Clownfish pair trouble

[catfishblues]

I got a pretty large Clarkii clownfish in my 66-gallon tank. I had been wanting a pair but the color and movement on this one was so nice I decided if it didn't pair off then I'd be happy with just this clown. The lfs didn't have any males for her so the next day I got another one that is significantly smaller and put him in. She hadn't let him on the half of the tank with her anemone and would occasionally chase him on his own side, but also seemed to like to spend time near him more than the nem, just not in a pairing kind of way. after about 4 days it didn't better so I moved the nem into his territory which stopped the aggression for about a day. She slowly reclaimed the nem from him and although she does let him very close to it if he tries to get in with her she goes crazy. I managed to get her into my refugium for a timeout and moved the nem again. Will some time to let the territories belong to the submissive male help at all or is she going to continue to reject him

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[Bonsainut]

Just because you have two clowns of different sizes, doesn't mean one is a female and one is a male. Clarkiis are uncommon here in Southern California, so I'd be curious to see photos of both fish to see if they are even the same species.

 

[catfishblues]

I'll get some pics when the lights are on. Other than the size the smaller one is also very submissive which isn't a for sure sign either. She seems very interested in spending time with him but it appears her nem is out of the question. I may have jumped the gun removing her, but it was stressing me out to see the poor guy chased and my corals knocked over

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[laverda]

Clarkies are pretty aggressive. If she had rejacted the smaller one totaly it would probably be dead already. From your description I would say she just needs more time. You can not expect them to pair up overnight. When trying to pair more aggressive clowns I find putting a divider between them helps a lot. Otherwise you really run the risk of the smaller getting killed even in a larger tank. The female or established fish will charge the divider and even bang herself doing so when the new one gets near it. After a while it will stop and then with a little luck they will start hanging out on opposite sides of the divider. Once that happens you can remove the divider and keep an eye on them. There may still be territorial behaviour around the anemone. You can't force or rush them. 2 females will never tolerate each other in the same tank by themselves.

 

[catfishblues]

So I've put them back together and they're doing mostly well but she does chase him occasionally. I guess I'm just new to this haha. I got lucky and bought two separate maroons and they paired instantly so I was worried when these didn't.

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[Bonsainut]

I have a number of plastic jars that I use for temporarily separating two aggressive clowns from each other. Just get any old clear food container, and poke holes in it with a soldering iron. Works well.