After doing much research I cannot seem to find a decisive answer to the question, if left alone in an aquarium will a single clownfish change sex? I have seen claims that seem to point to the idea that it is stimuli from other clownfish that make them change sex -- however I have also seen it claimed that it is a natural occurrence at a certain age unless they are submissive to another female. Anyone have some ideas on this?
The Lone Clownfish
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dbl
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All clowns are born general neutral. It's my understanding that if a clown is left solo, in all likelyhood it will become a female. Once female, they can't go back to male, unlike a male can become a female. That's why it's important that if another clown is attempted to be added, it's needs to be considerably smaller and thus submissive to the established clown to even stand a chance of survival.
Let's see if @Humblefish or @melypr1985 have an opinion to confirm or (more likely to) correct me.
Let's see if @Humblefish or @melypr1985 have an opinion to confirm or (more likely to) correct me.
melypr1985
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A lone clown will, in time, absolutely turn female. dbl is correct, they are all born basically without a gender termed "juveniles". When kept in a group or a pair the most dominant clown will become the female with the second dominant being the male. The reset remain without gender until the social dynamics change. If the female dies, for instance, the male will become female and the next most dominant clown will then become the male. So and and so forth. If you lose your male, then a clown that is still a juvenile should be added to the female to be absolutely sure it's not female which would result in quite a battle ending with the death of one.
That was my understanding because there is nothing preventing the clown from turning into a female. I have always told my customers if they keep a clownfish alone it will turn femalewhich is my main reasoning behind posting this -- wanted to make sure I wasnt giving bad info.
melypr1985
totally addicted
You had it right! kudos for checking your own info too!
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