Adding a second Maroon

Does anyone have any experience with adding a second gold stripe maroon clown to their reef tank? I've read one needs to be bigger/smaller than the other one for them to eventually mate/go through their sex change but not sure if I should get a bigger one than I have or smaller. Mine is about 2.5", there is one in the LFS thats about 1.5" that looks awesome and thinking about adding him. I've had my current one for around 3 months, he isnt too aggressive (yet) just want to make sure he wouldnt kill a smaller one.

Thanks

 

It's not exactly the same, but I added a 2nd ocellaris to the tank where I already had one and I made sure to find the smallest one I could. It worked out really well, as the 2nd clown didn't have a chance against my original since it was so much smaller, so there was pretty much no fighting.

I would highly recommend against getting one that is larger than your current, since there is a chance your current clown is already a female. I would think the 1.5" one should be small enough that it will limit the dominance struggle.

 

Get the smallest you can find and try to put it in a breeder basket for a while. In the basket, you can somewhat gauge how it's going to work out.

 

fine to add a second OC, but no way would I ever try to add a second Maroon. If not added together as juveniles, the odds of one not killing the other are slim to none.

You can read more here if you search for maroon:
Time to Quit Clownin' Around: The Subfamily Amphiprioninae by Henry C. Schultz III - Reefkeeping.com

 

If you do try, also get one that hasn't been alone for a while. Otherwise you'll have 2 females and the smaller won't be submissive.

How big is your tanks and what tankmates? Maroons get big and aggressive, and 2 that are mating often wipe out the other fish to make sure the eggs won't be eaten. I personally wouldn't ever risk it.

 

This is the downside of the beautiful maroon Aggressiveness and difficulties with adding tank mates including a potential mate. I had one in my FOWLR and opted to take it out while transitioning to a reef because I wanted a clown pair and anemone and already had a clarkii (before my crash)..

 

best to take a male from another pair. maroons are mean

 

I did this years ago. Take the new fish and put in a large specimen container with lots of holes for circulation. I left him in for a couple days while the old fish checked him out. Then switch the fish. Old fish in container and new in the tank. Move some rocks around if you can so the old maroon feels like its in a new territory when reintroduced. After a day or so, switch them again. I did this for about a week. Once they were finally put together, the old maroon chased the new a little. Probably because my old maroon was slightly larger. I had them together for 3 years in my 38 gallon tank before I had to donate them to the LFS due to moving.

However, If it turns into a UFC match, may be best to remove one before it gets too ugly.

 

I respectfully disagree (partly)- it will depend on the individual fish.

A few years ago, I originally introduced 2 juvenile OCs together. Once they matured, the female killed the male despite his efforts at submission. A couple of months later, I added another juvie... she killed him, as well. That was my first and last attempt at having a mated pair of clowns. I definitely agree that it may be even more difficult (if that's even possible) with Maroons, as they tend to be a far more aggressive species.

 

I successfully did this with two maroons about a year ago. It took a full reScape and letting the new add spend a week in the tank alone before I reintroduced the large female back into the tank. This gave the new maroon time to explore and get comfortable and I broke the old clowns territories by rescaping. After about 3 weeks with both in the tank they had taken to each other.