I think my clowns might be getting ready to breed

[Tennyson]

I'm not entirely sure about this, but I have been noticing some really strange behavior with my pair, if they are even a pair.

OK, first thing, I'm not sure if I have a pair. I have a small bright ocellaris and a large one which I am supposing is the female since it is fattest. but the thing that makes me unsure is that they are all fat and look pregnant. I do notice some aggression between the larger one and the small one, but it isn't an all day thing, just for a couple seconds. But they will share the anemone, though the larger one hogs it. If both are females, will they bother eachother, but not any serious aggression? If I have a pair, is there any aggression?

The second thing is that I've been noticing their twitching alot. Usually they would twitch every once in a while, but these past couple days its been looking like they are having a siezure... every two minutes atleast. And both do it.

Third thing, they keep trying to rub their bellies on a certain area of a rock right next to their anemone, and it has been cleaned thoroughly, so I'm suspecting that this will be the spot where one of them lays their eggs. But why are they vigorously rubbing their bellies against the rock?:confused: It doesn't seem normal, and from the way they are doing it, it looks like they could scratch their whole belly off.

Thanks, sorry if this is such a long thread. And all responses are appreciated.

[NanoReefWanabe]

i am hoping and wondering the same thing of my clowns...i am sure i have a male and female, one at 2.5" the other at about 2" the smaller one is as of late doing the funky twitching in front of the larger one...then the larger one gets aggressive for a minute...once settled down the small one start twitching again...i hop e they start laying eggs.....curious to know if this is the start of it...

[Tennyson]

there's another thread I posted on called clown shimmy, there's good info that I just leArned about on there from someone who posted. He said that the shimmy is kind of a dominance thing. The more aggressive one that wins will turn into the female, the less dominant will be the male. Kinda weird how they can change sexes just like that. I'm still trying to find out how long this dominance thing takes, guess I'll have to do some research.

[basser1]

I'm also wondering the same thing about my clowns. Mine have been paired for some time now. Lately I've noticed that they have been aggressively "burrowing" under their host, which happens to be a brain. They both are digging and spitting out sand from underneath it. Tonight a turbo snail got near the burrow and they both went after it to try and move it away. I also noticed they also seem to be cleaning the brains skeleton. They are also doing a lot of twitching. I'm keeping an eye on them. These are ORA Picassos. Here is a pic of them with their host:


http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3703/hpim2327ans8.jpg

You can see the bottom of the brain where they are digging the burrow! Hopefully, someone who has successfully bred clowns will chime in!

[sunhair]

my tomato pair are doing that as well the male is trying to get the female to follow him and when she does he starts twitching at her

[basser1]

Well I talked to my LFS dealer today about my clowns. I got my pair from them back in August. They were small juveniles then. He thinks they are still too young to spawn. He thinks they are probably "going through the motions" now! He did suggest to keep an eye on them though! ;)

[dalilgriffith]

Clowns are born without a sex, there sexual immaturity would dictate that you do not have two males or two females. It just will not happen in a home aquarium. Sometimes in some situations, multiple pairs can occur in a big enough tank but you only have two. This would tell me that, like you LFS said, you have two sexually frustrated clowns that don't have a clue what they are doing. It can take up to 12 months for a clownfish pair to start spawning. Once they do, watch out. They tend to get more aggressive. My damsels wont even mess with my clowns anymore. My female is like PMSing 24/7. One thing to note, some clowns may never spawn due to what they feel are improper conditions. They aren't happy with the live rock or the anemone or the light... they can be real *****es.

[this is me]

My female GSM has been rubbing her belly against the sand and rock for months. Nothing happened except for sandstorm. Lol