Time to re-pair or separate?

[CoralsAddiction]

I've had two Nebula (A. Percula) clowns for 5 months that were acquired as juveniles. One has established itself as the dominant of the two. It lives in a rose BTA and doesn't let the other one in the anemone.
They don't fight. They just do not act as a "œbonded" pair. The clowns live in the opposite corners of my reef tank.
Option 1: leave them be.
Option 2: move them both in a quarantine tank for re-pairing
Option 3: separate them.
Which is better and why?
Thanks.

 

[ratienza80]

I think if you really want them to pair, test them out in the quarantine tank and see how they do. if the dominant one is too aggressive then maybe they are not a good pair for one another.

 

[ThRoewer]

Be patient. Them not fighting is actually a good sign.
My first percula pair didn't really get along well for the first year.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

The main problem is that the dominant clown wouldn’t share the anemone. I chased the submissive clown with tongs towards the anemone and the other clown wouldn’t let him in. So, I removed both of them from the main tank and placed them in QT with a flowerpot. The dominant clown has accepted the flowerpot as a host while the submissive clown hovers above it. Still no fighting and they seem to do okay. Sharing a host anemone is what’s been an issue. I’ll observe them in QT for 3-4 weeks to see if anything changes. They are still very young and not that big in size.

 

[OrionN]

They are not mature yet. They will be fine later. I am sure when they mature there will be a small battle then everything will fall into place.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

On the other hand, a newly formed pair of wild caught clowns has shown progress. They've been paired for only 8 days and started to share a flowerpot today without any issues.