False perc. Sexing questions

[fish.freak]

How long does it take for a juv. to become a true female?
How do you tell, if said transfermation has tanken place? (just by size and behavior)
Can more than 1 female be kept in a 40 gal?
Would like 2 mated pairs if posible.

[cwby416]

The clown as a juv will first become a male, and if you want it to become female you should ad another juv perc. with two juv percs in one take they should become a "bonded pair", and they will sort out who will be female and male. if you put two females in that tank, IMO, they will just fight. there are NO garentee's that they will ever be "mated pairs"

~Randy~

[jenajet]

I'm no expert but this is what I've been told. Clowns can change sex. Usually the larger becomes the female. Now maybe someone else with more knowledge will chime in.

[cwby416]

The clown can change from a male to a female, but not from female to male. they will start off as a male.....

[jenajet]

Thanks for clarifying. Good info to know.

[fish.freak]

yea I understand all of the above, in this case 2 juv.'s have been in the same tank for 1 yr. My question is has the larger more dominant clown become a female yet.

My follow up question is, can I add another true mated pair (1f, and 1m) to my current set up?

[cwby416]

after only one year it is doubtfull that one is female yet, they usualy take two or so years to reach the Male/Female bond. have they been in your tank for 1 year, or were they born 1 year ago? What is the behavior between the two of them? do you have any other fish in you tank? any anenomes? How much LR?

[is_that_a_fish]

usually when you go out and buy 2 clowns chances are they are both male...they will start to fight a little when you introduce them to your tank...then they will figure out who is the dominant one (usually the stronger/bigger one) once they decide this the dominant one will become the female. Thats why people say you should get one clown smaller then the other so that it gives in quicker....this way they wont hurt themselves. And to answer your question keeping more then one pair in a tank has been done succesfully but it is very hard unless you tank is huge and by huge i mean like 150+. Hope this helps

[fish.freak]

The reason I am asking is there is a mature pair at my lfs that has been tank raised in the tank environment for the last two years.

I want to pick them up but dont want to throw the tank out of whack.

cwby: there is 30-40 lbs rock two BTA's and as of right now a LG GSM which I would trade in to get the pair. (+1 shrimp goby)

[Twitterbait]

I would avoid putting more than one pair in the tank. it is hard even for the experts to keep them from fighting.

[JennM]

IMO a 40 gallon is too small for 2 pairs. As stated, they'll fight. I've seen folks with big tanks (125g and up) keep more than one pair, if the tank is large enough for each pair to have its own territory. In a 40 I'd advise against it.

The other info you've received is right - they start as male and the dominant one in a pair or group becomes female. That change is a one-way street only.

HTH

Jenn