Shakes gets a buddy;)

[gflat65]

Chris (PhoenixINX) gave me his little gold striped. I've been wanting a friend for Shakes, so I couldn't pass it up. I was wondering what time frame I'm looking at for them to bond (if they bond)? The little (soon to be) guy has been in there since last night and has had a slight confrontation, but nothing too bad. It was really cool watching them feel each other out. Then Shakes attacked the little guy. They are staying on opposite sides of the tank, but seem to be somewhat interested in each other. None of the attacks have been vicious (in maroon standards, anyway). Am I looking at a month or a week for them to start giving the relationship the ole college try(if at all)? This little guy is so cool. For those that don't know, I've had Shakes for about ten years, so I'm not completely sure she'll take a mate...

 

[Fishboy42]

Great to hear Shakes will be getting a pal! Definitely a good sign if she's tolerating the new guy (how big is he BTW?). IME they bond fairly quickly (days) and hang out near each other, getting closer and closer as they feel more comfortable with each other (or as the female allows the male to approach). Did you see any "kissing" behavior? When Shakes chases the new guy, does he swim around and peck her on the cheek? This is an interesting submissive behavior seen mostly in maroon pairs, but a good sign IME that you have a compatible pair. Maroon males don't seem to do the standard "shaking" behavior quite as much as ocellaris do. Let us know how they do!

Matt

 

[fishdoc11]

:dance:

Good luck

 

[PhoenixINX]

(how big is he BTW?).

Very small... He's been in the 12G Nano for awhile now.

Gary, what would you guess... just over 2" ???

Here he was back in Feb.

 

[SRT80]

that sounds like my Ocellaris. When I first introduced the new one, they stayed close and even slept in the same zoas. But now, the newest one sleeps on the opposite side of the tank in the zoa/yellow polyps rock and the original sleeps in her zoas on the other side. And sometimes they will swim together but here latley I've been noticing the original clown kind of like snapping at the new guy and then he will start this twitching/shaking thing.

Steve

 

[Fishboy42]

Beautiful little fish (and nice picture too!)

 

[gflat65]

Yeah, 'he's' a little guy (and a little lady killer). No more than 2" or so. Looks tiny next to Shakes (1/4-1/5 the size). I've only seen Shakes chase him a few times, but she seems interested. She's got a little cave that she peers out of and seems to keep an eye on the little guy. The little guy will swim into her general vicinity and she'll watch him. So far, that has been the extent of it. She chased him the first night, nipping a little, but only on one little escapade. Since, it's looked pretty tame. I was thinking that if she didn't just try to shred him, he might be fine with her. He already swims around like he owns the tank. It is interesting to watch the other fish, too, though. Hwen Shakes first noticed him night before last, all of the other fish stayed behind her, almost out of her way. No one except the cleaner wrasse is really socializing with the little guy yet, but it harasses everyone. Sounds like good may come from this, though.

 

[gflat65]

Not a good pic, but it is the only one I have gotten with them in close proximity for scale.

Just a few others I took
Engr goby

Caulastrea

Hungry all the time. I'm loving LPS.

 

[SexiShrimp]

Hey gary,
Congrats on the new little fishy! Nice pics too!!!

I have a question...was the new clown with or without a mate before you got him? If he was solo for a long time, he may be a she and may take a while for her to change to a he. I know he's change to she's but do she's change to he's?
I hope I am not confusing the majority of you!

See the little wisker thing under his eye....I think females get them and males don't. That is why I am bringing it up....


SS

 

[Fishboy42]

As far as we understand, once clownfish go female, they never go back I might be worried about the newcomer's sex too, but he looks too small to be a female yet. I purchased and paired one of my males out of a dealer's tank where he was alone for a couple of months without incident.

All maroons have that little cheek spine, it's just harder to see on smaller fish. I just went and looked at two of my little males to compare to the picture, and they look similar (although they weren't happy to have a flashlight blazing into their dens while trying to protect their eggs

That's a nice engineer goby too Does he come out a lot?

 

[gflat65]

The little one was alone for around 8 months, I think... They still haven't had a real confrontation since the first night.

The engineer goby has been coming ou tmore lately because there is a new fish, but you typically only see him when you feed. It's always out then. Otherwise, you might catch a glimpse as it passes from one rock to another. Over the last two days it has been spitting cubic yards of sand. I keep having to uncover the buried corals. He only covers them ever once in a while, though.

 

[gflat65]

Well, two weeks later, it looks like potential success. I missed any interaction, as though they looked like they were ignoring one another. Just tonight, I noticed the little guy was near the anemones. I figured it had to be sanctioned by Shakes. The little guy has a torn pec fin, but that is it. They both developed a serrated dorsal fin shortly after introduction. Both fins are healed now. I just found that interesting. The gold is coloring in better tonight than previous nights, too. I didn't see the little guy dive into the anemones, but he grabbed a few tips of tentacles, so I think he'll be in like Flynn by morning.

 

[gflat65]

Checked back in on the 'happy' couple around 11:00 last night and they were both nestled away in the anemones.