nastronaut
Active Member
I suppose my question is, would it be possible that OG clown never actually made the transition, and has just been exhibiting the behavior thusfar? Today OG clown is eating more than I've seen it eat in the past month, which is a good sign, but I'm just nervous about if the newcomer doesn't see OG as dominant enough, that I may wind up with 2 females.
Details:
I had a juvi pair of clowns I got from LFS at the same time when I first started reefing, about 3 months ago. Presumably they were <6 months old.
One was always more dominant than the other, but the presumed male, while smaller - never exhibited much submission behavior, though otherwise they'd always be together. Presumably they were siblings as they looked very similar.
They were together in my tank, without any other clowns for 1.5 - 2 months when the smaller of the two mysteriously passed away - there were some signs of struggle between them, but nothing dramatic, one of his pectoral fins had a slight rip for about a week prior to him passing with no other obvious signs/symptoms (can see my previous post for as much detailed info as possible on this).
I waited about a month, meaning I've had the original clown (presumed female) for 3+ months now, and she was totally alone for the last month with no signs of illness for her or any other tank inhabitants - a female DF pipefish, female molly, flagtail shrimp goby, pistol shrimp, CUC, etc. However I did have a male molly that had been SW acclimated at LFS pass away mysteriously as well, about the same time as the clown (I assume this was due to stress of the transition as well, as he had no flukes, no other signs/symptoms of illness).
Anyways, for about a month of 0 new additions and minimal changes to the tank, other than WC and cleanup routine, everyone in the tank has been perfectly health and the OG clown virtually never left "her" rock, except for sleeping, however she didn't eat as ferociously as when I had both clowns (for a bit she seemed to be out scaling the other clown for sure).
Assuming their age is approximately 6 months or so, and with reasonable assurance/believe that there isn't a fatal pathogen present in my tank, yesterday I sourced another Juvi clown from a local breeder who raised up lots of B/W Ocelarris. The clutch is approximately 6~7 months old, and the largest from his batch was HUGE. I selected from the smallest, but my eyes deceived me and the one I selected is actually a few mm larger than my OG clown.
Upon introduction they hit it off really well! Immediately swimming together, a few tail slaps and some play nipping, but nothing too serious - though the newcomer is definitely testing the OG clown. At this point I've seen both of them submissively waddling, though the newcomer continues to test OG clown. Newcomer constantly "charges her up" seemingly wanting a reaction, but OG clown isn't too interested in immediate retaliation, but sometimes the newcomer gets a little too close and actually does a little nip (has not ripped her fins atall, kind of like a little smooch), and then OG clown retaliates, and seemingly wins everytime. They've locked jaws a time or two, but OG clown seems to always win. At night the newcomer kept getting a little too close to OG clown's sleeping quarters, and being testy, upon which she obviously retaliated, as this morning it was very aparent that the newcomer had taken a beating (lightly frayed back dorsal and tail fin).
When the lights came on this morning, the newcomer would waddle in submission upon OG clown even glancing it's direction, but throughout the day newcomer gets more and more brave and continues to charge OG up, generally backing out prior to getting too close, and usually OG clown just dodges and face checks newcomer back but sometimes OG clown waddles in submission too.
All that said, their size difference is just a bit, but based on how big the female from the breeder was, same clutch, I'm assuming it's quite possible that my OG clown has retained being juvi, though the newcomer as I type this is being aggro, but then submitting as soon as it gets retaliation from OG clown. But sometimes the OG clown waddles preemptively when the newcomer charges up, but never when the newcomer actually nips.
Thanks for any insights from anyone willing to read this <3.
Details:
I had a juvi pair of clowns I got from LFS at the same time when I first started reefing, about 3 months ago. Presumably they were <6 months old.
One was always more dominant than the other, but the presumed male, while smaller - never exhibited much submission behavior, though otherwise they'd always be together. Presumably they were siblings as they looked very similar.
They were together in my tank, without any other clowns for 1.5 - 2 months when the smaller of the two mysteriously passed away - there were some signs of struggle between them, but nothing dramatic, one of his pectoral fins had a slight rip for about a week prior to him passing with no other obvious signs/symptoms (can see my previous post for as much detailed info as possible on this).
I waited about a month, meaning I've had the original clown (presumed female) for 3+ months now, and she was totally alone for the last month with no signs of illness for her or any other tank inhabitants - a female DF pipefish, female molly, flagtail shrimp goby, pistol shrimp, CUC, etc. However I did have a male molly that had been SW acclimated at LFS pass away mysteriously as well, about the same time as the clown (I assume this was due to stress of the transition as well, as he had no flukes, no other signs/symptoms of illness).
Anyways, for about a month of 0 new additions and minimal changes to the tank, other than WC and cleanup routine, everyone in the tank has been perfectly health and the OG clown virtually never left "her" rock, except for sleeping, however she didn't eat as ferociously as when I had both clowns (for a bit she seemed to be out scaling the other clown for sure).
Assuming their age is approximately 6 months or so, and with reasonable assurance/believe that there isn't a fatal pathogen present in my tank, yesterday I sourced another Juvi clown from a local breeder who raised up lots of B/W Ocelarris. The clutch is approximately 6~7 months old, and the largest from his batch was HUGE. I selected from the smallest, but my eyes deceived me and the one I selected is actually a few mm larger than my OG clown.
Upon introduction they hit it off really well! Immediately swimming together, a few tail slaps and some play nipping, but nothing too serious - though the newcomer is definitely testing the OG clown. At this point I've seen both of them submissively waddling, though the newcomer continues to test OG clown. Newcomer constantly "charges her up" seemingly wanting a reaction, but OG clown isn't too interested in immediate retaliation, but sometimes the newcomer gets a little too close and actually does a little nip (has not ripped her fins atall, kind of like a little smooch), and then OG clown retaliates, and seemingly wins everytime. They've locked jaws a time or two, but OG clown seems to always win. At night the newcomer kept getting a little too close to OG clown's sleeping quarters, and being testy, upon which she obviously retaliated, as this morning it was very aparent that the newcomer had taken a beating (lightly frayed back dorsal and tail fin).
When the lights came on this morning, the newcomer would waddle in submission upon OG clown even glancing it's direction, but throughout the day newcomer gets more and more brave and continues to charge OG up, generally backing out prior to getting too close, and usually OG clown just dodges and face checks newcomer back but sometimes OG clown waddles in submission too.
All that said, their size difference is just a bit, but based on how big the female from the breeder was, same clutch, I'm assuming it's quite possible that my OG clown has retained being juvi, though the newcomer as I type this is being aggro, but then submitting as soon as it gets retaliation from OG clown. But sometimes the OG clown waddles preemptively when the newcomer charges up, but never when the newcomer actually nips.
Thanks for any insights from anyone willing to read this <3.
