Pairing gold bar maroon clowns

[NAN0 KEEPER]

So when I first purchased my small gold bar, it is around 3/4" but I would really like to get another gold bar to pair with it. I saw another one at my LFS at about 2.5", if I was to purchase it, will the female attack the male? I'm scared to purchase the larger gold bar and have it kill my smaller one. Any advice or thoughts?

 

[deangelr]

definently purchase a larger one.... Clowns are sexually dimorphic, and trying to pair clowns the same size can be confusing for them on who is going to be who.... 2.5 inches is pretty large though it may work .. but going a little smaller for your female may be easier.. there are lots of tricks to get them to pair together

 

[Arati]

How big is your GSM now?

 

[patriots81]

purchase a larger one

 

[gawf4fun]

I had some luck with my attempt to pair my large female ~3" long with a 1". The female had dominated the tank (20 gal), taking out most every fish added over the course of a couple years. I put the 1" into a 1/2 liter plastic bottle with small holes cut in it to allow for an escape away from the big fish.

As it turned out, the small guy ventured out after about 20 seconds and never bothered, nor needed to go, back in. Different fish will all react differently, but mine seemed like a match made in heaven and started laying eggs about three months later and haven't stopped since. New clutch every 11 days.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[youpey]

be careful when adding a second clown
if your original clown was in the tank for around 2 weeks or longer, it will probably have become female since it was the only clown in there. you cant have more then 1 female clown in the same tank.
the way clown fish are, all clown fish are no gender when born. the largest/strongest becomes female. the second largest/strongest becomes male. all other clowns in the group remain no gender, there will be challenges for dominance with the small no gender clowns with the male clowns, since they want to mate. if the no gender clown wins and kills the male it will take its place and become male. the male can fight with the female, and if it wins the male will become female. here is the problem with buying a second clown at a later time. 2 females cant be in the tank at the same time. although a no gender clown can become male or female, and a male can become female, but a female cant become male or no gender, once female, it is female for life, and since two females cant be in the tank at the same time...

so with that being said here is the rule i have always applied and it usually works well

if your clown was in the tank more then 2 weeks, then make sure the next clown you get is not the only clown in the tank at the LFS. if it is the only one it will possibly be female too. they will fight to death.

when you look at a tank with more then one clown in the tank, make sure you dont get the largest, it will be the female.

try to get one of the smaller ones, it will either be no gender or male

i know this is long, but i hope you found it helpful