My clowns hate each other!

[DragonFish]

I would guess they are about an inch and a half in length. The fighting has been going on for several weeks now and their mouths are looking pretty bad. Neither one ever backs down, so it sounds like maybe I did manage to get two females. Is there any distinguishing trait other than size between the sexes? Tanks all!

 

[Grandczar]

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I have a 29 and there is only one other fish, a very small scooter blenny

Goodluck! Your gonna need it... You may want to consider returning this little fellow too. Then again you may be the exception to the rule. Personally i gamble with money life is to valualbe.

 

[Emperator]

I second what Emmitt said. Two same sized clowns will beat the snot out of each other until one or the other croaks.

I do not think there are distinguishing charateristics to tell if one is a male or female other than the female will be larger than a male.

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

OK here goes!! What Emmitt says is true. You need to take one back and get a much smaller one(the smaller the better because they have not determined sex yet) and with luck they will pair up. It doesn't always work though.
In the wild there may be several in a group. The largest one will be the female and one of the smaller one will rise up to be the male.
If the male or female dies another will rise and become that sex. It is a very strange setup. Johnny

 

[DragonFish]

The second day I put them in my tank they started trying to kill each other! They are both the same size and came out of the same tank at the LFS and were bought at the same time. I have a 29 and there is only one other fish, a very small scooter blenny. Suggestions? I suppose I could trade one back in but knowing my LFS he'll want to charge me extra for it being a "used" fish. Is there a trick to get them to get along? Oh, btw they are both perculas.

 

[percula]

They are in a smaller tank. Thus they are trying to establish dominance... Dont worry, leave them be. Unless you picked out two females everything will be fine. Just leave them alone. Percs or ocellaris?

 

[Emmitt]

Definitely try and exchange one of the Percs. Get one that is significantly smaller than the one you're going to keep. They should pair up nicely. The smaller one will develop into a male. You didn't say how big the ones you have are, but either they are trying to determine which will be the dominate female or they are both the same sex. When the fish are close to the same size, the fighting can become deadly. When one is smaller, there can still be some "posturing" but the smaller one will usually give up an accept its role as male.

 

[DragonFish]

Would you care to elaborate Grandczar? That was a pretty vauge statement. Maybe you have something useful to contribute?

 

[JohnD]

I am not a clown expert, but let me quote from Joyce Wilkerson's Clownfishes page 137:

"Because social surroundings determine gender, clownfishes from the
Amphiprion genus can form a pair from any two juveniles. Two well-cared-for small Amphirprion clownfishes can be become a male/female pair, or a large clownfish (presumably already female) and a smaller one (adolescent or male) can also form a pair. Avoid pairing two large clownfishes, because they are probably both female and each will attempt to cahese the other out of its territory. Two confined females may duel to the death."

DragonFish - it sounds like you have 2 females in your tank. While I can't be 100% sure on that, I think you may want to consider removing one of the females.

HTH

[ August 05, 2001: Message edited by: JohnD ]

 

[Mouse]

Dragonfish, i think that Grandczar was refering to your stocking level. 6 inches of fish or so for you size aquarium.

 

[Grandczar]

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Would you care to elaborate Grandczar? That was a pretty vauge statement. Maybe you have something useful to contribute?

Sure...
Scooter Blennies need alot of copepods. It seems that ones that will take prepared foods. Even they seem to slowly starve. Im not sure if it has something to do with needing to eat multiple times during the day or not. Basically I usually treat these guys like I would a mandarin. Unless you have enough live rock/sand to support good sized populations of copepods/amphipods long term. Prolly best off left down at you lfs.

I dont know the low down on your tank so you may have prepaped for this.??? Even so I wish you luck!

 

[DragonFish]

Thanks Czar, thats the kind of info I'm looking for! He seems to be eating quite well and spends most of the day picking at my macro algae, and certainly isn't shy at feeding time. I'll keep an eye on him though, if he starts to look thin I'll trade him in. As far as the clowns go, I believe I'll take your advice and trade one in. It sounds like you guys think 6 inches in 29 gallons is high? I have no measurable ammonia, nitrite or nitrate so what else should I be cautious of? Thanks all!