Clownfish sex/maturation question

[PhilliePhil]

I had two ocellaris clowns and I recently sold one, the female, because I bought a tank that had a maroon that was impossible to get out.....I tried and tried, removed rock, etc.

The other is in its own 10g tank but seems "depressed," or at least I think he is, without his mate. How long will this male stay a male? I am wanting to give him away for free to the person who bought my female (they were mates after all and she can provide a great life for him), but I dont want to give her two females.

My question is this, how long will my male be a male (will he become a female on his own or will he need another smaller clown to facilitate this) and if he turns into a female, can he switch back to a male (this I am almost certain cannot happen, but its worth a question)?

Thank you in an advance for your help with this. My maroon has a male she took instantly, well it took a day and an eggcrate barrier, but they are doing very well.

[MarinaP]

It varies, but your male should still be a male after a couple of months.

Changing from male to female is a one-way trip. Once a female, always a female.

If you still want to catch your maroon, remove all rock and drain the tank leaving about 2" of water. She does not stand a chance. Once you catch her, pour water back in the tank.

[riley290]

agreed, with proper planning and a good strong pump that will help you move fast this can be done without harm to your livestock.

[PhilliePhil]

I am keeping the maroon, at least for now. I was part of a GB about two weeks ago and had added about 5 (4 chromis and a r. gramma) fish to my tank, so I dont want to stress them out anymore than needed.

I had bought the Juvie Maroon last weekend, couldn't help myself. I used an eggcrate barrier and had him barricaded from about 3pm Saturday through Monday morning. There wasn't any aggression it seemed, so I made the dumb mistake of removing the barrier. There still wasn't any aggression, even during feeding. I assumed all was well. Wednesday night/Thursday morning (whatever you wanna call 2:30am) I noticed my maroon was not doing too hot. She was dead by time I woke up the next morning.

I dont think I am going to try another one, even though that was the first. I just dont want one to needlessy die, and since she is kinda big (probably 2.5-3") and not used to others I dont want to risk it. They are beautiful fish, but this is one I will have to keep singly.

On the other hand, I am also keeping the male false perc. I am going to move my YCG and put him in there with the false. The YCG has a taste for monti polyps and killed two frags so far (one acro, one monti). He's my favorite fish, he'll perch in my hand and eat out of it, but I cannot put the "growing sticks (hahahah)" I want in there with him.

Oh well. Just goes to show, you can only alter their enviornments so much, fish will be fish.

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. I will keep this in mind for future moves.