help pairing maroons

[OodleyBoodely]

I picked up two 1 1/2" gold-stripe maroons yesterday. One is slightly smaller than the other. They are in a 10g quarantine with a plastic screen divider. I have attempted placing them together a couple times but they are extremely aggressive. The smaller one is the more assertive fish. These guys don't seem to be willing to get along like my first pair a maroons and I am now worried that they may not pair up at all. Any advice on how to get these fish to accept one another?

[MontanaRocknReefer]

You might want to put one in a plastic container with holes in it and let them get acquainted that way and the one on the outside might get tired of the aggression and settle now and then release the caged one into the tank and see. JMO Johnny

[OodleyBoodely]

Hi! Thanks for the reply, Johnny. That is what is going on right now. Both are in a 10g with a plastic divider between them. The divider is not fixed into place, it is just held there by tension from the thickness of the plastic which is cut slightly wider than the width of the tank. Normally it works real well, but, SOME*fish*BODY (the smaller clown) has been knocking the divider out of place and getting into the other side. The other clown is thoroughly cowed, now, and is sporting a ragged edge to one pectoral fin. Since it is not my intention to let either fish get hurt, I have readjusted the divider so that Viscious One can't get through it again. I'll try reintroducing them periodically, under supervision, and see if they will accept each other. These maroons are definately a whole other ball game when it comes to pairing, as compared to A. Oscellaris.

Anyone else have experience pairing these fish?

[REILLY13]

First off don't get too worried about a couple of torn up fins, these maroons are tougher than nails! Here's my experience.
I purchased two, one was 2" the other was 1 3/4", roughly.
I did the whole divider thing and then let them in together. No luck. I bought a third one, very small, less than 1". I tried paring him with the largest most agressive one, shredded, no luck there either. Then I placed the two smaller ones together and they did the whole clamped fin tail swish thing for about 10 minutes and then the bigger one finally let the little one have some room. That was a week ago and now they hardly fight at all.
Hoff (book) claims that most clowns can change sex from male to female but not back, and so two females may fight to the death. But, he also states that it's not known for sure if maroons can change at all and may be born predetermined. That's just something to consider.
Here's what I think, If the fighting is not over in 10-15 minutes then these two probably won't work out together. Take the most aggresive one back and find a replacement. Also make sure they're as small as possible, less than 1 3/4" and the smallest even smaller than 1". Also, while maroons are very tuff, once a fish gets a couple of large chunks removed it's probably time to call it quits. The two pairings of mine that didn't work out, the two shredded each other. The one that worked out the two never touched a fin. Just pushing and swishing of their tails. The fish I returned would actively pursue the "loser" and would have killed either of them.
The smaller the better, that way if they do indeed change sex, you know you have two males with no chance for females and I think two males may work out better than trying to pair a male with a female guarding her territory.
I also purchased two anemones to so that they won't be constantly beating up the one, maroons love their anemone!
Or morons, as I like to call them, their not real bright!
-Reilly

[OodleyBoodely]

Thanks for the info, Reilly13! I had not heard that about Maroons possibly not changing sex! If my two end up not pairing, I think I may try to return one and just stay with a single clown. I really don't have room to raise fry, anyway, no matter how much I would like the opportunity.