Clownfish not pairing. What to do next?

[adubson]

So my two clownfish (percs) were the first fish in my 75 gallon tank that I started last October. I purchased them as juveniles from the LFS. They were together in the tank at the LFS, but IIRC they were the only clownfish in that tank. I chose the pair because one was just a tad larger than the other.

At first, the usual aggression was noted and the prospective male was even doing the whole twitching dance for the much more aggressive "female". This continued for a bit, and then no pairing happened. Pretty much ever since the smaller clown is in hiding all day (still eating, don't worry) and the larger aggressor swims the tank normally. Any spotting of the weaker smaller one calls for immediate chasing and harassing until it is back out of sight. There hasn't been any damage dealt to the victim here, yet.

Is all hope lost for these two to make amends? Are there techniques to reset the process of pairing?

If I were to exchange the weaker clownfish for another small clownfish, could it be possible that the aggressor would try to pair with a new fish?

Thanks

 

[kwsjimmy]

Yup, thata pretty much what I did

 

[ThRoewer]

What is their size?
Is the smaller one trying to be with the larger one?
Do you have an anemone for them? If not, any surrogate like corals, mushrooms, ceramic flowerpot?

One issue for sure is the lack of any other fish (ideally a somewhat aggressive) that keeps them together.
The tank size isn't really helping much either if each can stay in its corner alone.

Though since the smaller showed submissive behavior I don't think everything is lost.

 

[adubson]

I should've mentioned that there are other fish in there with them. Foxface, flame angel, blue throat trigger, and a diamond watchmen goby. As for hosting corals/anemones, I just actually added a small RBTA a couple weeks ago. It's definitely too small currently to host them, but the funny thing is that since it's been in the tank the clowns have shown their first hosting behavior. During the day the female hosts a softball sized hammer, and then at night the smaller guy sleeps/hosts in there.

I think the smaller one was trying to be with the larger one at one point, but now he just hides from the other. There's been the very rare occasion that I happen to see the pairing behavior of the smaller one submitting, but it is few and far between.

 

[ThRoewer]

Do you have a smaller tank where you could put them in for a while?
I would put them into a 10 gallon tank with a separator and see how that goes for a while.

Where they together at the LFS? I mean swimming together, not just in the same tank.

 

[adubson]

I don't have an extra tank at the moment. I could put them in the sump if I find a way to screen off the skimmer inlet.

From what I can recall, they seemed to be swimming together at the time of purchase. Not as close as a bonded pair but they were definitely friendly and together a majority of the time.

 

[ThRoewer]

Well, you should definitely get a smaller (10g or 20g) tank, not just for these two but to have a quarantine tank for new fish.

Putting them into a smaller tank together (at the beginning with a divider) should get them used to each other. Give each a ceramic flower pot as anemone replacement.
After you feel they won't kill each other remove the divider and see what happens.

 

[Ginger bay]

Yep, restart pairing process in smaller tank.

 

[phender]

If you decide to go with a new fish, trade in the big aggressive one and get another smaller than your smaller one. Once you have a mean territorial female, it can be quite difficult to get her to pair up. For some reason defending territory seems to be more important to them than finding a mate.

 

[adubson]

So I've started the process of restarting the pair in a smaller tank; however, I cannot for the life of me catch the aggressive female. The small guy is in the separate tank and doing great though.

Should I continue trying to catch the female? Or do you think at least a period of separation could work?

 

[ThRoewer]

So I've started the process of restarting the pair in a smaller tank; however, I cannot for the life of me catch the aggressive female. The small guy is in the separate tank and doing great though.

Should I continue trying to catch the female? Or do you think at least a period of separation could work?

Where does the aggressive one sleeps at night?
I gave my clowns ceramic flowerpots and they are in there all the time. If I want to catch them I just need to wait until they sleep, cover the flowerpot with a glass or dish and take it out.

Maybe you try that. Just don't forget to hold the hole on the bottom closed when you take the pot out.

 

[adubson]

Now that the smaller clownfish is out, she has been sleeping in the hammer. Due to its placement it could still be difficult to catch her there at night. I'll put a flowerpot in the tank and see if she takes to it.

 

[ThRoewer]

In that case place it close to the hammer.

 

[adubson]

I was able to catch the clown from the DT once the lights went out. It was surprisingly easy.

I have them in a 20L at the moment with a divider and a flower pot in each half. They are completely fine with each other with the divider in place. I experimented with removing the divider for the afternoon, and things looked promising. They slowly approached each other, and then went back and forth to check out each other's flowerpots. Some subtle dominance was being displayed by the larger clown, but they were sticking close. Unfortunately, this was only temporary. It wasn't long before they acted exactly how they were in the DT, with incessant chasing of the smaller clown until it was out of sight. The divider has been put back in place, and I'll give them a longer period to settle into each other's presence.

 

[ThRoewer]

Can you take some pictures of them and post them here?

This aggression is not normal. Normally it should stop when the smaller one shows submission to the larger one. Does he do that?

 

[adubson]

I'll try to post a video tomorrow of them interacting.

The smaller one is submissive to the larger one. He doesn't do the twitching like he used to when they first we're together in my DT 6-7 months ago. He simply turns and shows his belly and she stops. Most of the time she charges at him so fast that he spooks and it turns in to a chase.

 

[adubson]

The video on top is about 10 minutes into their interaction, and the bottom one is when they first encounter each other (sorry for the reverse chronological order). It was difficult to truly catch the larger clowns aggression in that first video, because once she becomes aggressive the smaller guy does his best to stay out of sight.