Smallers False Perc more agressive?

[Seadogs]

I've had my first Ocellaris for about 2 yrs. and it has been hosting in a clump of hair algae for about a year. Since we are getting set up to be able to have an anemone for it, I desided to get a second, smaller black Ocellaris, (the first one being regular) to see if they'd pair up before the addition of the anemone. Everything seemed to be going well for the past week. They were both hosting in the algae. Then, this moring, I found my orange one swimming about 8" away from it's home while the black stayed nestled in the algae! They were acting a little nippy towards eachother last night, but nothing big. Now the orange won't go back home. My question is, even though I got a much smaller one for my second clown, could it actually be the more dominate/agressive? I thought the idea was that the larger would be the more dominate and therefore become the female of the two.
Also, I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but the orange would repeatedly swim up to the black and twitch. That's it, just do a little twitch. I had never seen it do that before.
Any info would be very helpful. Expecially if it would help with a reconciliation.

[seafansar]

Clowns twitch to show submission. How big are they? You might have gotten a female by mistake. I'd just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't kill one another. I've read that two females can actually pair up, it's not usually the case, but maybe even if you have two females they'll be alright with each other.

[Slakker]

Never have I heard of two females doing anything but fighting for dominance until one of them dies.

My female twitches at my male from time to time, so nothing is for sure yet. Give it time, she may just be trying to convince the new clown to play nice.

[Seadogs]

Well, the black one is maybe an inch long and the orange in almost twice that. Since I started this thread, the orange one started going after the black and it seemed like the black was just trying to defend itself and hide in the algae. But, they orange would stop attacking and twitch. Confused maybe?
I caught the black one and put it in a "fishy-be-good" breeder net. (The little box shaped frames w/ the netting around them.) I hope he'll be okay in there for the night. I guess I'm wondering what I should do from here. Do I separate them for a few days and try again or what? I don't want fish death matches in my tank either.
Thanks!

[Slakker]

I would not have separated this early unless there was actual harm being done to one of the fish. Charging at each other and then twitching is fairly common behavior when clowns are establishing a relationship.

Mine have been together since I got them a year ago and still do this pretty often.

[myreefcentral]

two females pairing? that's the first time i've heard of that...

i agree with slakker...i would've tried to keep them both in the tank and let them sort things out...you're just delaying the pairing process by seperating them...i'd only seperate when i notice that one is really beating up the other...and it should be the bigger one beating up the smaller one...if the smaller one is beating up on the bigger one, i think you might have the osc version of mighty mouse on your hand...haha!

[seafansar]

Ok, so you guys don't think I'm crazy.

"A word of caution: two females will often accept each other. I have observed this in aggressive fish, such as A. clarkii and passive fish such as A. ocellaris. These pairs will present the illusion of a true pair and even spawn, but the eggs are never fertilized."

-Conditioning, Spawning and Rearing of Fish with Emphasis on Marine Clownfish by Frank Hoff

[myreefcentral]

that's interesting...now what would happen if you threw in a smaller fish in attempt to get a male...would the pair of "females" beat up the new guy?

[Seadogs]

Okay, I'll put them back together. I was just worried about them.
Thank you all!

[seafansar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12744962#post12744962 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by myreefcentral
that's interesting...now what would happen if you threw in a smaller fish in attempt to get a male...would the pair of "females" beat up the new guy?

I was wondering the same thing.

[myreefcentral]

anyone willing to experiment and let us know? haha...

[seafansar]

Well I guess it happens in the wild.

"There is also a possibility that sone species may be polygamous. Moyer and Bell noted that populations of A Clarkii off southern Japan may at times have a male and two females. They also observed two nests laid within a three day period on a single site. Whether polygamy is constant or intermittent is not clear."

-Conditioning, Spawning, and Rearing of Fish with Emphasis on Marine Clownfish by Frank Hoff

[Seadogs]

Okay, now the orange one kicks the black one at except at night. Goofy fish. :) Also, the black looks alittle beat up, but I figured that if they sleep together, maybe they will eventually get along.

[Genghis]

Mine are supposedly a couple for 6 months and spend some time together but always sleep on opposite sides of the tank. Wonder if I should introduce a fish to bully them together.

[Waterlily163]

that's interesting...now what would happen if you threw in a smaller fish in attempt to get a male...would the pair of "females" beat up the new guy?

Maybe we should try mixing them with the gay male clownfish from the "Is my male gay?" thread.