normal clown behavior?? (pics)

[kolizion]

greetings...
I got my clowns maybe a month or so ago as a "tru perc mated pair" ... but now i'm kinda wondering...
when they first arrived they were alwase dancing together all cute like... and they still do on occation, but i've noticed some fin nippage on the "male" I feed them once, sometimes twice a day... am I underfeeding them?
I've been feeding them hatched brine.. I think i'm gonna goto the store today and get them some regular food... as I think the brine is dirtiing up my tank...
heres the pics from when I first got them till today... clowns arn't the easiest fish in the world to get pics of but I did my best...
My tank is kinda bare... but i'm working on building it up as fast as I can.
it's a 35 gallon, with a few Lb of liverock, and some dead rock (was hoping to bring a chunk of deadrock to life.... it was such an awsome piece of rock...)
4 old pics

2 new (with damage to fins)

Camera makes the tank look for dirtier then it really is...
even so, i'm gonna clean it up a bit.
do I infact have a tru-perc-pair, and is nipping normal?

 

[tizzo]

They ARE true percs...They are not a "mated" pair as they are to young to have mated. Right now it seems they are trying to figure out which one is gonna be the girl, so yes nipping and aggresion during this period is normal. Very pretty fish BTW...

 

[socal57che]

I have concluded that there is no such thing as "normal clown behavior"...It's an oxymoron.
Until they mature, they are neither male nor female. The established older female will determine the --- of the younger "undecided" if they pair. If they don't pair the outcome generally tends to be female. I was told that it is a common practice to place a juvenile (no --- yet) with two older suspected females in order to induce the desired outcome (young male). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I have yet to have a pair breed.
As long as they are still swimming and eating I would say they are as "normal" as can be expected. As far as nipping at one another, I'm not sure. Maybe you could try changing their diet.

 

[socal57che]

P.S. What's in the bottles behind your tank??? not chemicals, right?? :notsure:

 

[ohioguy06]

Originally Posted by socal57che
P.S. What's in the bottles behind your tank??? not chemicals, right?? :notsure:
i was thinkin the same thing.....im hopin it isnt!

 

[kolizion]

It's a bottle of 50/50 fantastik / water ratio for cleaning the outside of the glass.... just cleaned the front of the glass for a better picture, nothing to be worried about
thanks for the heads up about the clown behavior...
I really would like them to eventially mate, lay eggs....
How common is it for a pair of clowns to NOT mate?
the one is larger then the other... and seems to be the more agressive of the two. Is it safe to asume that's the female, and the other one is juvy? or are they both still juvys?
I got them small because I wanted to know i'd have them for a long time.

 

[socal57che]

Generally speaking, females tend to be larger and more aggressive. I've never used any chemical to clean the outside of the tank and I don't think even a 50% mix would be safe, but I don't know for sure. I just use a paper towel (with no dyes) dipped in the tank water then wipe it with a dry one.
search through the threads for breeding practices, seems to be somewhat intricate, because I didn't intend to breed them. I just wanted a pair to watch. In a tank environment the eggs are quickly found and eaten, I think.

 

[socal57che]

Lockemup is building a nursery. I found him in the clown/anemone threads. Ask him about breeding as his pair have mated, laid, & fertilized.