Pairing Lightning Maroons

[Jeremy_d]

I am looking for any tips in pairing some lightning maroon's. They are the same size(1.5"), one i have had for about 2 months and the second I added today. I floated the new one for about 4 hours before I released it, and initially they avoided each other then they began to lock lips and BOTH were shimmy'ing like they were submitting and now they are just flat out abusing each other. The new one seems to be the more dominant already and the one we have had for 2 months is in the corner scared. I am considering adding a divider and giving them time but should I keep them together and wait it out? No fin damage so far.

I failed to mention that the light is out in this tank to help with the aggression. The more dominant one seems to show interest in the one we have had but as soon as the skittish one swims away the aggression kicks back in.

I have paired many breeds of clown but this is my first attempt at lighting maroons. I know this takes time but I also know maroons tend to kill each other if they haven't made any progress in pairing after enough time.

They are housed in a 6 gallon cube, they are so tiny. I built some nooks and cranny's with some rubble to hopefully provide some shelter.

 

[blaxsun]

Sounds like most marriages...
If you can divide it, that may help (mirror trick might also be worth a try).

 

[Jeremy_d]

The one I added yesterday had just shipped to my LS and I think it was just hungry because I fed them heavy last night, and fed them again this morning before I turn the lights on and they are fine now. I hope it sticks.

 

[brclark82]

Good luck, keep us updated. 2 similar sized maroons added at different times sounds like a death sentence to me but fingers crossed for ya.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Good luck, keep us updated. 2 similar sized maroons added at different times sounds like a death sentence to me but fingers crossed for ya.

This. I usually pair em up as a smaller to a larger so that the smaller will go male.

 

[exnisstech]

Well you already have them so my advise will not matter but I'll toss it out there in case this pops up in a search.
I've paired maroons several times successfully. The only failure I had was when I introduced two at similar size like you are doing. Not being negative just stating my experience.
My sucesful pairing was done by getting a single fish and raising it until it has matured enough that I am 100% sure it's female. I usually wait 6 months to a year. Then I buy the smallest one I can find so I'm confident it is still male. I place the new fish in an acclimation box (after QT if your so inclined) and place it close to the area that the female has chosen as hers. If she ignores the male I'll release him in a day or two and let the courtship begin. If she shows aggression I'll wait for that to die down and then release the male.
Personally I would never try this in a 6 gallon tank. IMO there just isn't enough room for escape if aggression gets bad. Hopefully your not planning on keeping them in that tank. Maroons are one of the larger species and females can claim a lot of territory as their own. I had a female take over half of a 6ft 150g tank. She would even rip corals off of her rocks. I no longer keep maroons for this reason.
Not saying my way is the best or only way but it has worked very well for me.

 

[Jeremy_d]

Well you already have them so my advise will not matter but I'll toss it out there in case this pops up in a search.
I've paired maroons several times successfully. The only failure I had was when I introduced two at similar size like you are doing. Not being negative just stating my experience.
My sucesful pairing was done by getting a single fish and raising it until it has matured enough that I am 100% sure it's female. I usually wait 6 months to a year. Then I buy the smallest one I can find so I'm confident it is still male. I place the new fish in an acclimation box (after QT if your so inclined) and place it close to the area that the female has chosen as hers. If she ignores the male I'll release him in a day or two and let the courtship begin. If she shows aggression I'll wait for that to die down and then release the male.
Personally I would never try this in a 6 gallon tank. IMO there just isn't enough room for escape if aggression gets bad. Hopefully your not planning on keeping them in that tank. Maroons are one of the larger species and females can claim a lot of territory as their own. I had a female take over half of a 6ft 150g tank. She would even rip corals off of her rocks. I no longer keep maroons for this reason.
Not saying my way is the best or only way but it has worked very well for me.

I definitely appreciate the advice! I have kept a lightning maroon in the past but I did so solo, It got to about 4" long and was my wife's favorite fish, we had to re-home it when we moved and it is still thriving in the tank it was put in. I do not plan to keep them in the 6 gallon cube forever but definitely until they get a little bit larger, and I am hopeful in saying "they" as i really hope I can make them work out. The cube they are in sits on my desk and I work from home so I am able to keep an eye on them all the time, and it I organized the rubble to provide some good hiding spots. Can you provide any more insight in your experience with pairing and what seemed to work? I am thinking that I may be able to wrangle in some of the aggression with heavy feeding, and I know it has only been 1 day but it seems to be keeping them at bay so far. They have began to do the shimmy and shake rather than attack each other but I know I am not out of the woods yet. It took 3 months to pair my black snowflakes so I am anticipating it taking at least that long or longer.

