Onyx switching roles?

[Lateralus]

Is it common for the dominant position to switch between clowns? I bought a couple of percs about a month ago and the slightly bigger one has been submitting to the other this whole time. Today I noticed they found themselves some gsp to "host" them and now the roles have been reversed. It's kinda crazy watching this poor guy getting punked all of the sudden.

 

[turboreef318]

How old or how large are they? From the info provided, I would say that they are not yet sexually mature and are still trying to establish dominance. It takes several weeks to months for a sex change to occur and I have never heard of any fish reversing roles in the prescence of the sexually mature member of the opposite sex. Clownfish are protanrous hermaphrodites, so a functional male becoming a female if environmental factors dictate(i.e the functional female dies or is separated) is the norm. I have never heard of a functional female clownfish reverting back to a male, however. I am aware of instances where certain species (such as some dottybacks) can reverse sex, but I have not heard of this occurring in clownfish

 

[Lateralus]

These guys are right around 2". It's just wierd because its been a certain way this whole time. I'm pretty sure it's because of the gsp. It's more like he's chasing him away from that area vs just showing dominance. It's irritating me a little bit. Up till this morning these 2 were inseparable and now they are on opposite sides.

 

[turboreef318]

You are probably correct that the gsp caused the problem. Two sexually immature fish and one finds some prime real estate and one starts to defend his new turf. Be patient to see if they can work things out. Keep an eye on them to make sure one doesn't end up with overly frayed fins or shows any other signs of stress. Clownfish are damsels and can be very territorial (ime Percs tend to be more aggressive than oscellaris but not as much as tomatoes or maroons). Some aggression is to be expected and they should sort things out on there own. My oscellaris pair completely ignored each other for months before they bonded. Eventually, they bonded and now they are inseparable.

 

[Lateralus]

Yea I've been watching. No tattered fins yet. He's starting to go out of his way to dart at him now. Someone may be spending some time in the sump.. We'll see.