

[vaporize]

Nice Prices too GSM typically are not as crazy (aggressive) as WSM. But they have become one of my favourate fish as they are totally "not afraid of you", most other clowns you stick your nose to the glass, they just swim away or go hide. The maroons will just swim up to you and look back right at you ... even newly imported ones.

I do have a "picasso" gsm (basically one with a big spot) that somewhat paired up with a t.r. true percula. It's not unheard of that maroon/percula-ocellaris will breed together too - unfortunately the babies tend to be more of a maroon temperament from what I read.

 

[glenns]

Guess I'll give it another shot if they have any left at Petco. That's where I found the first. The better LFS doesn't have any that small. But they do have some of the black ones that small.

 

[glenns]

I ordered a Med GSM off LiveAquaria this morning. They suggested isolating any tank bullies as part of the acclimation procedure. Should I put my female in the ball this time? Hopefully this one will be male and slightly smaller than the female.

 

[bradam]

I've got a paired very dark maroon female with a gold striped male that have been living togther happily for 3-4 years ( till I banished them to the fuge) that are in need of a good home..

 

[glenns]

The new clown arrived alive. He(I hope), is bigger than the last one, but I think smaller than my female. The female is in the hamster ball so the new clown can acclimate to the new tank. About another 30 minutes and I should be able to add him to QT.

 

[glenns]

Well the female is not trying to get at him from the ball. But she didn't do anything to the juvenile until I released him. So when I finally let her out, what should I expect to see? How far should I let her bully him until, before I separate them?

 

[bradam]

The first time I tried to pair up my maroon female she killed the potenial suiter in about 2 minutes, went right in and tore the side of gill off and his right side swimiming fin on the same side before I even had time to get the net out. :mad2:

On the second try I let the male out into the tank and he almost instantly darted right up underneath her and has followed her like a little puppy dog ever since.

Hit or miss I suppose.. each fish has thier own unique little personalities.

 

[Gold Stripe]

How long has she been in the tank. I had success on my first try but I was in the middle of moving tanks. I set up my new tank, got my LTA and gave it 2 weeks to settle in, then introduced my female and a new male at the same time. I guess the new surroundings mellowed her out a bit because 2 quick battles and it was over. The little guy submitted and once she knew he wasnt a threat she focused on scouting the new digs out and never really gave him any more trouble.

Maybe try moving some stuff around to confuse her a little.

 

[glenns]

I've had her for 1.5yrs. But she has been in QT for only 1mth. The male is closer to her size then the last one I tried. We'll see how it goes. If she goes after this one, then I'll separate them again and try for a few days. If she still doesn't accept him, I may trade her for a larger female.