Replacing a Clownfish that was Paired

[His Coral Highness]

So some sad news, one of the two paired clownfish I had in my tank decided to jump out of the tank and leave his mortal coil behind. The female is not the friendliest fish to newcomers but they got along very well and were a pair for about 2 years. I want to get her a new mate, but I don't want her to be too aggressive and not take to it. Should I wait to get a new clownfish? Will she take to a new one and form a new pair?

 

[resortez]

In my experience, most of the time I found myself in your situation I’ve had success in pairing the female with a new male if they are Percs or ocellaris. Any other family member of the genus has been more difficult, 50/50. I highly recommend QTing the new clown to give them a higher chance of pairing. The pairing could be a smooth one & immediate or she might go into the submission process where the male gets rag dolled a bit. If your system is large enough, I would even recommend getting 3 more males. Female clownfish like having male stragglers, it’s a survival thing & very natural for her to have several males around her. I also suggest reading up on their behavior, pretty neat stuff. Good luck

 

[His Coral Highness]

In my experience, most of the time I found myself in your situation I’ve had success in pairing the female with a new male if they are Percs or ocellaris. Any other family member of the genus has been more difficult, 50/50. I highly recommend QTing the new clown to give them a higher chance of pairing. The pairing could be a smooth one & immediate or she might go into the submission process where the male gets rag dolled a bit. If your system is large enough, I would even recommend getting 3 more males. Female clownfish like having male stragglers, it’s a survival thing & very natural for her to have several males around her. I also suggest reading up on their behavior, pretty neat stuff. Good luck

She is an ocellaris clown. And she can be a real b****. What exactly do you mean by quarantining? QT within the main tank so they can see each other and get used to each other? And I only have a 16 gallon so I think I can only get 1 more.

 

[resortez]

Would love to direct you to a quarantining thread but I don’t know of any off the top of my head but I’m certain that there’s plenty of material on the subject in this forum. Simply put, it’s setting up a hospital tank to treat fish with harsh medication before introducing to your main display tank. A way to avoid the transfer of disease between fish. Believe, it’s a must to avoid pain & suffering for both yourself & the fish. There’s tons more details & info on the subjects, too much for a single post & the reason why I suggest doing some reading on it. This hobby will require from you to stay well informed & constantly acquiring knowledge so get ready for lots of reading. Read, read, read & when you’re done reading, read some more. Lots of patience is key when it comes to housing these little animals. Good luck

 

[His Coral Highness]

Would love to direct you to a quarantining thread but I don’t know of any off the top of my head but I’m certain that there’s plenty of material on the subject in this forum. Simply put, it’s setting up a hospital tank to treat fish with harsh medication before introducing to your main display tank. A way to avoid the transfer of disease between fish. Believe, it’s a must to avoid pain & suffering for both yourself & the fish. There’s tons more details & info on the subjects, too much for a single post & the reason why I suggest doing some reading on it. This hobby will require from you to stay well informed & constantly acquiring knowledge so get ready for lots of reading. Read, read, read & when you’re done reading, read some more. Lots of patience is key when it comes to housing these little animals. Good luck

No I know what a quarantine tank is. I just mean how will that help with added a new fish when I'm concerned about aggression, not disease?

 

[resortez]

No I know what a quarantine tank is. I just mean how will that help with added a new fish when I'm concerned about aggression, not disease?

Females will always be more aggressive towards the males, it’s natural mating behavior. The male must submit to the female in order to stunt the growth, preventing the male in becoming another female. Not all the time but most often. In my experience it’s been more rare for the clowns to pair up without aggression from the female. I believe it’s the reason why the female likes keeping a harem of males. If the large female is killed, her mate takes her position & brings in one of the males orbiting the nest, it’s their way of guaranteeing survival of the species. The QT is to aid in the survival of the new male because their mating behavior is already stressful enough on the male, adding infection into it reduces the chances of the male’s survival. My personal approach is to give the new fish the highest percentage of survival & ridding it of any type of infection gives the fish better odds. Again that’s my personal approach.

 

[jtf74]

When I paired my maroons the large 4" female went in after the male had been in the new DT with its own nem for a few weeks already. The female stopped eating for 12 days, but showed no aggression. Maybe coincidence, but putting the female in last may give you a better chance.

 

[His Coral Highness]

Females will always be more aggressive towards the males, it’s natural mating behavior. The male must submit to the female in order to stunt the growth, preventing the male in becoming another female. Not all the time but most often. In my experience it’s been more rare for the clowns to pair up without aggression from the female. I believe it’s the reason why the female likes keeping a harem of males. If the large female is killed, her mate takes her position & brings in one of the males orbiting the nest, it’s their way of guaranteeing survival of the species. The QT is to aid in the survival of the new male because their mating behavior is already stressful enough on the male, adding infection into it reduces the chances of the male’s survival. My personal approach is to give the new fish the highest percentage of survival & ridding it of any type of infection gives the fish better odds. Again that’s my personal approach.

I added a juvenile about a week ago and so far no aggression! Fingers crossed it stays that way!