Quick overview, I have a 150 gallon tank with primarily reef friendly fish, +/- 200lbs of live rock, 4†â€"œ 5†sandbed, some soft corals, anemone, and some clams. All of the livestock that is currently in the tank has been there for at least 3 â€"œ 4 months and nothing new has been added for at least three months. Except for top offs and biweekly water changes (+/- 30 gallons) nothing has been changed with the tank and I test water levels twice a week and it has all the levels have been stable. The two percula clownfish (subject of this post) were added two the tank about 5 â€"œ 6 months ago once I was able to get the anemone to attach to a rock and show signs that it was going to stay put. The two clowns were purchased from the local fish store as captive raised juveniles. They immediately sought refuge within the anemone. I watched over the first month or two as they seemed to establish dominance resulting in one of the two fish two grow larger in size and become the dominant fish. The smaller one would quiver when challenged by the large clown. So at that point I precluded that the larger one was the female and the smaller one the male and that they had undergone the transformation thru the juvenile stage. Ever since they were added to the tank, they would be together within the anemone a majority of the time except for when food was added to the tank. I thought I had a good pair and hoped they would mate sometime soon. To date I have not seen any evidence of them mating. Over the last two weeks, something interesting has happened. It started when I woke up to find that the smaller clown was swimming in the overflow. I scooped him out and added him back into the tank. Immediately after he rejoined the tank, the larger clown (what I believe to be the female) charged at the smaller one and would not let him anywhere near the anemone. This went on a few times as the smaller clown tried to rejoin the anemone. The smaller outcast clown ended up finding a spot in the top rear of the tank. While there, the larger clown would swim up to the top and charge at the smaller clown. I watched in disbelieve as they seemed to have grown into a happy pair for the last 5 -6 months spending all their time together. I woke up the next morning only to find the smaller clown yet again in the overflow. I took him out and put him in a smaller tank I have set up as a quarantine tank. I let him stay in the separate tank for about a day and a half and then tried to rejoin him to the main tank. I put him in at the opposite end of the tank farthest away from the anemone. He hung out at the bottom of the tank and didn’t go over to the anemone for the first two hours. Then I went to bed and woke up only to find him back in the overflow. I since have taken him out and he is residing in the separate tank. He has been there for almost a week. Any ideas what maybe going on between the fish? Is this normal? Has anyone had some experience with this? Looking for some wisdom here. I reread the book I have call Clownfishes by Joyce Wilkerson and didn’t see anything about this type of scenario. Please help.
Help, my pair of clowns seems to have split up!!!! Any input greatly appreciated!!!!
- Thread starter jpilewski
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