Pairing GSM clowns help...

[Big Dave]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if anyone has had some experiences in pairing gold stripe maroon clowns. I have one now and would love to have another for it to mate/pair with. My tank is a 6' long 135, so the length may help to give them their own room in the feeling out process if I added one more. Should I add a larger or smaller one? Add it after lights out? What other advice could you give me to help? The current resident GSM is about 2.5-3.0" right now, so I could go smaller or larger if I add one. Would it be better to add 2 juvies and let them figure it out? Maybe a tank soley for pairing the clowns up, or would the other fish around help distract the clowns from each other? I would even like to hear if you tried this and it didn't work. This is a nice enough place to not get flamed(I think) for being honest about your failures. If you don't want to post you can email or PM me. Just got Wilkersons Clownfishes book last night so I have some reading to do too. As always, thanks for the help and advice!

-Big Dave

***I know this doesn't work too often, but I am looking for things that have worked. Don't worry, I am not going to start any type of cock-fighting circuit with my clowns!

[JohnH2]

About a year ago I bought 2 GSMs from a LFS that had a tank with around 30 of them in it. This is the only time I have seen them grouped like that in a LFS. I bought 2 juveniles, both around the same size. Basically they beat each other up for about a week, then settled down & one grew to around twice the size of the other & they lived as a pair, inseperable, until I broke the tank down to relocate & returned them to the LFS. These guys were VERY territorial, & liked to dig up my sand bed, particularly the bigger one. I had a bubble algea outbreak & put a foxface in there. That foxface made short work out of the bubble algea everywhere except for the section of the tank occupied by the GSMs, they wouldn't have any of him coming near them, even though the foxface was twice their size, it was the foxface that backed down every time. That's my experience with them, HTH.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hey Dave! I would go with the smallest GSM that you can find and eventually the large one will be the female and the small one the male!
We got a very small one for my wife's black and white clown and now they seem to have paired up! I have a pair of Maroon Clownfish but they were a pair from the start so that was good!
Just remember there are no fool proof remedy of it working but the odds say it will work out. At least it did for my wife's clown.

[SAT]

The general rule with maroon clowns is you have one to a tank. Two equal-size juveniles will become one adult female and one dead male. According to Wilkerson, the way to create a breeding pair is to start with one large one (at least 2.5") and one small one (no more than 1.25"). The large one will become the female. It will terrorize the smaller one for a while, but eventually they'll probably pair up.

Make sure the small one has a safe haven -- something with divider openings that the small one can enter but the big one can't.

[Big Dave]

Thanks guys!
Couple more questions...

-I have about 175 lbs of LR, do you think that would be sufficent hiding spaces for the small clown? Or should I try to use something like a clear plastic bowl upside-down, and cut some thin slits in it big enough for the juvenile?

-I have a LTA that my GSM host in, do you think this will help/hurt or just not matter? I would rather not get a second anemone, just curious about the situation..

Thanks for the responses! I have a feeling that I will get through Wilkerson's book fairly quick. Do you know of another clownfish book that is worth reading? Thanks again!

-Big Dave

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hey Dave! Here is a link to more clown fish books:
http://members.tripod.com/~raisingfish/clownfish.html

I think the clear plastic bowl with slits just big enough for the little guy to retreat to may be a good idea. My wife had enough LR and the little one would hide in the LR if harrassed to much.

I don't see the LTA being a problem and if they pair up I am sure they will both host the anenome! HTH