Pairing clowns....

[Melonbob]

I just dropped my clown in about 15min ago. For those not following my story, I had a pair of occelaris and one died about 4 mths ago. The second has been living alone since then. I decided to try adding a black/white occelaris. When I got him here, it turns out they are very close in size. I was told it would be a coin toss whether they'd get along. When I dropped, I swear they have a homing device, because its 2 am and all the lights are out, and it took the b/w about 15seconds to find the occelaris sleeping in his anthelia. They sniffed each other out for about a minute, paired up and went to sleep together....tramps!

Anyways, does this mean its a done deal, or is there still a chance they will beat the crap out of each other over then next few days?

 

[RyanG]

Id keep an eye on them for the next few days.

 

[yote]

They will have a few squabbles,But it sounds like they hit off good.
Either that or their waitting to surprise you.

 

[Melonbob]

They are still hanging in the same piece of anthelia.....we'll see

 

[yote]

I'd say that those clowns have pretty well hit it off.If they aint fighting by now,they probably wont.
Just dont hold me to that.

 

[Melonbob]

Ha, they are not so well now, the orange one and the christmas wrasse are both picking on the new guy!

 

[Doc]

I have a rule in my own experience of a week. If the fish are eating, alive and not getting the crap kicked out of them after a week, they will be OK. All bets are off til after the first week. If your clown can put up with it, you will be OK. It will take some time for the B/W one to switch gender to be the opposite of the orange one. My guess is that once that happens, they have a chance to be OK

-Doc

 

[Melonbob]

How do I know when things are getting too nasty? I don't want this guy to die, and the christmas wrasse is actually worse

 

[yote]

Try catching the wrasse and the other clown out.Then rearrange your rock work a bit.Sometimes that will calm things down.

 

[Doc]

How do I know when things are getting too nasty? I don't want this guy to die, and the christmas wrasse is actually worse

Chasing is normal. Nipping a bit is also part of posturing. It is when it is an unrelenting, aggressive attack that tears fins, leaves wounds, etc that stress becomes harmful. The normal stuff just establishes a pecking order.

-Doc

 

[Melonbob]

yeah, the wrasse did some damage to his fins already. I bagged the black clown till I can catch the wrasse. I'm not having much luck. When I do hes going to hang with the eel, lion and maroon

 

[Doc]

good luck. The only other idea I have that has worked for me is to add two fish at a time so the established inhabitants get confused and distracted. It eases the stress on the new fish. It worked for my angels and I have done it with tangs as well. Good hunting. :-)

-Doc