Increased aggression with a new anemone

[markc212]

Recently purchased a green carpet anemone to host a supposedly mated pair of polynmus/saddleback clowns last weekend. I've been able to successfully get the anemone to find a comfortable spot, and within half an hour, the female clown was nuzzling it like crazy. Great! Mr. Clown also seems interested in the anemone. Great!
The problem is that the female is acting much more aggressively towards the male. What does it really mean to be a mated pair? I thought that a mated pair would cuddle and treat each other nicely. The female has always been a bit testy with the male, but now that behavior is really amped up. Reading the forums, I get the impression that maybe their preparing to mate? That seems unlikely given that the male can't even get close.
On a side note, my six-line wrasse is annoying the hell out of my male clown. I haven't been able to catch the sneaky bastard. Any suggestions? I would prefer to get him out of the tank and trade him back to the LFS. I've also read that if the clowns are stressed, the eggs won't be fertilized properly (not that I have the means to take care of the fry).

 

[btldreef]

My Ocellaris did this when I first introduced them to their anemone. The female kicked the male out and I thought for sure the were going to become "un-mated". I had two small bubble tip anemones right next to each other, and for awhile, you'd never find the male and female in the same one. Then one day, she just gave up beating on him and accepted him as her mate again. They spawned within a few weeks after that and continued to do so until I moved them to a new tank.
I'd just keep an eye on them. You might want to add some vitamins to the food to just help the male stay strong. You'll probably see him start to submit (twitching), and she might accept him into the anemone and they may even spawn.
Keep an eye on that SixLine. They're evil, sneaky fish. I hated mine! I had no luck catching him and luckily he jumped into my overflow on accident, or he'd still be terrorizing my fish!
Good luck!

 

[markc212]

BTLD, Thanks for the advice. Things haven't really calmed down in the last day or two. But, the male seems to be holding up ok given the circumstances. I guess this is just nature following its course. I'm always tempted to find a way to teach the female a lesson, or to scold the wrasse somehow, but then I need to remind myself that I'd be interfering with the natural unfolding of the universe.