length of time clowns bickering

[reeefraf]

I have 2 occellaris clowns that are now nearing 2 inches. i have had them since they were an inch, and over the last 6months, they have been bickering/fighting. I always thought it was just the male that surrendered and twitched, both of mine do it.

Typically how long can this phase go on for and is it normal that they both are doing the twitch?

 

[huskysglare1]

mine lasted for 1-2 days. after that, they got along great.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I had some that lasted months. I took them back to the LFS and bought a bonded pair of Black Ocellaris. They lived happily together in a 14g, then I upgraded to a 34g and the female got 3x the size. Now the male is 1.5" and the female is 3". After a few months I bought 2 juvenile onyx for the 14g. Same size, about 45-60 days old. One immediately grew to 1.25", the other stayed .5". They never bickered. Recently I've seen the male doing the vibrating dance, but they NEVER bicker. Never have, never will. On the other hand, my female in my 34g gets angry at the male sometimes and bites him. The male follows her the rest of the day and vibrates constantly. Most clowns will bicker when pairing, and it could be for 1 year, or it could be never bickering. Depends on the clowns.

 

[1fishkeeper]

Mine done it for about 3-4 months. Now they they have stopped and are getting along great now.

 

[JTL]

I have two very small juvi's that just recently started to fight. When I got them they were both about .5" and were inseparable now one of them is considerably larger than the other and is playing the dominant role. Chases the small guy to the other end of the tank. I think they will eventually get over it.

 

[jojo42689]

ive had my onyx clowns now for a month and a half now and ive seen them bicker only once but they are still juvenile clowns but i think they are getting along because they share my rbta is that a good sign?

 

[velvetelvis]

It really seems to vary according to the clownfish. My black misbar ocellaris were juveniles and almost exactly the same size when I got them, about a week apart. One of them was just a smidgen bigger than the other and seemed a little more dominant, so I had the feeling that s/he would become the female. I turned out to be right; now, almost 9 months later, she's becoming significantly bigger than her mate. I got lucky, apparently, because they never seriously fought, in spite of being nearly equal in size initially.

The female did beat up the male a little, but she doesn't do it nearly as much nowadays (maybe she feels like she has him in hand by now, so to speak). She'll sometimes nip at him and he'll do his little submission quiver, but they look like a long-married couple fussing at each other--bickering out of habit, but neither of them really meaning it. I'm growing out a nice green-polyped toadstool leather that I hope they'll eventually use as a substitute host, so I'm interested in seeing how their behavior might change once they starting being hosted (if that does indeed happen). From what I read, I should prepare myself for having the female turn on me instead, since black ocellaris are rumored to be a lot feistier than the orange morph.