Clowns and mated pairs?

[tallguy64]

Hey there, my list of info

1. Ocellaris Clownfish, False Percula Anemonefish
2. 1.5 to 2 roughly
3. a month i think
4. in the display
5. Um water quality is excelent just did a water change this weekend with the install of a new sump, normally i do a 5 to 10% every 2 weeks as long as my numbers are regular.
6. feeding formula 1 food
7. two clowns no tank makes besides a few hermits and snails

Alright now my story =)

So i purcahsed these two clowns a while back from BR, and i asked about them a couple weeks back, because they were sleeping (if you want to call it that) on their sides very close to the surface. well that stoped about a week after they were in the tank. one took to the anemone right away, the other well i believe didnt take to it because Fish A (im gonna use fish a and fish b so you can follow me here) was teritorial of the anemone. No biggy they have 47 gallons to get to know one another. well Fish A conitnued to bug fish B no noticible niping or anything like that just chase him to the other side and then return to the anemone. Ok getting these two to mate up is gonna be hard ( the thought going through my head) came down one morning and fish B was very pale... from orange and black hue to basicly realllly light oragne on the border of almost greyish... and he was hideing in a cave in the rock work. Poped some food into the tank perked up and coloring came back in about an hour or two... at this point im confused. did a little searching on the net didnt come up with much. Fish a then continued to pester fish b so i netted fish a and put him into a 2gallon fish bowl for a day to give fish b some time to kinda take owner ship of something in the tank, wasnt sure if this was gonna make the fightig worse or actualy help. put fish a back into my main tank they seemed to be doing alright with eachother. Though i noticed that they were, best way to describe it was sezurieing at each other. What ever just figureing they were seeing who was bigger badder and what not. a couple days later fish B was pale agian. At this point im like well what do i do? so i did the morning feed and took a shower came back and he was coloring up. So at this point im like ummm what ever he just likes changeing his skin color what ever.

*Sigh no im not done yet*

So i go two more week nothing all is fine the two are starting to hang out closer to one another fish a isnt picking on fish b as much and the last couple days they were almost both in the anemone at the same time. i got happy. that wasnt to last though. all of a sudden as i started to prep for putting in my new sump i noticed Fish b was now picking on fish a. WTF seriously? So im puzzled and fish a is just takeing it. well i come home tonight from work the main lights are off and the led lights are on, which is normal (not ot mislead or anything) but i look at fish a is really pale. and fish b is near by not really pestering fish a but not leaving fish a alone... so again till i get a few answers they are seperated, at least for the night.

Whats going on here?
Is this normaly with a pair that is mateing or what ever?
Any idea what would cause a sudden role reversal?
i havent changed anything all my lps is doing great there anemone is doing great the thing is growing like a weed it has found its spot in my tank ( hides at night and out durring the day kinda cool acualy how fast it moves)
Both fish look healthy no spots, disoloractions or anything (besides the fadeing on the three ocasions)

I would really like to have a mated pair, and rather not get rid of one what advice do you have on getting them to get along? would another fish in the tank hurt or help do you think? all additions are on hold till i can get these two to get along unless another fish would make them kinda go, oh you and i are the same maybe we should just go chill in our anemone or something to that effect.

All tips are welcome and any miricale adivce well i need some.

Thanks

PS sory so long but i wanted you all to have as much info as i could provide that was relavent.

 

[leebca]

I don't want to make you feel badly, but the two fish initially should have been:

1) adults; and
2) different in size by at least 1" (preferably more)

It's hard to control 1) unless you're experienced. You have good control over 2).

A fish that lightens itself is sending a signal of, "Leave me alone." By being colorful, the fish is naturally showing itself as competition which in this case could be construed as adversarial and willing to enter into the gender-deciding competition.

The two fish are having trouble deciding who will be the female. The female controls the gender by dominating the other fish. She becomes the (much) larger fish. This dominating continues and doesn't stop, even after it has been established. There's a lot of stress going on, on a continual basis.

I don't know what "BF" means. Sorry. But it might be a bit of concern if the fish are tank bred and are related. If wild caught, they are not likely related.

So, without great insight, my guess is that they may not be completely mature yet. This species grows to 4" in the captive environment, maybe a bit more.

I would suggest you trade the larger one of the two for a fish that is 1" to 2" longer than the smaller. These two won't have any trouble deciding who the female will be.

 

[tallguy64]

Alright, well just a quick up date ye looks like karma... This morning i took a much closer look at Fish A, it took a real beating and right now is really fighting to live. they are seperateded and i think im gonna take your advice if fish A pulls around ill try and trade it but may just end up haveing to get a new one =(

Oh as for BF i thought i changed that to BR Barrier Reef one of the local reef stores that seemed knowlegble and have heard good things about them.

Well if fish a goes down i may hold off on a second clown for now and pick up something else and let the clown i have grow to be the larger of the two.

Not that i am planning on breeding them but when clowns bread do they pull more genetics from the mother or father fish? i really like the coloration on the healthy fish so that might influance what i do also.

 

[tallguy64]

Juast a quick update before i head off to work, karma is every where. Fish A pissed fish B off and fish B did him in before i could do much. The nine hours i was at work was long enough for fish B to do fish A in.

The timid becomes the killer... and the bully gets flushed.

I guess i should have researched in more, not blameing the guys i got it from, but i guess if you want to really succeed you need to do all your home work.

 

[leebca]

I don't know the answer to your genetics question. The breeding of Anemonefishes of two different species usually produces a new fish, implying to me (and I may be wrong) that the offspring share their parent's genomes.

 

[tallguy64]

Thanks for your help

 

[leebca]

Sorry to hear of the outcome. Not very pleasant for you nor the fish. Don't beat yourself up on this. Many people, turned on by the Disney movies, have gotten the idea that it would be nice to have a mated pair of Anemonefish, only to find out that their relationship isn't so 'sweet.' What begins as as good idea for children and/or a child learning experience, turns into a display of one of Nature's more ruthless and violent examples of a relationship!