2nd attempt pairing Lightning Maroon Clownfish

[andrewkw]

Going to document the process here :

Purchased 2 in October 2018. They were in a tank of 50+ and just took a larger one and a smaller one. Quarantined them in a 10 gallon with a divider. Eventually they found their way together and fought. I separated them 3 times and each time the male would heal. The last time she beat him so good when I found them she was still beating his dead body.

August 2019 I bought a new smaller male and of course the female has been growing since October 2018. I reluctantly knocked some coral and rock work apart and caught the female. I placed her in a critter keeper and just released the male. They are the only fish in a 90 gallon with a 36x24 footprint. I also have a bubble tip anemone that has been in QT which will be added to the tank. We'll see if they are interested or not.

So far it's only been 15 minutes and they haven't noticed each other. The male had been in a bare 10g tank for the past 30 days (ttm and prazipro treated). The female doesn't seem too bothered being contained. Not sure how long I should leave her in the box? A few days or longer? I guess the added bonus of knocking over some rock is the tank will be slightly different when she gets out..

 

[andrewkw]

Female :

Male :

 

[andrewkw]

 

[chizerbunoi]

Put in egg crate and have it standing in the corner of your tank. That way the male can run to safety if it’s too much for him. She will get to notice him through the egg crate. He can still submit and do his submission dance.

I would put the BTA with the male. If she doesn’t accept him 3 times then It’s time to find another mate. If he submits each time but stays in the eggcrate and the female doesn’t attack him, open a corner of the eggcrate so that she can go inside if she wants to.

A last try before ditching and giving up is to banish the female for a few weeks. Then introduce them together again but have the female in the isolated egg crate.

 

[Jay Tosi]

I think the fighting is a natural way for them to establish dominance as long as she doesnt kill him they will mate. Good luck

 

[andrewkw]

I have a good feeling it's going to be okay. It's been 2 days now and they have shown no aggression. The male has been spending most of his time near the female in her box. I'm probably going to release her later today and can always divide with eggcrate later if there is aggression. Bubble tip has been added but he has ignored thus far. That's fine it's a mostly bare tank so regardless of if the clowns use the anemone or not it needs some colour.

 

[TexAgReefer]

I have a Goldflake Maroon Clownfish. He was in the tank for at least 2 months with a RBTA showing no interest whatsoever. Then all of a sudden one day he started playing around in it. Now they're inseparable!

 

[andrewkw]

It took a few minutes before anything happened but the female just carried the male around in her mouth, taking several chunks out of his fins.

It was easy to catch the male so he’s in the box now. I’ll try again assuming he heals in a week or so.

 

[chizerbunoi]

That is too bad. Sorry but the videos don’t work on my iPhone.

If your male had a place to hide in the egg crate, she can still dominate without a way to injure the male. He can still submit which will cause her to accept him. Then he will eventually go in and out of the eggcrate over the course of weeks.

The breeder box doesn’t allow them to do that. It’s a sudden dump in intro/situation, then attack. Even when they have been paired/breeding the male is constantly submitting and performing the shake dance. She nips him without tearing any fins to keep dominance.

If you have to use the specimen box, after the male heals in a weeks time, You want to take her out of the zone so that she loses the territory. Once she hosts the anemone, she won’t allow the male into it. Unless the anemone is significantly larger than both of them.

My female is 6.5” in length and the male is less than 3”. The two rose anemones are about 10” wide. She still won’t let him into her anemone when she is hosting. Lol

Remember this is just what worked for me. I tried your method many times and had no luck. But it might work for you. I just find the eggcrate to be less stressful for me personally.

 

[andrewkw]

He stayed near the box most of the time for the previous 2 and a half days and there was some initial aggression through the box but it calmed down very quick. This is why I thought this time would be different. I did not measure them but there is a decent size difference between them having the female 11 months longer then the male.

As you mentioned it's hard to determine what will work. I read instances of just putting the male in a box, catching the female which is what I tried as it let the male establish himself in the tank. Still it didn't take more then a couple of minutes for the beat down to start and when she started carrying him in her mouth that was it.

I also don't know how true it is that you get 3 attempts, but again assuming he heals in the box (survived the night and is swimming normally despite being tattered), I can try releasing him and if that doesn't work I can try the eggcrate. Or maybe I will try the eggcrate when I release him. I haven't decided yet. If I can't get them to pair I'm not going to try another lightning. I will separate them permanently and just stick with singles. I'm really hoping they do pair as having just one fish in this tank is not that interesting (this is not my main tank).

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Qasimja]

im currently trying to pair tomato clowns the female i had is larger then the male the minute i released him she immediately did as yours did carried him in her mouth and tore his caudal fin so i caught him and put him into the QT tank for a few days then i got an isolation box hes been in there since yesterday

yesterday she was biting at him in the box and staring at a distance today she hasn't bit at him once she goes up to the box closer but doesn't bite at him but im worried she may try to attack him again if and when i release him

 

[chizerbunoi]

You can try the same steps as with the maroon clowns. The smaller male should be less than 2” in size. If it’s larger, there is a chance that it’s already transition to a female.

 

[andrewkw]

So today I've attempted to pair them again. The male is mostly healed from last time and I happy to report that several hours have gone by and there has not been any chasing. He did a little bit of submitting and they initially hung out together, but now they've gone their separate ways and occasionally meet up.

Not sure if they will pair up, or even if the female will continue to tolerate him, but this has gone way better then any of the 4 previous attempts I've made to pair her (3 with another male and the first time with this guy).

 

[Peace River]

So today I've attempted to pair them again. The male is mostly healed from last time and I happy to report that several hours have gone by and there has not been any chasing. He did a little bit of submitting and they initially hung out together, but now they've gone their separate ways and occasionally meet up.

Not sure if they will pair up, or even if the female will continue to tolerate him, but this has gone way better then any of the 4 previous attempts I've made to pair her (3 with another male and the first time with this guy).

I'm cheering for all three of you!!!

*fingers crossed*

 

[andrewkw]

Still looking good the next morning. I will continue to watch them closely in case of any aggression.

edit : video looks like a white screen for some reason, I don't normally post from mobile but I just took a quick clip with my phone. I'll go back to taking pictures later today..

 

[andrewkw]

Still doing good. Anemone is settling in too. I plan on frequent every other day feedings alternating between large and small particle food, so hopefully it will grow quickly. Doesn't seem too irritated by the clowns.

I will be posting about one of my other clowns next as tomorrow it will be 13 years since I first got my naked clownfish.

 

[Qasimja]

i ended trying to pair mine i took mine out of the acclimation box sunday and she immediately went after him again so i put him back in the hospital tank going to take him back to the lfs tomorrow for store credit im glad it worked out for you though

 

[andrewkw]

i ended trying to pair mine i took mine out of the acclimation box sunday and she immediately went after him again so i put him back in the hospital tank going to take him back to the lfs tomorrow for store credit im glad it worked out for you though

Thanks and sorry to hear that. It was a real challenge getting them to pair up. Both spent time in the box and as mentioned I did loose one male prior to this one. It's not at all like pairing Ocellaris or Perculas where you just drop them in and be done.

 

[chizerbunoi]

That’s awesome. Glad it worked out and on a beautiful pair of lightning maroons too.