What size clown to add trying to pair up?

[honcho]

My large female clownfish went "carpet surfing" and wasnt around to find her till it was too late. My question is in regards to introducing another clown into my tank. I am not sure how long it actually would take the male to switch to female so should I wait for some time and allow the change to occur and then introduce a smaller clown or find a larger already female and introduce right away so my male stays male.

My current clown is about 3 inches, the female was almost 5 inches, so given the current size and maturity I am not even sure if the current male would switch to female or if this primarily happens with more juvenile clowns.

I do know someone who has a female clown that is as big as mine was who would part with her and I trust the source so as far as qt I am not expecting any surprises showing up as far as disease etc. and I would qt her then introduce the male out of my display tank into the qt tank and allow nature to take its course so to speak. Or is this just a bad idea and go with the smaller clown and go that route.

 

[sneeze]

what flavor clown?
if you do get the female from the other source, it will be easy to tell right away if your male has begun the change. watch for locked jaws, extreme agression, etc. if this is the case, then you could quickly pull either fish and no real damage will be had.
then again, the safest route would be to get a juvinal. you would be amazed as to how fast a juvinal grows when introduced to a large fish.

 

[demonnite57]

IMO, the safest bet would be to get a juvenile. This way there's no questions along the way whether they are both female or they will be a pair. Now, if your clown just went "carpet surfing" last night or today, you should be able to get a female and not have to worry.

 

[honcho]

The clowns are/were true percs, maybe false I was never 100% certain and she jumped two nights ago. I had originally purchased them because of there size, I liked how big they were so I wasnt that concerned with the exact species at the time.

the larger one has always been a jumper over the time I had her she managed to jump out of the tank 3 times no matter what type of cover I had.

 

[Powerboat]

Sorry to hear about your loss. The easiest and least stressful thing for you to do is to add another clown that is smaller than the male you have now. That way there won't be as much aggression as they get to bond. Your current male should become dominant and turn female. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[honcho]

Hello. Have decided I will get a small clown it seems the safest choice. Have set my qt tank up again and an letting that cycle, getting things ready. I do have a question on compatibility. Mine isnt a misbar ir anything exotic. I saw a very nice looking "naked" variation. Obviously it looks different but it is the same family of clown. Would there be issues or should I look for one more closely resembling my current fish?

I also have a question on bubble tips I saw a gorgeous one at a store yesterday but I know. I would have qt because of the source. The price was cheap, they have it listed wrong anyway I don't have great lighting for any qt tanks and am concerned about a month in qt without great lighting or should I just wait till I find one from a "trusted source" my display tank has 3 150 watt mh so that should be enough for a bubble

 

[scoutsout132]

I have always heard go with a smaller one then what you have.