Clownfish and Anemone question

M

MLord

I have two clownfish in my nanocube right now that are getting along just fine. I bought them about 2 weeks ago (tank bred). I'm pretty sure one's a male and one's a female because one's almost twice the size as the other. No way to know for sure though...they came out of a tank with like 40 of them in there. I don't think they're a "mated pair" as they don't really follow each other that often. I've never seen the two fish even come close to fighting, even during feeding time. My question is, if I bought an anemone for the tank, would the two clownfish host in it together? Or would they fight over it? Should I put in two instead of one?
Thanks for any help.
 
they may fight but its hard to tell as long as its the same type of clown one will establish its dominate and lead. If the clowns are juveniles then they may be gender neutral and as soon as dominance is set one will become a female. its hard to say if it will actually happen or even if it will happen at all. mine have been together for about a year and they swim on opposite sides of the tank. I would read up on breeding clowns to learn more about pairing behavior. As for the anemone the stronger one will take the control but its hard to say if that one will let the other clown near.
 
Thanks for the reply Thinh. It's not the clown fish sexing and pairing that I'm curious about. I know that's basically a crapshoot. I'm pretty sure they're juveniles though. My main question is, has anyone had the experience of putting one anemone in an aquarium with two clownfish who aren't a mated pair, but get along? If so how did it work out? Did they fight over the anemone? Share it? Or did only one take it and the other get left out in the cold?
 
Tank bred clowns seldom host on their own for some reason. Some people have luck getting them to host and some never do (like mine). I've tried every trick and he still won't.

If they don't pair up most likely they will fight if one goes for the anemone. If they don't go for it, things will probably be the exact same. If one sees another hosting it may try to and a fight could break out. You really won't know until you do it.

Just my .02
 
Move the clowns to another tank for a couple of weeks --- they need to "forget" the territory.

Add the anemome to the tank you want it in whenever you get one.

Put the clowns back in the tank (after the wait period).


As others have noted, it is 50 - 50 no matter what you do, but I find when I add them together, and after the 'nem, they don't have "ownership" of an area (or potential host) and seem to think sharing the 'nem is a plan (so I'm getting a 51 - 49 cause it has worked the majority of times I've done it this way).
 
if it makes you feel better i have a pair of percs and they had not paired or really paid attention to each other then added my nem... and then... they were swimming together in 3 days time!! so as stated above... crapshoot.... but i believe they will both try to host it and the dominate one will take ownership of hosting but in turn maybe the failure will let it see it should be the male and then boom... you have a maited pair!

and this is if either of them host at all.... tank breed percs sometimes have the hardest time realizing what they are suppose to do..... just have to give it time!!
 
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