Clown Fish.... what are the signs of attraction?

Hi! It's me again!

I noticed my Clowns... who have only been mildly interested in each other since I put them in the tank a couple of weeks ago... doing a really cute shimmy dance from time to time when they get side by side. Then they'll swim off and do their own thing, then will repeat the little shimmy dance. It's not all the time, but often enough to make me curious. One Clown is definitely larger than the other, but were that way when I got 'em, so I don't know if the big one is a female or just a male who happens to be bigger (maybe older?) than the other.

I've seen no overt aggression of the larger one toward the smaller one to confirm that it is a male/female pair, so I just don't know if I'm seeing anything important or if it's just wishful thinking on my part.

Like they say, if it feels good keep doing it,
if it hurts stop.....(ancient N.NY Mohawk Legend)....

No 'salts' here but I've seen them at the store and they
seem 'curious'..etc..

I have loaches, and here's an experiment you can try...
.take your hand, knuckles to lips and 'wiggle' your fingers....

for loaches, they have the 'barbels' I think they're called so they
will start to do it back when they learn... they'll also 'wiggle' their
pec fins.... especially around feeding time etc......

Now.. I told you that to tell you this...... d

My loaches "shoal"... and recently the smallest one started "following"
the biggest one... I don't know what the small one is sex wise but the
big one is "bernie"...and it turns out "Bernie" is a female... who 'runs the
place'...they tend to pair.. .......but yea, if they're dancing...turn the music up :)

The pair bond is a developing thing. It starts out as a general acceptance of each other, Then slowly develops into a closer relationship were both fish are together most of the time. There is a bickering phase too where the female will make sure the male knows who's the boss. clown fish are all born as males When they are adults, the largest and the most dominant fish in the group will undergo a sex change, and become a female. The second largest usually becomes the breeding male, while all the other fish remain juveniles and gender-neutral. If the breeding female disappears, the breeding male will change to a female, and so on. the dominant female will pick on any fish that may appear to threaten her dominance, which is likely the quivering you are seeing, did you buy them as a mated pair? it's a good idea to either purchase a mated pair or two small juveniles at the same time. It's a good idea if one of the juvenile fish is a bit larger than the other, especially in the case of more aggressive clowns like GS Maroons,Tomato,Clarki ..
You'll know your two fish have become a pair when their seldom seen far from each another. They should host in the same anemone or in the absence of an anemone another suitable host like frogspawn,xenia they like soft fluffy things to host but I have also had them host power heads,heaters you name it lol that's why their called clowns:) you have Perc's right?

Cindy, how agressive can a mated pair of false clown get to other fish... I had them in my 29g and then later added a solar fairy wrasse and a royal gamma... the wrasse died 2 1/2 weeks later then 3 weeks later the royal gamma die. my phosphate got to 1.0 and my nitrate to 10, would that do kill off the two fish? i use nothing but ro/di buffed at 8.2 with instant ocean salt..

Ah, cool! I have 2 Ocellaris juvies...1 is bigger than the other. They spent most of the time apart at first, and now, especially at night, are spending more time in close proximity. My only soft, fluffy thing right now is my Jasmine Polyp colony. I've thought about getting some Frogspawn for them for when they decide to start hosting something. So far they aren't hosting anything.

Thank you ma'am for the help...I just LOVE my little clowns!! :)

#1 : There is a bickering phase too where the female will make sure the male knows who's the boss. clown fish are all born as males When they are adults, the largest and the most dominant fish in the group will undergo a sex change, and become a female.

#2 : the dominant female will pick on any fish that may appear to threaten her dominance


..I heard that.. I'm a rookie... how many fish out their change sex?... -JT

I only ask because this 'dood' I have bernie,
turns out....didn't nessicarily become... but is a female,
and 'runs' the joint... and the smallest clown is now
'shoaling' with her...

I'm not suggesting a sex'flip like in amphibians but,
seems the little doods like the big gals.... ey?....

Whatever, Im talking about fresh clown loaches, not salt
clown fish... but, chime in if you have a thought....! Peace...JT

plantedtankdude, False Percula Clownfish are Very hardy and peaceful, I would suspect water quality before these clowns being the culprit simply because the Fairy wrasse and the gramma are also peaceful fish, if the clowns have a clutch of eggs present they will protect their piece of the reef but not to the death, now if you had a pair of GSM or Clarki or Tomato I wouldn't put it pass them to do bodily harm. were there signs on the deceased fish? I had a pair of GSM the female was 4-5 inches and mean as a snake and didn't hesitate to bite my hands when I worked on the tank. how long have you had the clowns in the tank?what size is this tank? I was working on the 180 yesterday and discovered my mated Tomato clowns spawned she placed her eggs on the base of a large frogspawn and was protecting them fiercely, I will see if I can get pic's of them today. I hate it when they spawn!

JT, I don't think clown loaches change sex but I do know the females do have greater girth then the males and that they don't reach sexual maturity for several years and can grow a whopping 16 inches if kept in a large tank but don't take to spawning in captivity well. I had some years ago when I was a freshy nice fish but I hated the fact that their colors fade as they get older.
I have 6 female Anthias and 1 male the male got his belly slashed by one of my Tangs he ultimately died then one of the larger females began to change sex withing 3-4 months she was a full blown male, it was really cool I was able to watch it happen. these are pink square anthias and only the males display the square, it started out very faint then a few weeks later there was no doubt she was tuning.
here is the original male.

then the female changing, you can see a very faint pink square

a little more square.

in this picture there's no doubt she is assuming the position.

this is kinda graphic so dont look at the picture below if you are sensitive !!!










this is what a Tang can do with his scalpel. I don't know why he did it maybe he didn't like the male Anthias mating behavior?? this started as just a fine cut across his belly and side he lived for a few days after until it got infected. very sad:(
on a lighter note the Tangs have no issues with the Anthias that turned go figure..

ouch! the tank is a 29g with 1/2 to a 1 inch of live sand, 25-40 pounds of rock, a sump rated for up to a 65g with a skimmer rated up to a skimmer. they have been in there for around 2 months now, the royal gamma and the solar fairy wrasse was bought at the same time.

plantedtankdude wrote:

ouch! the tank is a 29g with 1/2 to a 1 inch of live sand, 25-40 pounds of rock, a sump rated for up to a 65g with a skimmer rated up to a skimmer. they have been in there for around 2 months now, the royal gamma and the solar fairy wrasse was bought at the same time.

not sure what you mean by a sump rated for up to 65G with a skimmer rated up to a skimmer?

cwhip wrote:

plantedtankdude wrote:

ouch! the tank is a 29g with 1/2 to a 1 inch of live sand, 25-40 pounds of rock, a sump rated for up to a 65g with a skimmer rated up to a skimmer. they have been in there for around 2 months now, the royal gamma and the solar fairy wrasse was bought at the same time.

not sure what you mean by a sump rated for up to 65G with a skimmer rated up to a skimmer?

oops meant to say the sump is rated for up to a 65g with a skimmer that's rated for up to a 65g tank. lighting is a 30 inch normal out put coral life 2 bulb t5 fixture. with 10k and blue.

Wow... that's not an accident...

I saw a hawk nail a pigeon, same chest slash..etc.. (for what it's worth
I dig the falconry).....

Im old (30yrs and counting) so I'll take some personality over beauty,
I'm a loach addict... ;)

That said, I'm definatly out of my league here so I'll read on... Peace JT...

Ps, ever wonder how it feels to be free..?.... NO boundaries.... check it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_RHRAzUHM

Scared to 'get up on the ladder?'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnT2joxnkqY

Beautiful video! but honey you ain't old cause if you are I'm dust lol.....