The Breakup

colby

colby

In Memoriam
Has anyone had a pair of clowns break up? My Ocellaris pair that has been together for six years are at odds right now. They ceased spawning several weeks ago after an apparent argument over a spawning sight. In addition ever since I added the anemone things seem worse. The male loves the anemone where-as the female will have nothing to do with it. My pair is no longer the happy couple that used to hang out in the house together. Instead they spend much time staring each other down, the male from his anemone and the female from a distance of three inches or so. I am very upset that they are fighting as it seems to have them both stressed and I really want them to be happy. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanx.

:confused:
 
changes after 6 years will do that to any marriage. Give it time and it should resolve it self and hopefully they will continue spawning.
 
I would give it a few months to see if things settle down. After that you might want to think about removing one of them and buying a new clownfish. Does anyone else think that there is a chance that the male clownfish has somehow become a female? Just a thought.
 
From what I've read about clownfish in the wild, the most dominant clown becomes the female and the second dominant becomes the mate or the dominant male. All others in the group bow to them (so to speak). When the Dominant female disappears (dies gets killed or becomes lunch) the dominant male will change its sex and take over as dominant female.

found the info
 
If these are your ex-ORA broodstock then you have significantly changed their environment by adding a real anemone,,, after years with a ceramic tile as the most interesting thing in their tank,, it's no wonder they're a bit out-of-sorts.

Sounds like your male has taken to the BTA and fancies himself as a future female. I think you need to fix this quick,, maybe chase the female into the nem a few times,, see if she gets the idea. Maybe remove the BTA?
 
get anemone out of the tank right away. You give them that thing now is like a poor loving couple suddenly win multi million of dollars.. they begin to change.. People change with money, clowns change with anenome. I see so many people complain that their clowns break up after adding anenome....

good luck..
 
Lol....clownfish divorce court

Well the thing is I put the anemone in the tank hoping that it would help the situation...

About a month ago the pair started going at it when they disagreed on a nesting site. Since that time they have been at odds and spending time away from each other.

Also I figured that being retired from the broodstock room, retirement in a larger tank with a nice anemone would be a good quiet life for them..

I tried getting the female in the anemone (The anemone is a Ritteri BTW, since I have had it for several months and it has been growing alot and doing well I would prefer to not move it out of this tank.)

The pair seems to have a mutual dislike for each other at the time so if things keep going this way I may have to separate them and give them each new little mates...I would hate to separate them but I think they may be better off with new mates...

I am also wondering if the fact that the pair is so large (the male being just about 3") if some sort of spontanious sex change is happening, something built in their genes?

Thanx for all the advice so far guys...
 
Well i tried chasing the female into the anemone...she wouldn't have it...

So I removed the male from the tank and physicall placed the female in the anemone, she just froze. It was instan love she completely changed, you could tell her clownfish instincts were coming out..

I let her play for a little bit and let the male back into the anemone. I had hoped the female would re-assert her dominance and they would happily share the anemone. Not the case. It was battle. They locked lips and tried to kill each other. Surprisingly the male won, even though he is more than an inch smaller than her.

So what do ypu guys think? I am guessing I may have to separate them and give them new mates... :(
 
I would try again but keep the male away from the anemone for a couple of days. If you have a breeder-bag or some other device that would leave the male in the tank, in full sight of the female,,, I would try that.

Seems a shame to break up a pair that have been together so long. I don't know how long it takes a spawning male to turn into a spawning female but I bet it's a good while,,probably 6 months to a year. If breeding was my number 1 priority, then I think I'd go back to a bare tank with a ceramic tile and a plant-pot before I split them up.
 
Well breeding is one of my main priorities but my healthy Ritteri anemone is also another, I would really rather not move it. The fighting has gotten so intense that both of their mouths are getting torn up pretty bad. Even in the regular tile-only tank the pair was fighting so I think this may have been a little inevitable. And while I agree it is a bummer to split them up, I think in the long run they will each be better off as females with their own little boyfriends. I will probablly put the female back into a tile-only tank and keep te male with his anemone. Thanx for the advice.
 
They have been together 6 years.
They have the "Seven Year Itch" :) You people are way too young to have heard of that one. R
 
Well unfortunately even with the separation of the pair from the anemone the relationship was over. :(...

The old female now has a tile house and new hubby (who she seems to adore...lol), while the "new" female has her/his/it's? anemone and a cute little black Ocellaris mate. So now I have two pairs...oh well lol.
 
How did you physically put the clownfish in the nem? I would have a hell of a time. They get close to the BTA but no go for almost 3 weeks now.
 
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