clown behaviour

A week ago I put an bought an anemone and my clowns took straight to it, there was a small amount of fighting but that only lasted an hour or two, then it ended nicely.

Today I came down and noticed that the clowns were at the opposite end of the tank, and they were twitching at each other like mad, one would occasionally swim back to the anemone, but the other would stay at the other end of the tank.

So I have one at one end and the other swimming back and forth, at which point the twitching starts, then one swims back again. So much so they didn't bother eating this morning, which is unusual.

Any idea what this behaviour is about?

 

Sounds like when mine court each other. A male will do the twitching move to a female, but if they are doing it back and fourth, then they haven't decided who is going to be female yet, and you have to wait. It may take a year or two. As long as they are shaking at each other and not twitching, and darting like mad all over the place like they want to get out, you are ok.

 

Its quite normal. They are establishing dominance. What size are the clowns? What kind of clowns are they?

 

I would say the are about 2.5" and they are Ocellaris Clownfish. The odd thing is after a week of not leaving the anemone, they moved to the other side of the tank. One seems to be staying away and the other is going back and forth almost as if to make sure nobody moves in while they are away.

The side by side twitching they have always done, but now it seems to have gone up a level, they are not aggressive and not looking for a way out. The twitching I get, it's why they seem to have moved away from the anemone.