I ended up being sent 4 maroons and tried various combos of them using all different techniques to get them to pair but it didn’t work. I eventually gave up and ordered 2 that were already paired up from pacific east aquaculture. They have been happily together for almost a year. One is about 3 times the size of the other at this point but fairly close in size when I received them.
I've successfully paired maroons 3 times. I always start with one female or one small one and wait untill it turns female. I then get the smallest one I can find, preferably one that is being harassed and and not fighting back if it's in a tank with a bunch of others. This tells me it should still be male. I then place it in the tank inside a specimen container so the female can check him out. I only leave him in the container for a day or so then release and keep fingers crossed. I have had better luck with older mature females. Not sure why unless it's because they may have already had a mate at some point but it can be done with younger females too. They just seem to harass the males longer. The last time the female wouldn't even look at the male in the container so I just dumped him in 10 minutes later courtship complete. I like maroons because I always have nems and unlike some of the captive bred smaller clowns maroons have always hosted in them. They do like to rearrange thinks to their liking tho which can be a problem if you have a lot of corals.
