Maroon Clownfish Pairing Attempt

rffanat1c · 01/17/2015, 01:56 PM

Hello all! My plan is to have only a pair of maroons in my DT with no other fish. I've read myself silly on how to pair these fish and knew I would have to take a chance sooner or later. I have a 37G QT setup to put them in until my DT is fallow of 10 weeks

I went to my LFS today to get one Maroon Clownfish (SA or ORA) today and came across a bit of a surprise. This store lists the date their fish arrived and I found a SA White Stripe Maroon that arrived on 7/16/14. It is about 2 1/2-3" long and is VERY healthy looking and has obviously been eating there for 6 months.

Also there was a SA Gold Stripe Maroon there in a separate tank just barely over 1" long. The white strip was $59.99 (not sure why this high) and the gold stripe was $16.99. Since I had a $10 coupon for this store and they will take fish back, I decided to take a shot at these two and see if I couldn't make a pair out of them. Both are healthy and both are eating so I took them home (01/14/15)

Since then this is the summary of how it has gone.

(01/15) I let the little one out of the breeder box and they began swimming next to each other. Total time together was about 10 minutes. The big one went after the little on 5-6 times but never locked mouths or fully grabbed any fins to rip. Each time the big one went after the little one, the little one shook a little bit, circled around and looked like it wanted to bite the big one but wouldn't.

The little one would run a few inches from the big one but never hid or went very far from the big one and came back to it. The big one was interested for sure, but never fully went on the offensive of attack. The little one never made any moves to attack the big one. After 10 min, I put the little one back in his box to try again later.

(01/16) Video of today's meeting. 30 mins together with zero bickering

(01/17) I let the little one out of his breeder box at 10AM. The big one has spent the night high in the aquarium near his box the last two nights. Over the last four hours, I've gone to check on them. During the last hour, the little one is hanging out above a powerhead and occasionally comes back to the big one and gets chased away just a little bit. Still no biting, tearing, or mayhem. Kind of reminds of my two ocellaris when they first met (don't have these anymore).

Anyone with some experience here have any input on how it seems to be going?? I think it is going ok. At this point I think he will be accepted or they are just going to tolerate one another.

boxfishpooalot · 01/17/2015, 05:22 PM

I think there is no sure way to know. But if I remeber correct they pair up in large groups, not usually forced to pair. I'd suggest waiting it out a bit. Or get a few more and see which one gets kicked out.

rffanat1c · 01/17/2015, 05:58 PM

Well I checked on them after 6 hours and found the little one had a small tear in his rear dorsal fin. I put him back in the clear box for an hour or so. Went back down to let him out so I wouldn't interfere with the process and he swam down to the big one and the big one charged the little one a few times. The little one did the sideways epileptic dance/shimmy and stuck near her. He then went for a swim and she charged him a few times and he took off like a bat out of H**l.

She definitely tolerates him 90% of the time in her corner but likes to randomly chase him out of there. He's back in the box for the night so we have no major issues.

01/17/2015, 01:56 PM	#1
rffanat1c Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Kenosha, WI Posts: 693	Maroon Clownfish Pairing Attempt Hello all! My plan is to have only a pair of maroons in my DT with no other fish. I've read myself silly on how to pair these fish and knew I would have to take a chance sooner or later. I have a 37G QT setup to put them in until my DT is fallow of 10 weeks I went to my LFS today to get one Maroon Clownfish (SA or ORA) today and came across a bit of a surprise. This store lists the date their fish arrived and I found a SA White Stripe Maroon that arrived on 7/16/14. It is about 2 1/2-3" long and is VERY healthy looking and has obviously been eating there for 6 months. Also there was a SA Gold Stripe Maroon there in a separate tank just barely over 1" long. The white strip was $59.99 (not sure why this high) and the gold stripe was $16.99. Since I had a $10 coupon for this store and they will take fish back, I decided to take a shot at these two and see if I couldn't make a pair out of them. Both are healthy and both are eating so I took them home (01/14/15) Since then this is the summary of how it has gone. (01/15) I let the little one out of the breeder box and they began swimming next to each other. Total time together was about 10 minutes. The big one went after the little on 5-6 times but never locked mouths or fully grabbed any fins to rip. Each time the big one went after the little one, the little one shook a little bit, circled around and looked like it wanted to bite the big one but wouldn't. The little one would run a few inches from the big one but never hid or went very far from the big one and came back to it. The big one was interested for sure, but never fully went on the offensive of attack. The little one never made any moves to attack the big one. After 10 min, I put the little one back in his box to try again later. (01/16) Video of today's meeting. 30 mins together with zero bickering (01/17) I let the little one out of his breeder box at 10AM. The big one has spent the night high in the aquarium near his box the last two nights. Over the last four hours, I've gone to check on them. During the last hour, the little one is hanging out above a powerhead and occasionally comes back to the big one and gets chased away just a little bit. Still no biting, tearing, or mayhem. Kind of reminds of my two ocellaris when they first met (don't have these anymore). Anyone with some experience here have any input on how it seems to be going?? I think it is going ok. At this point I think he will be accepted or they are just going to tolerate one another.

01/17/2015, 05:22 PM	#2
boxfishpooalot Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: canada, Grande Praire, Ab Posts: 5,824	I think there is no sure way to know. But if I remeber correct they pair up in large groups, not usually forced to pair. I'd suggest waiting it out a bit. Or get a few more and see which one gets kicked out. __________________ Its a good idea to have a refrence sample for alk test kits. 1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1gallon of distilled water=10dkh. Check your alkalinity test kit! Algae is Mother Natures phosphate remover Current Tank Info: 220 galon mixed reef.

01/17/2015, 05:58 PM	#3
rffanat1c Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Kenosha, WI Posts: 693	Well I checked on them after 6 hours and found the little one had a small tear in his rear dorsal fin. I put him back in the clear box for an hour or so. Went back down to let him out so I wouldn't interfere with the process and he swam down to the big one and the big one charged the little one a few times. The little one did the sideways epileptic dance/shimmy and stuck near her. He then went for a swim and she charged him a few times and he took off like a bat out of H**l. She definitely tolerates him 90% of the time in her corner but likes to randomly chase him out of there. He's back in the box for the night so we have no major issues.