Clownfish fighting when lights go out but fine during the day, do I have two females?

[Chasselti]

I recently consolidated my two nano tanks which meant introducing my two Ocellaris clownfish to each other. The bigger of the two I'm pretty sure is a female, she was a dominant fish at the lfs when I bought her and she's now about 2.75-3 inches big and beefy. The other clown (a good deal smaller) I've had from juvenile for about 2 years - it used to have a tank mate that sadly jumped a while ago so it's been living on it's own - I don't believe those two ever paired though the remaining was the more dominant fish. Bearing this in mind I knew there was a chance both clowns are female, but I thought there may be a chance the smaller clown never fully matured while it had a tank mate.

They have now been in the same tank for almost two weeks. The first two days the bigger clown did some chasing, which I fully expected, but it subsided fairly quickly. The bigger clown does the classic challenge and wiggle, waiting the the smaller to do the submit and wiggle, which it does though not every time. During the day the clowns are largely peaceful apart from these occasional instances of challenge/wiggle. I was thinking I may have lucked out and can keep them together.

The problem comes once the tank lights go out - then the bigger clown really starts harassing the smaller to the point the smaller retaliates, and I have seen them do some lip locking. This doesn't go on long, and once I turn all the room lights out they find their spots and sleep. No serious damage is done, fins aren't frayed, but the pre-sleep aggression is worrying me.

Would a male clown ever fight back/defend itself? The smaller clown submits/wiggles during the day but when really confronted at night fights back. How long should I leave them together before calling it quits?

 

[Naekuh]

you will know if you have 2 females because they are significantly larger then males.

And yes, my male clown straight up bit my female clowns mouth one time that it got swollen and i had to use a round of kanaplex to let it heal.

 

[Chasselti]

you will know if you have 2 females because they are significantly larger then males.

And yes, my male clown straight up bit my female clowns mouth one time that it got swollen and i had to use a round of kanaplex to let it heal.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm hoping that because they are largely peaceful this is the case and it may work out.

My thinking is that if they were both female they'd be fighting constantly and it would be very obvious by now... ?

 

[Dbichler]

How long was the og clownfish on its own as well can help tell if it’s female but lip locking is not a good sign

 

[exnisstech]

If you've had the smaller / male alone for two years it's most likely female even if it is smaller.

 

[Chasselti]

How long was the og clownfish on its own as well can help tell if it’s female but lip locking is not a good sign

I've had it since Nov 2021 and it's been on it's own for least 6 months, possibly a bit longer. No lip locking during the day and it does wiggle for the bigger clown, only fights when provoked once the lights go out. It doesn't have much interest in following the bigger clown around during the day though.

 

[Allenh427]

Mine also fought when the lights went out when they were young. After about a month one started to yield to the other and do the little shaky dance, and then they calmed down. Now it's pretty obvious who the male and female is.

 

[Chasselti]

If you've had the smaller / male alone for two years it's most likely female even if it is smaller.

Thanks, it seems like a second tank might be on the cards again. I expected constant fighting with two females but maybe the size difference is the only thing maintaining peace at the moment.

 

[Saltyanimals]

you will know if you have 2 females because they are significantly larger then males.

And yes, my male clown straight up bit my female clowns mouth one time that it got swollen and i had to use a round of kanaplex to let it heal.

hey @Naekuh . I have 6 total living in a separate trios on opposite ends of a 180g tank for a long time until I had to rehome an overgrown carpet that one trio hosted. This upset the hood and the carpet trio decides to expand the territory sending the other trio into hiding for a week. I noticed the they didn't eat either because of the constant harassment only to come out at night to sleep in their old beds. They looked a bit ragged so I decided to put the other trio in an acclimation box as time out.

This immediately let the torn up clowns back out in the open the next day in bright lights where I could assess the injuries. And like yours, the mouth is pretty torn up on one with the mouth mostly white. He's eating again which is important for the energy to heal, but not sure if I should step in with the meds yet. Do you pics of the swollen mouth?

Interesting enough, they all looked bad the next day in the lights and almost a faded brook disease like appearance. I knew it wasn't brook, but suspected maybe scratched up from the hiding. ... only to have everyone color up again in 2 days almost to their regular colors aside from the mouth injury. FYI for anyone else that sees beat up clowns to give them a little time to color up again.