Clowns Fighting

Bigtex817 · Jul 11, 2017

I'm to the site and thanks in advance for the support and being here. So a week ago I bought 2 Clowns at my LFS. They are just the normal clowns nothing special. They are both fairly close in size about 2". I have done some research and noticed that one is being dominant over the other and I know this is normal and the other one does that submissive dancing to say that your the boss. But my question is how do I truly know if I have a male and female or if I have two females? During the day they don't fight at all but once I turn the lights to blue it like a flip of the switch and they fight all night long. this morning I woke up to both of them not giving ground to each other and no one was being submissive to the other. I have also read that if they lock lips and spin together that they are both females is that true. any help I would greatly appericate it

aKlevans · Jul 11, 2017

Clowns are hermaphrodites. If they are still young, they are both males. Once they determine who is the "boss", that clown becomes a female.

redfishbluefish · Jul 11, 2017

Two inches is a big "adult" clown. Males are always smaller than the female. I'm surmising you have two females.

Bigtex817 · Jul 11, 2017

I agree with what you both said but if one is doing the submissive dancing to the other does that mean I have a male and female? I don't want one of them to kill the other if I have to females.

chipmunkofdoom2 · Jul 11, 2017

It's my understanding that in the beginning, there will be some quarreling while the two fish decide who is the alpha. It could be that they are going through their normal quarrel to establish dominance. The violence could settle down over the next few days.

But, @redfishbluefish is right, 2" fish are pretty large. Let them fight it out, but be prepared to pull one out as soon as you notice any visible damage (tattered fins, body damage, etc). Unless the tank is very large, two female clownfish will usually fight to the death.

Bigtex817 · Jul 11, 2017

ok thanks for the advice if you had to say which ones would you recommend that I take back to my LFS and see about swapping it out for another clown? Should I swap out the more aggressive one or the less aggressive one? I also thought about swapping out one for a much smaller one. if I was to do that would that help with getting a male and female clown in my tank.

Sistawolf · Jul 11, 2017

Bigtex817 said:
ok thanks for the advice if you had to say which ones would you recommend that I take back to my LFS and see about swapping it out for another clown? Should I swap out the more aggressive one or the less aggressive one? I also thought about swapping out one for a much smaller one. if I was to do that would that help with getting a male and female clown in my tank.

Def go for a smaller one. That way you will know for sure that the larger one will be female..

glb · Jul 11, 2017

Sistawolf said:
Def go for a smaller one. That way you will know for sure that the larger one will be female..

Agreed. If you replace one, make sure the new one is smaller. Clownfish do change sexes. Just keep an eye on these two. I agree that 2" is pretty good sized if it's an ocellaris clownfish.

SeanJ · Jul 12, 2017

Just don't wait too long -- especially if you see real damage on one of them, as someone mentioned above.

In my experience, I traded the aggressive one because it was also aggressive towards me when I cleaned the tank. Anyway, the one that was beat got better in approx 2 weeks so I decided to give him a new mate -- smaller one of course. To my surprise, the original clown started beating the new fish. I moved the landscape a little to throw it off, but it was still aggressive. I immediately decided to remove it and donate it to the LFS before my new clown mocked it's behavior.

Anyway, I hope this helps you make a decision. Just a personal experience. GL.