Clown sex change Question!

[REILLY13]

They are born male, the dominate one in the group changes to female and pairs up with the next dominate male. That's what I've gathered from reading posts. Now.....does that mean a clown without a challenger is automatically female no matter what size or is there a minimum size before they change?

What I'm trying to do is pair up a 3" assumed female with a 1.5" unknown sex maroon clown. Am I to assume both are female and if so will the smaller one again become the male or once they change are they stuck? If that's the case how small does it have to be to be definitely male?

Right now they don't like each other and are seperated with a divider.

Help. help! Hehe.

-John

[JennM]

For reasons I don't know, I believe Maroons are the exception... however with the other species you're pretty much correct. The only thing I'd add is once they become female, they can't go back to being male, and that is where you run into problems if you put two females together. Any two males will eventually become a pair with the more dominant one making the switch. Generally it's safe to assume that over time, a lone clown will turn female in the hopes of encoutering a potential mate.

Perhaps someone with a little more Maroon--specific info can shed some more light.....

Jenn

[beach bum]

Maroon clowns can be difficult to pair anyway because of their aggressive tendencies, even if the smaller one is a male it might take some some pretty scrappy battles before dominance is deferred to the larger fish. And if you have two females they will definitely be serious fighting.

One thing to keep in mind is that size in clownfish is not necessarily a measure of age, but of sex, as you probably know. Somewhere in Joyce Wilkerson's book she mentions that large growth spurts sometimes don't occur until sex is chosen or a pair bond is formed. From that I would gather there is a good chance any small clown can still be a male.

If you are prepared to rescue one when it needs it, then just put them together and let them hash out their relationship. With luck the smaller one will give in as soon as it realizes it's peril.

jmo, chris

[REILLY13]

At this point when I let them in together there's no power struggle, it's the big guy all the way. The big one won't let up and I have to seperate them which makes me wonder of they're both female. The little one is really little though so I have a hard time believing that he's anything but male. I'll let y'all know what I find out.

[julieanne399]

Hi! Although I have read alot I am not sure if your smaller fish is a female. What happens with clown fish is that when they are in the group they are asexual.... without a gender. Two will get bigger, one of them bigger than the other. The biggest one is the female, the smaller of the two big ones is the male. The male is made to stay smaller and a male by the continual harrassment of the larger female and the others in the group asexual by the continual harrassment of the mated clowns. If you have a large female it is safe to get a really small maroon and put with her and they should pair up. I have done this successfully many times and then when they breed, sell or trade them as a mated pair. I did have to wait for awhile for one male to get to maturity before they started laying eggs. I have not had any trouble with the larger females accepting the smaller "males" at all by doing it this way. I did have trouble one time when my bubble anemone split into two and the fish separated, one stayed in one anemone and the other in that one and then the male started to grow and then they started to fight so I had to trade one anemone and one clownfish. I have had success with other clowns too by purchasing the biggest and the smallest out of the group and they then mate up and start spawning. Good luck, have fun, hope this helps. Julie