Clownfish mate

[BMMack]

I bought a lone Ocellaris clown a week ago, and now I'm regretting that I didn't hold out to buy a mated pair. If I go back to my lfs to pick up another clown, what are the chances they will get along? Is there any chance that they will pair up? I've heard that clowns don't achieve sexual maturity in the absence of a clown of the opposite gender and that solitary clowns are always "female"-- is this true? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Wolverine]

Actually, loan clownfish tend to be male, especially if small, then they are juvenile males (some people don't assign a sex in this case). When clowns pair up, the dominant fish will change to female, and the other will remain male. Any others below that male will stay juvenile males.

As for adding another one, that depends on a few things; how big is the ocellaris you have? Was it tank-raised or wild-caught. If it was wild-caught, it's harder to figure out where it was in the chain of command before.

Anyway, if it's a large clown, then I would suggest that you get a small one. The large may already be female, and they can't change back, so if you put too larges together, and they're both female, they'll probably just fight a lot.

If your clown is small, then get another small one around the same size (maybe a little bigger). What will probably happen is that they will fight for a while, and then they'll pair up. When they are pairing up, you'll see them fight, and the submissive one will turn on its side and shake. When we first saw this happening, we thought one of them was sick, but it turns out that it's a sign of submission. After that, one of them will start growing much faster than the other; this will be the female. The other will stay relatively small; that's the male.

Dave

[Angel*Fish]

I highly recommend Joyce Wilkerson's book on the subject..preferably before you buy the other fish.
Did you buy it from a tank of tank raised juveniles? If so it might be safe to go ahead and get the other fish... but definitely get that book!!! It ranges in price from $23.99 to $39.00 - I paid 39 because I was in a hurry with a couple of maroons - thanks to the book, everything turned out great - worth every penny!

[Wolverine]

I'll second that rec. It completely slipped my mind when I was writing my post, which is odd because I had it sitting about 4 feet away from me on the shelf. It's a great book, and well worth the money.

Dave

[BMMack]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I went back to the LFS and managed to get a juvenile (much smaller too) clown from the same batch. I hope it all works out. Thanks again for the advice.