Clownfish "fighting" questions

[Cakebaker13]

Hello, So I have a pair of younger clownfish. I was told they were tank raised with anemones from my LFS.
I also have a long tentacle anemone. After a few weeks of them not 'discovering' the anemone I tried to encourage them and put them in an Acclimate together for a little while. It partially worked. The slightly smaller clownfish discovered and became comfortable going into the anemone. After releasing them back into the tank, neither went into the anemone.
Now, a couple days later I wake up to discover the slightly smaller clownfish hosting the anemone. Yay!
Now for the question. The pair of clowns started fighting all day. The smaller one hid inside the anemone and wouldn't let the slightly bigger one into the anemone. Whenever the smaller one would leave, the bigger would chase him.
Has anyone experienced this behavior before? Is the slightly smaller one using his anemone to try to become the dominant one? (They are realistically mostly equal in size.) I can try to upload a video to youtube if that's necessary to pin down the behavior.
FYI, I'm not worried about the aggression or thinking either are in danger/hurt.

 

[Capt.Nemo]

Just because clowns may have been together, doesn't mean they have bonded. Most likely the anemone is the little guys safe place.
The anemone is the one that does the hosting. I wouldn't worry about anemone, if clowns go for it, they will go for it.
Sounds like they are young and this is just bonding. Watch for wounds and locking jaws together.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Reefer902]

Do not try and force them, it can take a few days to even a year for them to actually move to the anemone. Sometimes they do not care at all. I bought Heteractis magnifica for my yellow stripe maroon clown because he kept wiggling sand. I put it in close to his territory, but he never bothered. What I never realised was that my Ocellaris clownfish who lives on the other side of the tank eyed the anemone from a distance and just moved over to it. The maroon was not impressed and tried to chase him away and the maroon is a lot bigger, he just fought back and now they all live happily together, one under and one in the anemone.

 

[Cakebaker13]

Just because clowns may have been together, doesn't mean they have bonded. Most likely the anemone is the little guys safe place.
The anemone is the one that does the hosting. I wouldn't worry about anemone, if clowns go for it, they will go for it.
Sounds like they are young and this is just bonding. Watch for wounds and locking jaws together.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Thanks! That's really interesting. New development, now the bigger one will enter the anemone.
They certainly are fascinating little creatures! It's nice to learn about their behaviors.

 

[Cakebaker13]

Do not try and force them

I wasn't forcing them, ... more encouraging them to at least meet the anemone. and it seems to have worked well.

 

[Southernstang98]

my clownfish wont even go near my RBTA. They are mostly hanging around my blue mushrooms.