clown pairing ???

[lostintheocean]

I have had my two onyx clowns now for about 7 months or so. When I got them one was quite a bit larger then the other. I wanted them to pair. They have been doing well, they spin in circles here an there, establishing dominance I assume.

Lately there are doing this a lot. They will face each other and then go in circles very fast then one will zoom away. Sometimes one gets changed then back to the circle thing. They are close to the same size now. The fins are not being damaged.

I assume they are reestablishing the pecking order but I am wondering why they are doing this so much all the sudden. They are 1.5 to 2 inched long in a 72 bow front. They eat very well. How long should this occur? Thanks for your thoughts

 

[Coral Hind]

Yes, It sounds like they are maturing and pairing. It really depends on how fast the dominance is established and when she feels like ending the bickering phase. She will start to grow at a faster rate then the male. I would say roughly a year.

 

[SojuExp]

Thats about how long mine took I got them both from the LFS tank raised about 1/2" long after about 9 months to a year they had established dominance

 

[lostintheocean]

Its just strange they go at it so much now. Hopefully this will end soon and they will be happy again. I guess this sounds like the normal time frame. Thanks for the input so far and I welcome more.

 

[Arati]

this is all a wild guess. what strikes me is that you say the smaller fish is outgrowing the larger.

The fish are facing one another, and niether one is doing the shimmy and turning on its side. then they go on long chases. not good.

Is the chaser always the same fish? or can it be either one? iS there no submission dances going on? any jaw locking?

The two biggest signs are jawlocking once that starts its pretty much game over ime. Also submission dances thats the best sign maybe the male will do them, maybe the female as if to say dance like this or im gonna bite you again.. sorta thing..

this could be what happens when a pair goes wrong. if the smaller fish is dominant in his own mind he may just decide he wants to be the female and begin to outgrow the larger. ime it results in alot of fights and I almost always end up seperating the pair and putting the one I want to be male in with a much larger female and let the one I want to be female live alone and bulk up a bit.

I have let it go for along time and they just steady will battle like that face to face in small circles than long runs and then slowly back to the chosen spot and all over again. in my case the time I let it go after at least a month of daily non stop bickering both of them got sick and had to be moved to a QT.

not saying this is whats happenign but just what to look out for. good luck im sure it will all work out. I have paired dozens of A.Percula from juvys and it has only gone wrong 3 times.

 

[matt_trace]

my clowns have just done exactly this, they were fine for months and the last 3 days have been fighting bad 1 has had all its fins bitten and looks bruised as hes changed colour i thought it was part of the pairing process so left them to it however there was no submission dance from either clown tried seperating them to give the battered one a rest but couldnt catch any of them without ripping my tank to bits well this morning the more dominant 1 has killed the other so i have a murderer clown now lol i just dont get why after months of being ok this suddenly happened any ideas?

 

[Arati]

puberty...

 

[lostintheocean]

i had this thread subscribed, not it is nto in ly list adn i am unable to get it back in subscribed. any ideas why>