 

[exnisstech]

Can you provide any more insight in your experience with pairing and what seemed to work? I am thinking that I may be able to wrangle in some of the aggression with heavy feeding, and I know it has only been 1 day but it seems to be keeping them at bay so far. They have began to do the shimmy and shake rather than attack each other but I know I am not out of the woods yet. It took 3 months to pair my black snowflakes so I am anticipating it takin

In my experience which is limited to one failure and 3 successes the positive endings always happened by making sure the first fish in has already transitioned to female then introduce a small male last.
Since you already have two fish, as someone mentioned you could try a divider. Maroons can be vicious and I would be very surprised if both fish are alive in 3 months if they have not bonded prior. My failed attempt only lasted 5 days before I came home to a dead fish.
Again I'm not trying to be negative or discourage what you are attempting I'm just speaking from my experiences

 

[Jeremy_d]

In my experience which is limited to one failure and 3 successes the positive endings always happened by making sure the first fish in has already transitioned to female then introduce a small male last.
Since you already have two fish, as someone mentioned you could try a divider. Maroons can be vicious and I would be very surprised if both fish are alive in 3 months if they have not bonded prior. My failed attempt only lasted 5 days before I came home to a dead fish.
Again I'm not trying to be negative or discourage what you are attempting I'm just speaking from my experiences

Hey I appreciate all the advice, Its good to hear the what could happen, both good and bad

 

[Jeremy_d]

The clowns are showing some real progress! No aggression since the first night, they swim together often but for most of the day they are apart. Heavy feeding seems to be helping

 

[Digimes]

I have a lightning, about 1.5 inches. Has anyone paired them with other types of clowns?

 

[exnisstech]

I have a lightning, about 1.5 inches. Has anyone paired them with other types of clowns?

I've not heard of them pairing with other clowns, just other types of maroons but I'm far from an expert.

 

[Digimes]

Found this, maybe I will try it in the future and see what happens.

 

[Jeremy_d]

I have a lightning, about 1.5 inches. Has anyone paired them with other types of clowns?

I have a lightning, about 1.5 inches. Has anyone paired them with other types of clowns?

Maroons are bruisers. I’m sure someone somewhere has had success but my previous maroon would probably chase off a great white. I would only put another Maroon color with it

 

[Luckki]

Any update to the maroon clowns?

 

[Jeremy_d]

Any update to the maroon clowns?

They are still kicking, not quite bonded but haven’t killed each other either. They’ve made good progress though, the suspected female has began to grow so we will see how it goes.

 

[Luckki]

Good progress! My wife was asking yesterday evening, after we picked out some black Ocellaris, if we could get a tank for maroon clowns. She wants to try and breed them. I just started setting up a 25 nano reef and she wants to breed maroon clowns. I kindly told her it was a challenge but I would look into it.

 

[Jeremy_d]

Good progress! My wife was asking yesterday evening, after we picked out some black Ocellaris, if we could get a tank for maroon clowns. She wants to try and breed them. I just started setting up a 25 nano reef and she wants to breed maroon clowns. I kindly told her it was a challenge but I would look into it.

I kept the light (Kessil A80) off from Halloween until I want to say the 30th of December so two months and they just got the ambient light from our bedroom. They were on my desk but it was too bright in there and they would fight all day. I’m betting if you get two that are wildly different in size it should be much easier but these two took a while to decide who was going to be the boss since they were the same size. I also feed heavy, they get pellets in the AM, frozen around lunch time and pellets again before lights out and it seems to keep the aggressiveness down. Running the tank at 1.026 and 78° and it’s just a SeaChem Tidal HOB filter running floss to polish the water. I have a more permanent setup cycling for if they really bond, if not I’m getting some black storm clowns

 

[Luckki]

I appreciate the information, what size tank do you have cycling?

 

[Jeremy_d]

I appreciate the information, what size tank do you have cycling?

25G, hoping to start building a 125 later this year