Clownfish: how long to accept a new male?

[DarkTonio]

My male clown died from jumping out a couple of weeks ago. I decided to add a new small clownfish (dunno if it’s a male…) but it keeps being attacked by the much bigger female.
I put it in a plastic isolation box inside the tankfor 5 days but when I tried to free him, attacked started again. How long will it take ? Is it the good way to proceed ? Is it possible the female refuses any new companion ?

 

[Birdman Broham]

It is possible for the clown to refuse. Specially after the “female” was the only clown in tank for a little bit. It’s more of a territorial thing now. Never assume there going to mate there is absolutely nothing you can do to attempt to make them bond or pair again. It’s pure luck. Something you can try to be a little better on is inside your box you have. If it’s acrylic or see through you can place it where the larger clown hangs out to get it used to seeing the new clown you added and hopefully that will work.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I had a maroon female nearly kill smaller male before they became a couple and started laying eggs on regular.

I was going to take the male out, he was shredded, wife said leave it - she was right at the time

 

[JayM]

That’s the tough things about clowns. They might get along right away, they might fight to the death. You just never know.

You might have better luck adding 2 or 3 instead of just one.

 

[Timfish]

What JayM said. It's also possible (fortunately very unlikely) clowns will divorce or will stop associating with an anemone they've hosted for a while. Good luck!

 

[KrisReef]

I wonder if it is “too soon?”

She may still be waiting for her dead ex to come back home from his fling. Lots of mates are stubbornly faithful and wait for their wandering companion to return.

She also may be happier as a solo widow after all the energy and drama that she’s been dealing with from the last jerk she was hooked up with?

 

[Narideth]

I had this problem myself but I was concerned for the life of the male and ended up removing him entirely after 3ish attempts at introduction and isolation cage use etc.

Then I got a different clown, a much smaller clown with dramatically different coloration and the female in the tank took a couple of rushes at him the first day and then left him alone. Now they're happily swimming about. Not a pair I don't think, but they swim together without aggression.

Sometimes you just need to try another clown, another color, another size. This was my last ditch attempt before I accepted that she would be a lone female too.