Will they pair up?

[90sShooter]

OK,

I have had a true perc in my 24g AP for about a month now.. Today I picked up a mate for him at the LFS. I got him home, acclimated and put him in and they started to do that little submissive twiching thing I guess trying to establish dominancy... The one I just introduced is slightly larger than the established clown and seems to be bullying the established clown chasing him around and picking on him...

My question is, will they eventually warm up to each other or are they not a match and no chance to pair? The thing that confuses me is the sex of the two fish... If the established clown took the female role and the new fish that I introduced also is a female (assuming it has already established sex) is there no chance? will they change accordingly? Since the female is supposed to be bigger, and the established clown already changed sex, what will happen? They are both true percs with similar markings but one is a little lighter orange than the other...

I guess what I am trying to say is, Will they pair up eventually? is the confrontation normal? The smaller established clown is being picked on but still seems very curious and stays close to the bigger newly introduced clown...

Sorry for the rambling, but hopefully you can make some sense of it... And thanks for any advice or information!

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

if you had a perc in your tank alone for a month by itself then it has became female. adding another perc that was bigger than yours will also most likely be a female and they will fight till the death. as when they turn female they can't change back.

I can only suggest you bring back the new one and buy one that is much smaller than the one you have.

 

[90sShooter]

That is what I was thinking... right now they seem to be hanging out just fine... lights off hanging out by my brain coral (anenome replacement for some reason my clown loves it and hosts it...) I wonder if they are going to be ok? Maybe the established clown never changed sex?

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

it could very well work out. and I do hope it does. just keep an eye on them and be ready to remove one if things change.

good luck :thumbsup:

 

[90sShooter]

I will! Thank you so much for your help! I hope it works out too! God only knows how many times I have tried to have a pair of clowns.. one always dies... The one is very well established and the new one ate like a pig hours after introduction... I think I finally got 2 survivors... Only thing is they are slightly different oranges... will their oranges lighten or darken after a while depending on lighting? not really a big deal but I really wanted a matching pair...

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

age and diet will change their color not the lighting.

 

[90sShooter]

hmmm... interesting... Cool thanks again for all the help!

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13170793#post13170793 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 90sShooter
hmmm... interesting... Cool thanks again for all the help!

anytime, thats what we are here for

 

[90sShooter]

ok I have an update...

I made a trip to the wholesaler today and just couldn't pass up a $8 True perc... so this is what I did to resolve my problems (and start all new ones )

I purchased 2 more clowns... one that looked similar to the first established clown but much smaller and another that I thought looked similar to the new addition clown (also smaller). The point was to split the two that were not getting along (but seemed they may have been starting to warm up to each other). One pair would stay in the existing 24g and the other would be transported to my 55g (at my gf's house).

My first stop was at my gf's house so I acclimated and introduced the smaller clown of the second (newly purchased) clown pair. I will transport the other (newly purchase) clown early tomorrow morning... and hopefully there will be no issues...

HOWEVER, when I introduced the small clown that was to be pair with the established clown, the established clown immediately started attacking the smaller clown!

I caught the other clown before introducing thinking that would be a problem having all three in there but didn't help.. The new clown is TINY compared to the existing clown and I feared he would not take much abuse. So I took the established clown out of the tank and into a QT tank where he will stay for a couple of days while I get the new clown established and eating.. (he is so tiny).

Is this a good idea? I thought I read that if this happens that you should rearrange rock to confuse the established clown and/or take the clown out for a couple days so he will no longer have established the tank.. per say...

I don't know, I just couldn't leave well enough alone... Somebody help with any ideas how to straighten this out. I will post tomorrow after I transport the other clown to the 55g and see how they get along...

 

[norcal99]

I've paired up true perculas in the past without too much trouble. I'm your case with an established and assumed bigger/ dominant female, it's supposedly normal to see your female "attacking" the smaller male and you'll see lots of chasing, fin biting, bullying, etc. I would highly recommend some sort of closed top as the new fish might jump if being chased excessively. I just picked up a ORA Picasso that I'm trying to pair with a slightly larger and established dominant female percula and like you, within about a minute my rodonyx began attacking my Picasso. I would just monitor closely and intervene if the life of the new clown is in danger... Otherwise let nature take it's course and they should calm down after a few weeks.

On a side note, rearranging the rock work might not be a bad idea. Clowns are very territorial so by mixing things up, no clown would exhibit territorial/ aggressive behavior. Keep us posted!

 

[90sShooter]

I forgot to update but unfortunately the small clown did not make it through the night... I am not sure if he was just unheathly from the wholesaler or if my coral banded shrimp killed him cause I when I woke up the shrimp had him in his claws... He was super tiny and the shrimp is really aggressive... So the established clown is back in the tank and doing well as always...

The other two clowns seem to be doing good together in the 55g so hopefully that will work out... Thanks for all the help guys!