Clownfish help

[Moray26]

Hey everyone,

Having a few issues with my clownfish. To start off they are both Picasso clowns about 1.5-2 inches. Now the one I bought as a pair and its mate died for some reason. So I went and bought a smaller Picasso as the female from the previous pair survived (larger dominate one). Anyways I added the new one and the already established clown showed dominance. It's been about an year since they were introduced together with no issues. Now the newer clown is about the same size as the established one and is completely beating up the previous dominant one. It has fin chunks missing and its lower jaw looks rough. However the newer clown still vibrates to the previous dominate clown.

Anyways I have removed the aggressive clown for now till I get some insight on what I should do or if this is normal.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you! Sorry if my explanation is hard to read.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Sounds like they're finally about to get ready to start breeding. I'd leave them together. I've got the same thing going on in my tank with my pair that's about a year old. They've been perfect together until recently. There will be more aggression from the female as they get closer to breeding

 

[Moray26]

See the thing throwing me off is it is the male who's become aggressive. If it was the female I know that's typical, but it's almost like the male is trying to become dominant

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Being sub 2" it could be that your fish haven't turned fully male/female. With the loss of the one you had and then the addition of this newer one there is no real telling which is female at this point. But from what I've read their sex isn't fully established until they're over 2" and or around 2 years old.

Post this in the Clown and Anemone forum to see what others say there. I also post there but I could be over looking something but I just like you thought the same established sex was worked out early. Apparantly not in many cases.

My young pair of Mocha Ocellaris are going through this right now and my "female" is almost 2x the size of my male. LOL I'll wait to see who actually lays the eggs.

 

[Moray26]

Okay thank you for your help! Guess I'll leave them be and let them do what they need to do!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Honestly that's about all you can do for now. LOL hurry up and wait. :lmao:

 

[gallegos]

The boy may want to be a girl lol