Questions on some new buys

[donkeykong]

I just got some beautifull perc clownfish. They are fairly small under an 1", one is a little bigger than the other one. How do I tell if I got a male and female or 2 males or females? And if they are male and female since they are both young will they become mating pair or is that a rare thing?
Also I got some hermits. I was wondering is there a way to know when they will need/want a bigger shell. I would rather not just put 25 extra shells to just lie around rather put them in let the hermits pick and then take some out? Or am I hoping for to much?

 

[jawfish177]

for the percs, you probably have two males right now.. whoever is the dominant will become the female and will be much larger than the other (male)...
for the hermits, i say buy some (not 25) empty shells and throw them in the tank.. the hermits will figure this out and as soon as they outgrow their old shells, they will move in the new ones..

 

[donkeykong]

Hey jawfish Thanks for the info.
I noticed that you have cc/ls combo. How do you like that? I got cc and am thinking of getting some sand with live sand activator. They say that the cc will work its way to the top and you wont be able to see the sand. any comments will be helpful

 

[rockster]

The hermits will experiment on some shells if you put them in. They will transfer to a bigger shell even if they haven't grown yet. When they find it too heavy they will either go back to their old shell or find a lighter one. They do this frequently...house-hunting.
As to CC and sand mixture. You find out for yourself, mix some CC with fine sand thoroughly in a pan and agitate side to side and see what happens. That is similar to what is going to happen eventually when you mix them together in your tank.

 

[clarkiiboi]

From what I have figured out and read all small baby percs are "male", if you buy a pair small and put into a tank (as you did) one will become the female and the other will remain male. HTH

 

[lu]

If you don't just throw some extra shells in for the hermits, you may find one decided he liked the snails shell and killed him for it. Get some shells, drop them in and forget it.