Paired clownfish, living in separate anemones...?

[starfishbricks]

So I got a new pair of clowns a few months ago and they are now in my 75gal mixed reef. They were purchased as a 'bonded pair', and got along great while they were in quarantine. There was occasional fighting, but overall they did everything together.

The tank they're currently in has a range of corals as well as a very well established haddoni and BTA (both have been living together for a long time now). After introducing them to the tank, both clowns went straight for the BTA. However, I noticed yesterday that the female 'kicked' the male out of the BTA. She wasn't really aggressive about it, just kinda nudges him away while he does seizure dance. I guess she wouldn't let him sleep in the BTA last night because this morning I found him sleeping in the haddoni while the female was sleeping in the BTA...

Did my clowns just get a divorce?!?!

 

[cyclenut]

My two clowns do this. The female will hog all the anemonies to herself and nudge the male away whenever she sees him in one. He's used to it so he just slowly wanders to the next vacant anemone while the female isn't looking. Funny to watch actually.

 

[starfishbricks]

Well, just got home from work and found the male swimming about 5 inches away from the BTA. Female is still bouncing around in BTA, but she will occasionally come out of the BTA and swim next to the male before returning back in. I guess they got in a fight last night and the male 'spent the night on the couch'? Hmm, sounds familiar... :facepalm:

 

[SwampyBill]

Very normal bonding behavior; esp. her gentle nudging & his doing the submissive 'seizure dance'. Sounds like he learned 'his place' quickly.

 

[snorvich]

Very normal bonding behavior; esp. her gentle nudging & his doing the submissive 'seizure dance'. Sounds like he learned 'his place' quickly.

This.

 

[starfishbricks]

Well, I woke up this morning and the male is back sleeping in the haddoni while the female is in the BTA. I guess this works since they seem to be getting along during the day. It is a strange relationship though...kind of like those couples that sleep in separate bedrooms at night or the ones that have two smaller beds instead of one big bed. Oh well, whatever works! :hammer:

 

[SwampyBill]

Lucy & Ricky had separate beds on opposite side of the room for yrs & still had 2 kids...

 

[oh207]

My clowns do this all the time. They are bonded and spawn every two weeks. During the day they are in the same nem. But most nights the male gets kicked out and he sleeps in the other nem.
Although I've never really see her force him out or kick him out. I just notice in the nights that he is sleeping in a different nem.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Well, I have the same happening in my tank. My male sleeps in RBTA while female is in a larger GBTA. Both nems are new. We'll see how this goes down. Keep us posted.

 

[Kairus]

My clarkiis sleep in different anemones at night (ritteri and sebae) but during the day they're usually out and about and they jump into the anemones from time to time. At one point I had three anemones - ritteri, sebae, and a gbta and it was funny to watch them decide where they wanted to go.

 

[starfishbricks]

Posting an update on the clowns.

The male went from only sleeping in the haddoni at night to spending all his time in the haddoni while the female continues to stay in the BTA. Both are eating like pigs and otherwise seem very healthy. They're not fighting at all, but they also don't spend that much time together anymore. The haddoni and BTA are almost 2 feet away from each other with the haddoni in the sand and the BTA way up in the rockwork. The only time I see them swimming together now is when I feed them. I'm beginning to wonder if the tank is too big for them? They're the only fish in the tank...the rest are inverts. I'm worried that since they're spending less and less time with each other, they're going to grow apart, and then go into a crazy fight match down the road...

 

[Sassifrass7]

My female clown is down right nasty to the little male,....she pursues him around the tank and tries to keep him down in a corner. I think I may separate them. I don't like bullying.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I have pairs of all 6 complexes of clownfish. They all host their own separate anemones if there are multiple available. When when breeding they don't host the same.


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