New clown pair odd behavior

[krazysvede]

I finally decided to get a buddy for the clown I've had now for a couple months. The little guy I got today is about half the size of the clown already in my tank. Lets call the old clown A and the new clown B. Both are true percs. During acclimation clown A charged the bag clown B was in and looked like it was going to do everything in its power to be the dominant clown. I released the clown B and was prepared to catch clown A if it got too agressive.

When clown B was released the other clown showed interest but kept its distance. Ive been keeping an eye on them now for about an hour and a half and about 20 minutes ago clown A rolled on its side and showed all the classic signs of submissive behavior. Now the clown A is following clown B around. It really looks kinda funny.

Is it possible for one of the pairing fish to submit to the other so quickly? and is it possible for the big guy to submit to the little one? It seems so strange!!

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Weird that the big one is submissive to the little one!
The thing to know is that a clown that is in a tank by its self for a month or more will automatically turn female. The one you got, being half the size, is definitely a male. Therefore, they will get along. Now if they had both been juvenile there would be lots of fighting with the bigger one ending up becoming female, but since you already have a female and brought in a male, they should pair up. They will both show the submissive sign and the female should nip the male a lot just to keep things in order. Don't worry. It is perfectly fine what is happening. Good luck!

 

[jmadison]

Both of my clowns(when i had a par) would do the sideways shiver to one another even though one(the larger) was the definitly dominant female. Clowns in a nano(ie your case) can remain sexual neutral and do NOT always turn female even over long periods of time (ie 6 months).. This can be especialy true if there has only ever been one clown in the nano and that clown was gender neutral prior to being introduced to the tank. That being said i have seen the female of a pair be the smaller clown before too, allbeit i bet that in time the female will out grow the male.

 

[krazysvede]

Thanks for the info guys! Im just glad them seem to be getting along. I was assuming what waffle was talking about would be the case, but who knows. I guess time will tell.

 

[clowns101]

Weird that the big one is submissive to the little one!
The thing to know is that a clown that is in a tank by its self for a month or more will automatically turn female. The one you got, being half the size, is definitely a male. Therefore, they will get along. Now if they had both been juvenile there would be lots of fighting with the bigger one ending up becoming female, but since you already have a female and brought in a male, they should pair up. They will both show the submissive sign and the female should nip the male a lot just to keep things in order. Don't worry. It is perfectly fine what is happening. Good luck


Iv seen my occys do the same thing were the larger one will follow the litter one.That does not always mean that the larger one is going to be the female.It does tank longer than that depending on the size of the clown.if you have a 11/2 inch clownfish and then put a 1 inch clown in that one inch clown could still be male but then be very aggresive to the other clown making the larger of the 2 subbmit to him soon going to be a her.If you buy a clown half the size of the larger clown that does not mean that they will get along.The best way to pair clowns is to get 2 juvies and then let the two discover who is going to be the female.With 2 clowns diff sizes that dose not mean that they will pair up any quicker.You never know 2 clowns may hate each other to the point that you have to remove the other one and try a diff one.They will NOT both show subbmisive sign.The one who will be he female will not subbmit in the begining due to the fact that she wants the male to think she is the boss.

 

[jmadison]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15262986#post15262986 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clowns101
The thing to know is that a clown that is in a tank by its self for a month or more will automatically turn female.

As I stated earlier this is simply not ALWAYS the case especially in a nano, especially if the clown is introduced as a sexually immature juvanile and never has another clown in the nano to innitiate the forming of a dominant clown.

 

[clowns101]

sorry u guys had posted while i was tyeing.im not to fast

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I meant it will normally turn female when by its self for at least a month. Sometimes it will take longer. But my point is, the bigger one is probably now female since it was by its self and what I'm saying is if that were to be the case, the one you introduced is probably a male, and they be become a pair.

 

[krazysvede]

Thanks for the input guys!! They both seem content. The large clown is still following around the small one and having the sideways seizures. They are both sleeping now next to the powerhead the older clown hosted when I first added it to the tank. Ill keep you updated and upload some video when I can. Its really really bizarre watching the little guy lead the pack so to speak.