maturing clown fish?

[sabazerehi]

i have a pair of b&w clowns that i've had for almost 3 years now, the female is 3" long and the male is about 2.5", they still don't seem to be mature and i was wondering why. i know that age isn't necessarily a factor, but i was told that all their black should be gone within a year when i got them, and my females chin is still orange, the male is a little less orange.

i have a friend that got a pair from the same breeder, from the same batch of clowns and his were all black within a year and have already been breeding for a while.

just curious what can cause these differences and if there's anything i can do to speed things up...

i have a 135g tank, with 8 btas so they have plenty of homes as well

thanks!

 

[BluespotLady]

Each fish will be a bit different. If they are true perculas, many times they do have the orange on the chin as adults. Personally, I like that.

What do you feed them?

 

[bues0022]

He already mentioned B&W, so they would be ocellaris, not percs (unless a mistakes ID for onyx, but it doesn't sound like it). But, she's right. Some will keep and Orange chin, others won't. They should be enough, so if you want them to breed start upping feeding.

 

[andrenym00]

i have a pair of b&w clowns that i've had for almost 3 years now, the female is 3" long and the male is about 2.5", they still don't seem to be mature and i was wondering why. i know that age isn't necessarily a factor, but i was told that all their black should be gone within a year when i got them, and my females chin is still orange, the male is a little less orange.

i have a friend that got a pair from the same breeder, from the same batch of clowns and his were all black within a year and have already been breeding for a while.

just curious what can cause these differences and if there's anything i can do to speed things up...

i have a 135g tank, with 8 btas so they have plenty of homes as well

thanks!

I like the orange chin

 

[Aaarrrggg]

Could it be the BTAs causing the chin to stay orange? I know they can lighten the black on onyx percs... wondering if they can do the same to B&W occys?

 

[sabazerehi]

thanks guys! i had no idea some could just have orange chins, i don't mind it, just was wonderig if that meant they weren't maturing. i feed basically everything, spectrum pellets, seaweed, a home mix of all kinds of frozen foods with garlic. i feel every other day.