Ocellaris Fighting (?)

[mattnbecs]

I introduced a couple of Ocellaris, and rose tip anemone (all sold as tank raised by LFS) to my 70G last week end. The Rose Tip settled in quickly, and has nicely inflated tips.

The Ocellaris seamed to have settled in nicely until today. When first introduced they shyed away from the anemone. After a day the first ocellaris started acclimatizing with the anemone, whilst the other stayed well away. The next day it was the other way around, with the second ocellaris acclimatizing whilst the second one styed well away. Today they squabble. They twitch at each other chase each other, and I even caught one biting the other's pectorial fin, and latching on to it for a good 5sec. They also seem to back into each other a few times.

Are they fighting for dominance or courting?

Any information would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Matteo

 

[myreefcentral]

could be fighting to see who gets the anemone...and the winner shall become the patr

 

[myreefcentral]

opps...meant to say patriarch...

 

[nemowithnoeyes]

this does not sound good, just like siamese fighting fish they both want dominance over "the" object. you will have to only have 1 clown or i have seen people make tanks with them wall to wall and they said it helped but the only known true way to get a pair is to buy 2 "small" clowns and intraduce them same second and you will have pairs. but from my understanding you let one clown set up his home and then another came in and took over, these are huge signs of teritorial issues watch them the next 4 days if the behaviar doesnt decrease most likely you got a bully. dont let them kill eachother be on the lookout i almost lost my little guy to a big mean perc machine so i had to get rid of him

 

[stykthyn]

as long as you dont see battered scales and torn fins they will be ok. one will assert dominance over the other and become the female.

 

[mattnbecs]

Thanks for the info. The biting seamed to subside last night, and they spent more times together side by side almost "twitching" at each other. Still, there was some chasing

I'll keep an eye on them, and will let you know. I'll post some pics too tonight.

 

[davocean]

Sounds like they are just working out who will be the dominant female.
Keep an eye on them just in case.
How big are they and are they the same size?

 

[Zaita]

Thats pretty normal behaviour for a new pair of clowns. Ours have been together for 2yrs and the female still pushes the male out of her anemone when she is in a bad mood Women eh

 

[mattnbecs]

The clown that now "owns" the BTA is now slightly larger. They are both about 2 or 3 inches.

The fighting seams to have stopped tonight. They seem to spend half the time together, and half the time with the one in the BTA and the other some where else.

What are the chances that they will become a mated pair? how long would that take?

Here are some photos
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/mattnbecs/?action=view&current=DSCN6151.jpg
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/mattnbecs/?action=view&current=DSCN6175.jpg
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/mattnbecs/?action=view&current=DSCN6160.jpg

 

[Zaita]

Chances they are a pair. About 100%.

All clownfish start life as a juve male. The biggest will change sex into a female, the 2nd biggest will become a sexual male. The other smaller ones will remain juve males until one of the larger 2 dies.

So you largest is a female, and the other is a sexual male.

 

[nauticac4]

Sounds like they are fighting for the female spot like everyone else has said. Should die down fairly quickly

 

[Beachbaby]

Yep-I have the same little tiffs between my ocellaris. One is very obviously the female and the smaller one is the male-she gives him a little nip every once in a while-but otherwise it's not so bad. No major altercations.

 

[mattnbecs]

Great! Thank you all for the very useful info. What book on clowns do you recommend for further reading? I was waiting for the fourth book in Scott Michaels reef fish series to come out (on clowns) , but it's taking forever.....