Fighting maroons... Will it get better or worse

[towboater68]

I have a 29 biocube that had a maroon in it for a year with lots of other corals but just got a 75 gallon going and decided to make the cube a clown tank. I bought a very nice blue carpet and introduced to the cube and went and bought a another maroon. I thought that since i took out all the corals and rock and redid the rock and added the clown back that it would be best time to try new fish since it was like new tank. I added the new clown and left lights out for 6 hours. The 1st clown still had not done alot since being added back but after lights came on the are satying on opposite sides but the 1st one is beating up on the 2nd a little. Is this just a little turf war that will get better or will he continue to fight until one id injured? I want to bring the clown back for credit if its not going to work... Thanks

 

[ocellaris123]

How large are both clownfish? With pairing maroons it is best to have a substantial difference in size between male and female.

 

[towboater68]

The 1st one is about 1.5 inches and the new one is only 1 - 1 1/.

 

[ocellaris123]

Not that great of a size difference. People commonly pair maroons by placing the smaller "male" in a breeder container in the females territory and watching the behavior of the female. If the female is trying to attack the male through the container than it is not safe to place the male in the tank. When the female no longer tries to attack the male in the container than they can try to release the male in the tank under supervision. If those tricks don't work than I would let your current clown gain some size and than try again with another 1 inch juvie.