clown fish shaking ?'s

[sabazerehi]

i had a pair of black and white tank bred clownfish, however, the female unfortunately died from some kind of wound. about a month later i got a smaller clown fish to be the new male, making the old male the new female (hope that makes sense). but they both seem to be really confused . the old male, which is supposed to be the new female, is still shaking herself to show submission to the smaller clown but at the same time she's fighting with the little one and chasing him around. the smaller one is also shaking himself to show submission, at times they'll both do it to each other at the same time and then they'll fight right after, it's kind of funny. basically, do i just have to wait until their genders are straightened out so they'll get along? how long until my old male becomes a female (it's been over 2 months already)? oh and the new pair has been together a little over a month. thanks for any help!

 

[ocellaris123]

Just wait. My female, who is clearly a female ( also a black and white and over 2 inches long) still does the submissive shake every once in a while to the male. The male of course does it with more frequency than the female. Your older male is probably on its way to becoming a female, or perhaps already a female. Has he put on any growth in the last two months? I would just wait it out, and watch for any aggression. Do the two share the same sleeping area?

 

[rkelman]

It doesn't sound abnormal at this point. Its too early to tell yet.

 

[Toddrtrex]

At least it is better then them fighting with each other. Just give it some time and they will figure it out.

 

[sabazerehi]

ok thanks so much guys, that's what i was hoping to hear. they do sleep in the same area as far as i can tell, i'm not sure what goes on in the middle of the night, and the female has gotten bigger in the last few months imo. they do seem to be hanging out more and more slowly, however, they do still fight. luckily the little male fights back so i'm not too worried about her killing him lol. thanks again!

 

[rkelman]

The fact that she has gotten bigger lately is a good sign!

 

[supercharger]

tracking....

 

[KayHouse]

Sounds very promising that you're gonna get a nice little lady out of it.