Introducing new clown?

GreenSpottedPuffer · #1 01-19-2011, 05:14 PM

The male clown of my breeding pair jumped the other day and before I could get over to the floor to pick him up, my dog basically ate the poor thing

Its been very upsetting cause the clowns lay eggs every few weeks and were such a cool pair.

Im wondering if or how I can ever introduce another clown...I know it would need to be small so that its a male as females cannot change back to being male but any other advice? How soon would you recommend trying? How often does it work?

The female is still guarding eggs right now so it would be a terrible time to put another clown fish in the tank but maybe after they hatch?

Im also worried about whether or not she will even let the new clown near the anemone.

ponokareefer · #2 01-19-2011, 05:27 PM

Your safest bet is to get a much smaller clown of the same kind, and introduce it by putting it into a fish trap or something similar where the 2 fish can't touch, but can see each other, and the new clown still has water flowing through its "cage". If the existing clown is trying to attack the new one, wait to see if it will calm down. If it doesn't, it may just be that particular new clown and you could try a different one. This method works with all clowns.

I would wait at least 2 weeks post the eggs dissapearing. If you bought a new one now, just quarantine it a minimum 4 weeks, and then give it a try.

You can just throw a new one in and sometimes there will not be an issue. If there is though, you have to try to somehow get one of them out, which can be a big hassle.

Sebae again · #3 01-20-2011, 12:52 AM

You can try putting a glass divider between the two for a while or like I did , I taped a picture of another clown to the tank and the fish became more interested in attacking the picture.

apexifd · #4 01-20-2011, 01:12 AM

cool... I am tagging alone with this thread.. I too want to add one more clown to my tank.. seller ID the pair of clown wrong when I bought them and that's a newbie mistake I made too.

obviously the ocellaris and percula I bought will never pair up.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #5 01-20-2011, 03:52 AM

I guess the eggs hatched in the daytime today which is strange because they usually hatch at night. They were suppose to hatch tonight or tomorrow. The lone female is about ready to lay new eggs and is doing the males usual job of cleaning up and guarding their egg laying spot. She usually doesn't do much of this but I guess since hes gone she is.

Will she keep laying eggs without a mate?

Bloodasp · #6 01-20-2011, 04:36 AM

actually oscellaris and percula can pair up, and can even breed sometimes.

ponokareefer · #7 01-20-2011, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apexifd

cool... I am tagging alone with this thread.. I too want to add one more clown to my tank.. seller ID the pair of clown wrong when I bought them and that's a newbie mistake I made too.

obviously the ocellaris and percula I bought will never pair up.

As Bloodasp pointed out, they could pair up. There are people cross breeding other types of clowns as well. How are the 2 of them doing? Do they get along?

Timbits · #8 01-20-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

I guess the eggs hatched in the daytime today which is strange because they usually hatch at night. They were suppose to hatch tonight or tomorrow. The lone female is about ready to lay new eggs and is doing the males usual job of cleaning up and guarding their egg laying spot. She usually doesn't do much of this but I guess since hes gone she is.

Will she keep laying eggs without a mate?

I'm so sorry for your loss! if i lost one of my breeding clownfish i would cry. anyways what happened with the eggs is because the male is gone it sorted stressed the female out so she ate the eggs. she mite lay another batch of eggs if she already pregnant but after that she won't unless there is a male present. what kind of clownfish do u have? i would probably wait a week or two before introducing another clown. it should be fine to do so just make sure it is smaller than your female but not too small try to find one that is roughly the same size as your male and they should pair up depending on what kind of clownfish u have. Hope this helps.

apexifd · #9 01-20-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

As Bloodasp pointed out, they could pair up. There are people cross breeding other types of clowns as well. How are the 2 of them doing? Do they get along?

when they were in a bio cube, ocellaris nipped the tail fin of the percula. To the point that there's no more fin left. But they now get along better in the 75gal. little guy doesn't get pick on as much now.

However, the previous experience in the biocube may prevent these 2 clown fish to pair up??

GreenSpottedPuffer · #10 01-28-2011, 06:36 AM

Decided to try introducing a small clown today. He's about 1/3 of her size at most. He went into the tank and straight to her. She kinda just ignored him until he went into the gigantea anemone at which point she chased him out. She then attacked him off and on for an hour or so until finally just allowing him near the anemone. Eventually he was allowed under the anemone and now hours later she seems completely accepting of him. Its the first time since the male jumped that I have seen her on top of the anemone for more than a few seconds and she is way more active again.

I notice the little guy has not built up a tolerance to the anemone yet. He gets tentacles ripping off and sticking to his side when he goes to lay in it. He looks pretty funny with bright green tentacles hanging off his side.

Just my experience. I am lucky she was so accepting.