Maroon Clown

Hi All

Im a newbie here and its my first post.

I am in the process of attempting to pair a couple of marron clowns. Ones about 2.5 inches the other probably between 1.5 to 2 inches.

I had done a lot of research on them so know its difficult to get them to pair.

But any way i had an existing maroon which was the larger one for about 4 months and found a smaller one.

I expected them to fight which they did so over the next few days i would let them go in with each other have a scrap and then seperate them putting the smaller one in a clear plastic holding pot in the tank.

The larger one would always beat up the smaller one and the the small one would swim away and not put up much resistance, only to defend itself.

I did this for a couple of nights and the bigger one would keep approaching the pot repeatedly to look at the smaller one.

Then two nights agao the small one escaped the pot during the night. When i saw the empty pot in the morning i half expected to find a dead fish.

However i found the fish at the bottom of the tank and whilst it looked a bit beat up it was still alive. I did think about fishing it out and putting it back in its pot but i noticed the larger maroon was no longer attacking it, it would go over and look at it then swim back. If the smaller one tried to come out the larger one would go over to it in an agressive manor but not attack it.

When i had a look this morning the clowns are still in their regular places but the larger one is not attacking the smaller one.

My question is, does this mean the larger one has accpeted the smaller one and is this the start of them pairing up?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

That is your standard Clownfish behavior. The larger (female) is showing dominanace over the smaller male. There is not much that you can do about this behavior. Some people have a really hard time with an overaggressive female. Just give it some time. If the female is now leaving the fish alone and not attacking it anymore that is a good sign.

Keep us updated.

 

Thanks for the response.

I did a lot of research before buying the second maroon clown so was expecting a lot of aggressive behaviour. There just isnt a lot of information on line about the signs of when a female accepts a male so was hoping the fact that the larger clown isnt attacking the smaller one was a good sign.

Fingers crossed the larger one has accepted the smaller one or is starting as they would make a nice pairing.

 

I am not personally a fan of the Maroon Clown simply because of their aggressive behavior. The gold stripe maroon may be one of the most beautiful clown (all natural). But the agression factor always steered me away from them, and they also get pretty big.

 

The larger one is a gold stripe and is a real dark maroon colour whereas the smaller one is a bright orange with thick yellow stipes.

They do both look stunning in their own right but if they do pair to have them both swimming together will be something.

I know they can be really agressive but i only have 2 chromis and a yellow belly damsel in the tank with them and as long as they stay out the larger clows way she doesnt bother them and i am happy to keep the tank like that

 

I hope it works out for you! It sounds like they may pair for you. I hope the female continues to keep her fighting the little guy to a minimum.......

 

Thanks, am hoping it oes to.

If it does i know i have been very lucky as it all my research shows it can be a bit hit and miss.

I guess time will tell if it starts to venture out more in to the opening and the female leaves him alone.

im not even bothered about breeding them just nice to have a pair together

 

its usually best to add them together seeing as this was not possible i would have personally let them figure it out on their own or fish them both out, re-aquascape a bit and then add them together. dont forget every time you fish the smaller one out you are adding a new element of stress. not only does it have to take the bullying but also a huge hand that forces it into a container and that cant be good. my advice is to let them be they will figure it out. happy to hear bulling stopped.

on another note i was dead worried about the bullying caused by my yellow tang when i added new fish but a week later and a couple taps on the glass when i saw him attack made the fighting stop.

last example of this was with my CBB, the tang would chase him around when i hit the glass he stopped mid swim, look at me and then swim the other direction lol, i swear they understand

 

Thats a good point about the seeing a huge hand fish it out.

But I just couldnt let it get beat up anymore than what it was as when i spereated them it was on the bottom breathing rapidily. Once i put it in the pot the breathing slowed down and it seemed to recover and started feeding in the pot.

Hopefully though now things have calmed down somewhat by accident as it escaped the pot but a little of bit luck is always welcome

 

Indeed!