jason the filter freak January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 We're empty in here so it may be a good place to ask this question. If I find two very young clowns (same species) and raise them in the same tank. Can I just expect one to become the male and the other to be a female and just to be come a "mated pair" on their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 (edited) Put playboy and playgirl magazines on each of side, in 24 hours, you'll see either one of them hanging around on each side Edited January 17, 2007 by TROLL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 17, 2007 Author Share January 17, 2007 I don't care how to sex them... well I would, however... I would just like to know if they would bond ot a "breeding pair" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 (edited) I think they normally goes off and pair up from the group. I think someone mention that by having anemone or artifical subsitute would trigger the mating pair up behavior. That means getting 5-6 clownfishes just to determine the pairs. Edited January 17, 2007 by TROLL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 17, 2007 Author Share January 17, 2007 I think they normally goes off and pair up from the group. I think someone mention that by having anemone or artifical subsitute would trigger the mating pair up behavior. That means getting 5-6 clownfishes just to determine the pairs. What?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 Buy 5-6 clowfishes- you'll have a group. When you have anemone or some place for them to spawn, they'll pair up and stray from group. Presto! Your mating pair! You cannot surely expect 2 clownfishes to become mating pair, they don't really take on the only partner if it's opposite member of sex. You gotta go through normal group and pair off process to select the pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbh January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 Jason, My understanding is that ALL clownfishes start out as male! Then 1 becomes the dominent one and also becomes female. I think RC has some good articles on this. Somewhere I heard you could get 2-3 but as soon as they pair off and 1 becomes the female you HAVE to remove the 3rd one or it will be killed off. Don't remember where that fact was learned. I have 1 clown and sometimes it acts, shall we say, "odd' to my other fish or just is that way for a few days & after that it seems to be fine. They are not hard to care for. I hope this helps. Let me know if you do get an "odd" 1 after pairing. I might be willing to see what mine does. . Maybe it will act not so "odd"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 17, 2007 Author Share January 17, 2007 I'm not putting a shoal of clowns in my 55 . I think I'll just wait for some one to post a "mated pair" of clowns for sale... this seems too expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbh January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 (edited) I can't believe somone is up at this time! Almost No one is EVER on this board at this hour!!! Have a great night, er, morning! As to the shoal of clowns, well, you aren't you usually hunting for a reason for another tank, right? Edited January 17, 2007 by hbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 I'm not putting a shoal of clowns in my 55 . I think I'll just wait for some one to post a "mated pair" of clowns for sale... this seems too expensive. Jason, If you get the clowns young like a year or so you have excellent odds of them pairing. Like hbh said at that stage they are all males. One of the two will become dominant and become female. So there is your pair. I think what Troll is trying to say is at that if you get clowns old enough to actually breed they will go through a more selective process to choose a mate. If you get them young though you have better odds they'll pair but you have to have patience as it'll take a while till they start laying eggs. You don't need an anemone. As you know they'll host lots of different unusual things. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 17, 2007 Author Share January 17, 2007 Yea ok thats what i was thinking, 2 very young clowns, put them together and one will naturally change, and viola a pair...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzekunoi January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 Yea ok thats what i was thinking, 2 very young clowns, put them together and one will naturally change, and viola a pair...? I think so. IF they do not kill each other in the process of establishing their hierarchy. Get 2 juveniles - they are not even males yet. They become males and then females. Also, I read an advice before (never got to test it) to get 2 juveniles hanging together in the LFS stock tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 As Inna said, all you need is two juveniles. Start as young as possible, with fish pulled from a group of juveniles. One will eventually become boss, and female, the other will become a male. A clown that has been kept for any length of time by itself will start down the irreversible path to becoming a female. If one were to take two clowns that are a year old and not members of a pair and put them together, the result will be one dead clown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 January 17, 2007 Share January 17, 2007 Wow. - age of a clown is very difficult to determine because under certain conditions they may remain juveniles indefinitely. My oldest A. ocellaris has been a juvenile since the 90's. There have been numerous juveniles introduced, but they have always become dominant. - take 2 juveniles, isolate, feed, protect, and most species will mature into Female/Male pairs. Space can be an issue; in a space that is too small...expect the female/dominant specimen to kill/chase the other out of the tank. Strongly pair bonded specimens will occasionally tolerate cramped spaces. - some species will tolerate "colony life" better then others and have a Female, at least 1 male, and a bunch of juveniles. Make sure space and shelter are available and feed heavily. - clowns have typically shown little complaint about pairing with brothers or sisters. Most breeders try to avoid such pairings, but sometimes you have no choice. - anemones are not necessary to trigger pair bonds, but a safe environment helps considerably. - getting a pair to begin breeding is quite a different procedure from bonding and will typically require a period of conditioning. - at least one species has been documented to begin breeding within 1yr of hatching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 19, 2007 Author Share January 19, 2007 All I'm going to do is buy two false percs that are a few months old, and put them in a 55 with or with out an anem... that remains to be see. Hoping that they will bond... I could care less about breeding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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