Well I consider a mated pair a pair that spawns. Bonded pair two that have bonded and figured out which will be male and female but have not spawned yet.
Two juvenile clowns are just that, two clownfish nothing more until they figure out which will transition to female. Adding two juvenile and letting them figure things out is what most people and many LFS do. It usually works out but can involve fighting, physical damage from fighting or death of one fish. Death isn't common but I have had it happen. My current pair not yet spawning have been together almost 1 year. I was able to pair these two by purchasing from separate groups from different lfs. First I bought the most aggressive fish in tank full of young ones. Then I went to another store and brought the most docile one from a group and added it. They've been together since and I've not experienced any fighting. The most aggressive one does appear to be the female and the docile one appears to be content to remain male.
