Two females couple.

[Luis A M]

I know it happens with FW cichlids,like angelfish,discus and oscars.But never heard it could happen with clowns,or any marine fish for that matter.
I bought this couple of very large WC A.ocellaris 6 months ago.They were getting along in a lfs tank and one was smaller than the other.
There was something somehow unusual in their relationship,however,with the largest fish always showing some level of aggression towards the other one.
Then both fish became heavy and their increased girth made me wonder if they were not a two females pair.
Few days ago,in the afternoon,I saw that the fish were somehow agitated.While both were full bellied,the larger showed a more distended abdomen and an extruded ovipositor tube.
Soon later it started to spawn inside a couple of 2" PVC pipes,also unusual for clowns,there was a flowerpot available.
The other fish did not participate at all in this event.
The eggs looked normal and of a nice colour.They were not especially attended and disappeared the day after.
Has somebody heard of/experienced a similar event

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

Hello Luis,

I'm suprised you don't have any beautiful pictures of these clowns to show us!

If you are correct and have two females, then the eggs dissappeared because they were not fertilized, however, even if a male is present, the eggs can disappear after a day or two for a number of reasons...

1. mal-nutrition in the female
2. predators (think small, predatory snails that a clownfish guarding its clutch wouldn't see)
3. sometimes it takes a while for the clowns to get the process of laying the eggs and fertalizing them down...

anyway, i'm sure others have more examples...

good luck,

Matt

 

[cschweitzer]

Other reasons:
One of them ate the eggs(in the wild, a percentage of clownfish nurishment is amphiprion eggs)

Unfertilized eggs will be plucked and if they did not get fertilized this would happen.

 

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9551769#post9551769 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cschweitzer
Other reasons:
One of them ate the eggs(in the wild, a percentage of clownfish nurishment is amphiprion eggs)

Unfertilized eggs will be plucked and if they did not get fertilized this would happen.

Right.Eggs were obviously infertile and infertile eggs are usually removed the day after.

 

[Slakker]

Yep...could be that your female just hasn't pistol-whipped the male into fertilizing her eggs yet.

While it is possible (but rare) for you to have two females without a constant war going on, I'd be more inclined to think it was one of the above reasons. Joyce Wilkerson's book, Clownfishes, has a lot of helpful nutrition tips to help your pair lay a healthy clutch.

 

[MarinaP]

We will know for sure if you have two females once the other one lays eggs.

Right now I am sticking with a lazy male

 

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9576187#post9576187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarinaP
We will know for sure if you have two females once the other one lays eggs.

Right,only if I catch her spawning.And with her current partner,cause if I divorce them,which I must do,and pair her with a young male,I could never rule out it was a male and had changed sex thereafter.
But I have some years of breeding clowns and I know how a nice female looks.I can be wrong of course and this could be a very feminine fat bellied male!