Pairing my Lightning Maroon

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another episode of "Lets pair that Maroon!"

I'm your host ReeferBlaine and our contestants name... well she doesn't have one because naming at times can be difficult.. but shes a lightning maroon I've had now since February 26th and got her for a screaming deal of 5 doll hairs! (They thought she was a baby maroon and I also had a gift card to the LFS)

I am now reaching out to you all because sadly long ago in a reef far far away I had two gold strip maroons that I bought as a pair back in Nevada. They were a fun couple, never had them lay, but sure enjoyed them. Was fun too because I heard early about the difficulty of pairing clownfish at times let alone maroons. Sadly, after a few years and needing to move I gave the couple up..

Fast forward to Feb. 25th of this year I see this little girl in nem grow out tank at my LFS and decide to take her home for my baby black widow nem (originally planned on a baby storm, life changes). Now here I am sitting at home this August 8th and I decide in my head I'd like to attempt pairing her.

Now, a few questions....

1. Should I keep letting her grow out to a much more substantial size? Or pairing maroons simpler in the smaller stages?
2. Should I attempt pairing with a different strain of maroons? (gold band, peace keeper, etc.) Or should I try for a totally different clown?
3. Am I nuts? Should I even risk it?

Now welcome to the game show "Lets pair that Maroon"!!!!!!!

fishguy242 · Aug 3, 2020

hi how aggresive is she ? what size in inches? @TriggerFinger may want to watch this one

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

fishguy242 said:
hi how aggresive is she ? what size in inches? @TriggerFinger may want to watch this one

Well she lives with a dragonface pipefish and doesn't mind Gary (yes the pipefish is Gary) one bit.

Size wise she is about 2.5-2.75" But she thick.

TriggerFinger · Aug 3, 2020

Oooh very pretty maroon! Her face looks full of attitude. Too scared to try and pair mine; pretty sure she will be a single red female her whole life ;Hilarious

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
Oooh very pretty maroon! Her face looks full of attitude. Too scared to try and pair mine; pretty sure she will be a single red female her whole life ;Hilarious

Thank you! I just would like to give it a shot possibly! She seems like a lady full of love....?

fishguy242 · Aug 3, 2020

i think would have to try juvi..1 1/2" poss could work use acclimation box

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

fishguy242 said:
i think would have to try juvi..1 1/2" poss could work use acclimation box

So I just added a hang on the back refugium onto the tank and was thinking possibly adding there... but not sure if theyd see each other enough..

TriggerFinger · Aug 3, 2020

I just scanned the first couple posts of your build thread. Are you attempting to put this maroon in your 25g with the current clown?

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
I just scanned the first couple posts of your build thread. Are you attempting to put this maroon in your 25g with the current clown?

Negative! Separate system entirely! My mangrove system. That tank is home to my Spotcintcus clown pair

TriggerFinger · Aug 3, 2020

I don’t think the HOB fuge would work to introduce them. Personally, I would section off my tank with egg crate in case the resident went nuts (which is very likely to happen). Not everyone is willing to do that. If no egg crate then an acclimation box and I would put resident clown in the box and let the newbie get familiar with the tank. There’s a few people on here who got theirs to pair, a lot of new ones were killed before she accepted them. I think @andrewkw just had his spawn and I believe they were paired recently; I could be wrong though.

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
I don’t think the HOB fuge would work to introduce them. Personally, I would section off my tank with egg crate in case the resident went nuts (which is very likely to happen). Not everyone is willing to do that. If no egg crate then an acclimation box and I would put resident clown in the box and let the newbie get familiar with the tank. There’s a few people on here who got theirs to pair, a lot of new ones were killed before she accepted them. I think @andrewkw just had his spawn and I believe they were paired recently; I could be wrong though.

Egg crate could actually work just fine in this tank, and its in the office so I dont mind with the aesthetic being thrown off for a bit of time... interesting goof point something I even practiced with pairing flowerhorns in the past... (when I was a freshwater scrub) LOL

Hugh Mann · Aug 3, 2020

What I keep hearing is get the biggest size difference you can between the two, preferably and adult and juvi. Put the resident clown in an acclimation box and let the new guy have some freedom to explore. After a period of time, much like the Kraken, release the resident and observe. Be prepared to separate if violence ensues. Maroon are nasty customers, but that is why I like them.

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

Hugh Mann said:
What I keep hearing is get the biggest size difference you can between the two, preferably and adult and juvi. Put the resident clown in an acclimation box and let the new guy have some freedom to explore. After a period of time, much like the Kraken, release the resident and observe. Be prepared to separate if violence ensues. Maroon are nasty customers, but that is why I like them.

Right on, so I should wait out a year or a couple and really let her get huge?

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

fishguy242 · Aug 3, 2020

i would not she is already pushing 3" i think sooner the better..jmo

a.ocellaris · Aug 3, 2020

I was finally able to successfully pair my lightning maroon after two years (meaning she hasn’t killed her mate, no eggs).

