The official PAIRING THREAD!!

romsoccer12

romsoccer12

New member
Kind of like a tank build thread, but a clownfish pairing thread! I will keep updates now and than!
Just got an orange and white ocellaris and a black and white ocellaris and currently acclimating in seperate bags in my QT. The orange is pretty big, maybe a large juvenile, but was in a tank with like 30 clowns, so hopefully its not female yet. Just in case, i got a very small secile black ocellaris, who was in a group of 4 and was very nice looking. Hopefully it all goes well when i introduce them together. THe orange one seems very aggresive now wich scares me. I plan the black will be the male and the orange the female. If to much aggression, I will seperate them with some glass. Ill get some pics tomorrow maybe, no time today!
 
UPDATE
just added them, let the orange one in first to inspect things around and check out the black in the bag. after no problems, i released the black and to my suprise there was absolutely NO fighting. instantly they start hanging out together, and the black clown showd some submission, but not aggressiveness from the orange. guess i got the perfect pick! ill try feeding in an hour or 2 and see if they eat
 
a little aggression isnt too bad either my pair spawn regularly and the female continuesly asserts herself. just sayin dont count it out if the big one gets a little ruff
 
I fed for the first time today. The orange one honestly attacked the food! The black one was soon to start eating, just not as aggressivly either. Im very suprised onthe health of these fish, normally my LFS arent so good at keeping good fish!
 
Another Update.
The orange one has now taken control of the PVC pipe in my tank and if the black gets to close he will nip a little. What concerns me, probably nothing though, is the black one is constantly swimming head first into the glass, trying to escape. Is this normal? Also, my main fear is I got 2 females. Do you think if I did get two females that they would be getting along like this or fighting constantly?
 
^anyone^?
also, the orange one is attacking the black one now and than, and the black one starts to vibrate wich is a good sign, right?
 
If you have two females one will try to kill the other. By vibrating do you mean the clown goes on its side and twitches? thats just a sign of submission, which is normal for a male to do in the presence of a dominant female
 
Twitching is not a sign of submission, but a sign of aggression. It is a challenge or warning. Still, not to worry. I have had spawning pairs that twitch.

Something I have discovered in my years of pairing clowns is that sometimes it is better to start with a threesome. It seems to give the added pressure to cause one to eventually become female. This has worked with my tricinctus and allardi. Meanwhile, my chrysopterus pair has been together for 2 years and still no bonding. An akindynos pair also remain unbonded, however they are still small. I believe the chrys and akin are probably still males or subadults. The allardi were the same way until I added another juvenile. Then the more aggressive one "bulked up" in a short period. Give your clowns some time and enjoy.

Dan
 
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"Twitching is not a sign of submission, but a sign of aggression"

I disagree. The submissive juvi or male clown is predominantly the one that twitches. It may be a warning but it would be a "I know your bigger and tougher but if you push me too far I will fight back" kind of warning. :)
 
I agree with rkelman, I really think it is a somewhat submission because he will only do it when the orange clown attacks him. My main worry is I have 2 females. If I did, would there be more fighting? I would think 2 females in a 5.5 gallon would have killed each other already.
 
Yes there would be more fighting. Really you can expect bickering for up to a year. Unless they are jaw locking or injuring each other don't worry too much. Make sure the tank is covered in case someone jumps.
 
Fire Clowns

Fire Clowns

I have a pair and the female bit the lip of the male and is still deformed to this day. Now they lay eggs every 8 days and live in many split bta's.
 
i have 2 black occ with 2 mis-bar true percs myself with no problems, female is the black occ and other 3 are males, along with 8 nem's. how long you plan to keep them in the 5.5g tank ?
 
I dont see them "kissing" =).
I am worried though because the more I look at the 2 fish, the more I get paranoid they are both females are going to kill one of each other.
The orange one has been CONSTANTLY chasing around the black one and nipping at him.
The black one tries to hide by the corner near heater but it doesnt really deter the orange. I would seperate them, but I see no physical damage actually being done to the black clown, just damaged spirit.
Here are some pics, please tell me if you think the black one is already a female. He has shown no signs of aggression if that helps to the orange except some flairing of his mouth. Sorry for the poor pics.
img0252e.jpg
 
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