Clownfish Nesting 3 Days In

[JJA89]

Hi all, I am new to the hobby and my tank is only about eight weeks old.

I had picked up a large black Ocellaris from the store first week of May. Then last Saturday, I purchased a Mini Ocellaris, with the intent of introducing slowly to the existing Clown. I have never had Clowns before, but had done a bit of research on how to introduce them for successful pairing. I wasn't sure if the size would be an issue, since the male is miniature, and I wasn't even aware these existed.

The clowns immediately hit it off, and now three days in I think they are displaying nesting behaviors. Is this unusual to happen this quickly? I wasn't expecting this to happen.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Well, you've got a reasonable chance they'll pair. It is likely that the larger of the two is going to be female if it ain't there already. Clownfish are an interesting fish in that they are born sexually immature (some say sexless). In the absence of other CF, a lone wolf will become female. When adding another in the presence of a female, the other will move from sexless to male and stop there. They have the ability to change sexes from sexless, to male, then to female. However, once they change they cannot go backwards. So male won't go back to sexless and female will not go back to male. And since you added a small little dude, it's most likely sexless or male. If you have two females, they'll let you know. There WILL be fighting. Hey, they're clowns, they might fight anyway, but your odds are good.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

They are digging a hole in the sand and will host in that spot. There is nothing else in your tank yet to host the clowns, so they are just making their own spot.