For my first attempt, I found the smallest lightning clown I could, less than an inch long, and kept him in a clear acclimation box for week so she could see him. The female initially would try to attack him through the box, but she stopped after the first day. When I finally released him into the tank, she swam up to him but did not chase or bite him.

Fast forward a month later. Not sure why, but she became super aggressive with the introduction of an anemone. I thought they paired up pretty well until I put a bubble tip anemone in the tank. She became really territorial and killed him within a day. I think he got too close to her anemone. She wouldn’t let him near it. They were fine together before for over a couple months.

She is now in a larger 50 gallon frag tank with her new mate. They have been together for 6 months now without issue and without an anemone. I think I will keep anemones away from her until they are both a lot bigger.

Anyway, just sharing my experience with them. Hope your pairing goes well.

andrewkw · Aug 3, 2020

They are very very hard to pair. When I got 2 juveniles with a large size difference the female killed the male. I separated them approximately 10 times. She'd beat him down, a few days to a week he'd recover and torn fins would heal then we'd repeat the process. I still can't get over that even after he died she was still beating on his body.

My second pairing happened a little less than a year ago. Similar in that lots of beat downs and torn fins but with the larger size difference the male submitted quicker. I tried both him in a critter keeper (similar to breeders box) and then swapped it so she'd go in. After a few attempts they formed a pair and showed mating behavior for many months and just laid their first eggs a few days ago. I actually really stressed them out, or more accurately their bubble tip anemones out a few months ago by using a massive amount of aiptasia x in the tank shrinking the anemones down 10x and while they didn't die I'd imagine it will be some time before they fully recover. They both continue to hang out around the anemones and the eggs were laid on the rock right beside them.

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

a.ocellaris said:
I was finally able to successfully pair my lightning maroon after two years (meaning she hasn’t killed her mate, no eggs).

For my first attempt, I found the smallest lightning clown I could, less than an inch long, and kept him in a clear acclimation box for week so she could see him. The female initially would try to attack him through the box, but she stopped after the first day. When I finally released him into the tank, she swam up to him but did not chase or bite him.

Fast forward a month later. Not sure why, but she became super aggressive with the introduction of an anemone. I thought they paired up pretty well until I put a bubble tip anemone in the tank. She became really territorial and killed him within a day. I think he got too close to her anemone. She wouldn’t let him near it. They were fine together before for over a couple months.

She is now in a larger 50 gallon frag tank with her new mate. They have been together for 6 months now without issue and without an anemone. I think I will keep anemones away from her until they are both a lot bigger.

Anyway, just sharing my experience with them. Hope your pairing goes well.

Thank you so much for the reply!! I wonder too myself if the the black widow nem could be an issue, removing it honestly though would be heartbreaking to me lol. She LOVES it. Lays in it all day long. Feeds it. They are like BFFLs (best friends for life) lol!

Any photos of the pair love to see them and thanks so much!

KingTideCorals · Aug 3, 2020

andrewkw said:
They are very very hard to pair. When I got 2 juveniles with a large size difference the female killed the male. I separated them approximately 10 times. She'd beat him down, a few days to a week he'd recover and torn fins would heal then we'd repeat the process. I still can't get over that even after he died she was still beating on his body.

My second pairing happened a little less than a year ago. Similar in that lots of beat downs and torn fins but with the larger size difference the male submitted quicker. I tried both him in a critter keeper (similar to breeders box) and then swapped it so she'd go in. After a few attempts they formed a pair and showed mating behavior for many months and just laid their first eggs a few days ago. I actually really stressed them out, or more accurately their bubble tip anemones out a few months ago by using a massive amount of aiptasia x in the tank shrinking the anemones down 10x and while they didn't die I'd imagine it will be some time before they fully recover. They both continue to hang out around the anemones and the eggs were laid on the rock right beside them.

Thats awesome to hear! Yeah I understand the pairing process can be quite abusive and fairly luck drawn..

Love to see your pair! Excited for you and the eggs, any chance you are going to attempt to grow out?

andrewkw · Aug 3, 2020

ReeferBlaine said:
Thats awesome to hear! Yeah I understand the pairing process can be quite abusive and fairly luck drawn..

Love to see your pair! Excited for you and the eggs, any chance you are going to attempt to grow out?

The anemones are looking 1/10th as good these days but the clowns look the same

I ordered 3 bottles of rotifers as well as super concentrated phyto - the place I ordered doesn't seem to sell phyto you can culture probably to keep you buying so I will continue to search for some live. I cultured it way back 10+ years ago but given that I am in a rural area I'd rather have a constant live supply since time is one thing I have a lot of, except when it comes to waiting for deliveries.

I'm not really sure if I just just lift out the rock or try and catch the larvae when they hatch. I'm looking at getting a vossen trap but shipping to Canada is pricey. Other then that, I just bought a bunch more airline, valves ect and brine shrimp eggs, tiny heaters (for rotifer cultures) ect. I have sponges in the sump so I will have filtration in the future.

Once I get this stuff I hopefully will have everything I need.