New Clowns -- could they be pairing up already??

[mchembree]

(Sorry for these questions -- I'm sure they've been asked and answered way too many times, but I can't get the search thing to cooperate, as usual.)

We just bought our first fish for our tank today -- two ocellaris clowns, not a mated pair. They were swimming in a largish tank with a bunch of other ocellaris when we picked them out. One of our two is slightly larger than the other, but not much. We acclimated them for about 90 minutes before adding them to the tank. While they were acclimating, the slightly larger one was pushing the other one around a bit -- not a whole lot, but definitely a few times. It continued to do the same thing a few more times once they were put in the tank. The slightly smaller one seemed to do the submissive thing, and the bigger one stopped pushing at him. Within an hour, they were swimming together about 80% of the time. Could they be on their way to paring up? If so, I'm surprised it would happen that fast.

Also, what should we feed them? The LFS said they're eating mysis, and they ate tons of copepods once they got into the tank. So hopefully, they won't be too picky, but we want to get them the best food we can.

Thank you!

 

[reefnetworth]

Cyclop-eeze, Mysis and/or Brine shrimp, and Spirulina flakes are all good choices. i alternate Cyclop-eeze, Sprirulina and brine each day.
Clowns are one of few fish that can change sex when another shows dominance, such as you are seeing now.
the female will always be the boss (just like in my home! :lol: ) and pairing sometimes takes a day or two, and sometimes it takes weeks.
so, the male is the submissive one, and you now have a begining of a beautiful relationship. untill they say: "I DO"

 

[mchembree]

Thanks! Just keeping fingers crossed that they are still looking friendly tomorrow morning! I'll pick up the suggested foods tomorrow. (I know that lots of people really like Rod's Food too, but I don't think I can get it locally, and paying $30+ for shipping on a food that costs less than that seems a bit silly ...)

Thanks again.

 

[Slakker]

Perhaps some people in your local reef club would be interested in doing a group order on Rod's food that would make it a bit more economical?

Also, some variety of Formula 1 would be a good addition to their diet as well. However, I would use Mysis over brine shrimp, as brine really doesn't have all that much nutritional value. Fish love it, but it's not all that good for them. Some Spirulina Enriched brine shrimp would be a good addition just for some extra variety, but doesn't make a great all-purpose food. Personally, I would go with frozen varieties of Cylcopeeze and Mysis, as I tend to feel that they're more nutritionally sound than their freeze dried counterparts.

 

[Caliloaner]

I think they could be pairing....
I did the same thing... I bought two wild O clown fish, one was bruised and we didn't notice till we got home and that fish died within 8 hrs... They replaced it with a smaller tank bread fish and they hooked up instantly... They have an anemone now and the the larger wild clown (the female) has claimed it as hers even though they both played in it for a while... she sleeps in it at night... If he even get's close she pushes him away, but when it comes to swimming they are pals, they swim all over the tank together... I feed mine nutritous flake and Mysis shrimp, they love it...

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I feed my fish PE mysis and Rods food. The 3 pairs of clowns Ive kept usually joined forces as soon as they were put into the tank. Im glad you found a nice set of clowns. Any pictures? Also what kind of tank are they in? Are you planning on finding a host for them?

 

[mchembree]

Thanks everyone! I'll see if my local reef club would want to do a group buy on Rod's Food, PE mysis, ORA GLO -- can't find any of these locally, dang it!

AquaRM, they're in a stock 24g jbj DX cube (well, stock PC lighting; pump upgraded to maxijet 1200 w/ loc-line return and koralia nano). Would love to have them host something; if we're lucky, they'll befriend our hammer (just a small frag now, though).

The clowns we got are tank-bred, and still looking happy (and hungry!) today. Seems like they slept in two different spots in the tank, but started hanging out together again when the lights came on.

Thanks!

 

[mchembree]

Update: today they ate mysis; went right after it. They seemed to be swimming normally and actively, though I noticed that the smaller one was sometimes hanging out by itself in one location in the tank. At those times, his dorsal fin was lowered a bit. But he would come out and swim around pretty regularly, sometimes swimming with the bigger one, and (very) occasionally doing a little submissive shimmy. Tonight, I noticed him swimming against a fast current for quite awhile, swimming fast but not going anywhere. Don't they get tired??? Does this sound normal for new ocellaris? Thanks for any words of reassurance (or caution).