Help Clown pair fighting!!!!

[Elliott89]

Hiya

Ive just had a pair of Wildcaught PNG Percs arrive and they were packed in seperate bags but once ive released them into their 24 gallon cube they are beating the hell out of each other have they now lost there pair bond??? im really worried because they were expensive fish and really dont want to lose one of them

Many thanks

Elliott

 

[rkelman]

Its not unusual for this to happen. Especially w / Percs. If they are jaw locking and / or being injured you will have to separate them. I would usually try to use a clear divider of some sort so they can see each other. One of those clear critter keeper boxes works. Or any clear container really as long as it has holes in it.

 

[Coral Hind]

What size are they? Were they labeled as a mated pair when you bought them?

 

[Elliott89]

There quite a large pair ..well over 2 inches i will try and take some pics..

They were ordered in specially for me as a mated pair my LFS only special orders fish from Papua new guinea and i had to wait months for them to finally arrive

Maybe i have two females

Thanks

Elliott

I will give them a couple more hours and if there still fighting i will seperate them

 

[rkelman]

"I will give them a couple more hours and if there still fighting i will seperate them"

You are going to need to be alot more patient than that... Mine fought for 6 months

 

[ExtremeClownfish]

Let's see a pic of them

 

[SarasotaDiver]

once you have them separeted and they can see each other...than what? just wait and try to do it again??? i have a black perc. about 1.5 inch and i'd like to get another one so they can pair up one day...i'm on the look out for a smaller one...

 

[Coral Hind]

If they were a true mated pair, caught together, they should not be fighting so harshly. I have seperated mated pair for weeks before and then reunited them without any aggression, in fact they welcomed each other. If both are over 2" inches then they might just be two females. If the fights end in locking of the mouths or if it is more then just normal love bites then they are females. Also, when I ordered a mated pair years ago they shipped them both in the same large bag.

 

[rkelman]

Sarasotadiver: Yes thats exactly what you do.

A mated pair would indicate they have spawned in the past. A bonded pair would be just 2 clowns that have become close (not spawned yet but bonded) Its possibly what you got is just 2 clownfish... It would help if you could describe the fights with more detail. I agree with Coral Hind that they would normally ship a pair in the same bag. How much did you pay? A Mated or breeding pair would have been pretty expensive.

 

[Elliott89]

Quick update the fish are now swimming around together totally happy with not a single bit of aggression..how odd is that?

 

[patriots81]

wow, glad to hear!

 

[clowns101]

Could of ben due to the fact that they were shippied in 2 bags and they were seeing who is the domatite one and who is the weak one.Once they have found out who is who I would think that the fighting would of stopped like they did.

 

[Ebisan]

They are both 2" long? My female Osc is 2" and my male is less than a inch. Maybe they are 2 females.

 

[clowns101]

Iv seen males that are about 2 inches.

 

[rkelman]

"Quick update the fish are now swimming around together totally happy with not a single bit of aggression..how odd is that?"

Not odd at all.. Normal clownfish behavior

 

[Elliott89]

Everything worked out really well...there both hosting the GBTA now aswell what a result!

so looks like they are a pair afterall...well atleast i hope!

 

[myreefcentral]

Typical clown seeing who's the boss and who's the peon of the two...