Do I have two female clownfish? (Trouble pairing)

[Toxic45]

Here's the situation. I just got two new Percula clownfish from an LFS. They're pretty small, can't be much more than an inch, maybe an inch and a half. Neither of them have their third stripe in completely yet, there is some hypo-pigmentation around their tails where it looks like they will develop a third stripes (I only say this because I see these as indications that they're young, and I bought them in hopes they were sexless juveniles). The tank is a 10 gallon with live rock, no other inhabitants. All water parameters are good, but just because I know someone will ask...

Salinity: 1.020sg
Temp: 77-78 Fahrenheit
pH: 8.0-8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm

They have been fighting since I introduced them, but this isn't what concerns me. What concerns me is that they don't seem to be making any progress in determining who's the male and who's the female. Both of them are developing "battle scars" that manifest as torn fins. After a small scuffle I'll notice that one of them does the submissive twitch dance, but the problem is that it's not always the same fish. They seem to 50/50 which one is submitting. Is this a sign that they both may already have become females? It's only been about 3 days, but the fighting doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.

 

[Whip316]

it will take them longer to turn into male and female. you might have gotten 2 dominate juvi that both want to be females but neither are that yet.
if you can catch one and put it in a breeder net for a few days it might settle down, or just let them go and hash it out. one will give soon enough. it does seem brutal though. if you want you could always take one back to where you got them and swap him out for a smaller one that will submit faster. if they are both juvi's and the same size the battle will go on longer than if there was a size difference.

 

[Toxic45]

Thank you for your advice. They're still battling. I feel badly about it, but it's almost amusing to watch them scuttle around each other at full throttle. Interestingly enough they're the hardiest/healthiest fish I've ever added, and neither of them seems especially disturbed by the fighting. I noticed this morning that their torn fins from the day before had already healed up! They're eating well (almost too well, they're both pigging out) and look lively so I think I'll just let them thrash it out. Thank you.

 

[reeflovin]

Two clownfish in a 10-gallon, no wonder they're fighting

I've had clownfish fight in a 75 gallon

 

[Mavrk]

This is why people often suggest trying to get fish with a slight size difference. They definitely sound to young to be females yet. I just replaced my male clownfish. At the store the one I got was attacking the others and would have ended up as the female if left there long enough. I took the chance and got it anyway because it had the best coloring. There was absolutely no fighting once it was in my tank because my female is twice as big at least.

In your case, it will happen in time. Just hope one doesn't get too beaten up in the mean time.

 

[Mavrk]

sorry, double post