Pairing a Maroon

[8220]

I have a quiet big Maroon 3- 4 inches, which I would like to pair up with a little maroon.
I went to my LFS and they had one that was a bit banged up, the fish is just less than 1 inch.
I have now kept the little guy in the tank for two days in a breeder station. Just so she would get use to him. I have chosen a BB tank so there would not be anything significant for her to defend.

So today I gave it a try, she left him alone for about 20 min then she started to attack him, he tried to get away. He didn't surrender"¦ So she kept on coming at him, when she bit of a hugh chunk of his fin I intervened and took him out of there.

I have read some articles online and in my clownfish book about pairing Premnas and know it is difficult.
If she does not accept him after beating him up for 3 minutes should I try again?

Or is it a lost cause?

Please help me, I don't want the little guy to get hurt for no reason.

 

[donya]

If you don't see "the wiggle" from the male or immature fish, then I would think it's not safe to leave them alone together yet. If you are sure you don't have two females, wait a day and try again with nets ready - but definitely don't wait until the female mangles him again if you can avoid it. If she charges and he doesn't do the love wiggle straight away (and if she doesn't back off afterwards), probably nothing good is going to happen and they need to be separated to cool off again.

I have had to pair my maroon female twice now, once when she was actually immature at the time (so was the "male") and once at just over 2". The first male was paired to her for around 9 months if I recall, but he died in an unfortunate air pollution event that hit the room so I got another one. My procedure with both pairings was to keep the male in a breeder box in the female's tank and wait until the female showed interest in the box (took about 3 days in both cases). Then I allowed only a few minutes of play time per day until there was obvious submissive behavior from the male/male-to-be, and even then I put the him away for another night as a precaution. Both times I also left the male access to the net for another few days (tipped it to one side a bit to leave a narrow entrance) in case he needed a couch to sleep on after lights out. One male had to use it for a couple nights, the other didn't. Never hurts to be cautious with aggressive fish.

 

[davocean]

The last time I paired a maroon she was quite fussy, and just did not accept my first two tries, and I used the specimen container/breeder box like you.
I floated each one at least a day or two before releasing.
I gave the first two males 3 tries each, figuring 3 strikes was all they could take anyway.
I would float it, try again a day or two later, and if she doesn't accept it, wait a week or so and try a new one.
At that size I'm sure you have a male, but sometimes they just won't accept certain males no matter what.

 

[zeeter]

I got lucky with mine. I created a contraption that only he could get in and out of during courtship. When I put the contraption with the male into the tank it immediately fell apart so I quick grabbed a net and decided to do things the old fashioned way. Turned out I didn't need to. Three dances of submission and she quickly swooshed him away to the sebae and they're inseparable now.

 

[8220]

Thanks for all the comments. I decited to give him some rest today. The poor guys was actually a bit banged up already when I picked him up at the store. I thought that would worke in my benifitt, less fish and all....
I didn't really see him shiver, he just tried to escape ang get away from her. She doen't really seam to be to interrested in him while he is in the container.

I also had the same idea as you zeeter to put in sort of a hide where he can go in to get away from her. But the problem is that at the LFS, they got 4 in and tried to pair them up them selfs, 2 actually became a pair 1 died and the last one is in my care now. At the LFS he got almost his whole tail chewed off, so he doesn't move that fast, I am jus concerned she will corner him and end him if I leave him in.

 

[redneckgearhead]

I sooooo want to do this! I am upgrading to a 90 gallon from a 75 and think that would be the perfect opportunity to get mine a mate. Think that would work?

 

[zeeter]

Plastic fruit containers, properly washed, work very well as they have holes small enough for the little guy but too big for the female. If you plan on trying again maybe you want to invest in some grapes or something.

 

[duncaholic]

May sound a bit drastic, but if you set up a different tank and introduce both of them into the new environment at the same time, you might get a good result. I don't do it too often, because if you give the new male a hiding place that the female can't get to, as others have suggested, it will often work itself out. I like PVC. a 1" (diameter) piece should do the trick. I usually put at least 2 or 3 lengths in the tank, so the male has places to dart to and from. Just make sure your female can't get in, but at 3"-4", this shouldn't be a problem.

 

[8220]

I think I will try the refuge idea and then take her out of the tank for a hour or 2 and then introducing her back into the tank... I hope it will work.

Thank you for all the ideas

 

[Gandolfe]

I got real lucky with my maroons. I had a 3 year old one about 3 inches and when I switched from my 90 to a 125 i decided to get another maroon. the big one had been in the tank for a month when i bought bubble tip. I put the BTA in and the maroon never went near it for a week. i then bought a 1.5 inch(cheapest one the LFS had) and added oit to my tank(no breeder tank or anything,just acclimated it and let it in the big tank) the first day it just swam aroiund near the top and the other clown didn't even notice it. the second day the other clown was in the BTA and the small one was swimming closer to the BTA but still no attacks, the third day they were both in the BTA and just like Peas and carrots(as Forrest gump would say) they've been together since...over 3 months now. But my big maroon once shared a BTA with 2 orange skunk fish so i think she's just mellow