Another Lightning Maroon Clownfish Pairing Attempt Ends in Separation

June 1, 2011 TheLightningProject 7 comments

Once again, trying to pair up the Lightning Maroon. It has been almost 2 months since I tried introducing the small proven male PNG Maroon Clown with the Lightning Clownfish back on April 11th, and a few days later it did it’s own pairing attempt overnight on the 14th. I didn’t realize it had been that long. I captured the first 2.5 minutes of interactions on video before stopping to reset, take a few closer videos, and then some pictures. Here’s the first three videos.

Honestly, at first I was optimistic. The attacks weren’t overly violent, and the male was making all the submissive gestures. I captured some interactions closeup in stills…

Shortly after I shot these images, things changed. The interactions shown in the video speak for themselves.

So the male PNG Maroon was quickly scooped up and returned to the specimen cup. This is why I will only conduct these introductions when I have the time to observer firsthand and intervene if necessary.
My only thought at the moment is to “step up” the frequency of these interactions. Hopefully that will reinforce the social status on both sides and perhaps speed the Lightning Maroon towards “giving in” and deciding it’s OK to be a female and mate with this male.
Experienced Maroon breeders, I welcome any thoughts you care to offer!

Breeding, Images and Videos, Lighting Maroon Clownfish, Lightning Maroon Updates, Other Maroon Clownfish images, lightning maroon clownfish, pairing, video, white stripe maroon clownfish

#1 | Written by KathyL about 13 years ago.

I think that the fish you’ve tried so far are either too big, or not the right personality. I’m not a maroon breeder, but I’ve had success pairing and breeding a very aggressive gigantic female black ocellaris with a tiny juvenile. This was after she had killed a couple of normal sized mates. A much much smaller fish will not be seen as a threat. In addition, some fish may not get along no matter what. Irreconcilable differences. I would not keep trying the same fish. But I’m not a maroon breeder, so YMMV.
#2 | Written by Ted about 13 years ago.

In response to Kathy, I think the issue is keeping the Lightning offspring in the PNG bloodline. PNG had issues with exporting more fish since the SeaSmart program was “put on hold.” I have paired a couple sets of Maroons and I would just keep at it. The fact that the Male is being submissive and the Female is not at all being submissive is a great start. It shows that the sub-female will become the clear dominant fish in the pair and continue the transformation to full female. I think Matt is doing a great job with this fish. Matt, did you end up using a top on the tank? I see the black tabs that come with the tank are installed but didn’t notice if you actually used a top. I would be devastated if that lightning went carpet surfing! I’m counting on you for a lightning of my own in the next 10 years!
#3 | Written by Walter LaRoque about 13 years ago.

Matt, you know a lot of people are rooting for you on this. I know marroons can be a little trickier than other species but one suggestion I’d like to offer is that when you acquire another male put him in quarrantine in a tank immediately adjacent to the lightning so they can see each other but leave a hiding place inside each tank. You will have an indication if there is an interest or rivalry and without the bloodletting. I did this with my A. thielleis for a month before joining them together in the same tank. Good luck!
#4 | Written by Matt Pedersen about 13 years ago.

Kathy, Ted has the right idea. While I could probably find a small (tiny) juvenile somewhere, it won’t be of the right bloodline. It really needs to work with this proven male maroon. If not this one, the other one I have. Given that the day in aggression directed at the maroon in the specimen cup had diminished, and that the Lightning had started digging, I thought maybe we’d made enough progress. This test suggests that “maybe” is right. Definitely not a viable pair. Yet.
Ted, yes, there is a glass top that covers the whole tank. It’s really, really nice. I’ve noticed this design for a top being copied by a lot of the newer nano tanks that are coming out now.
#5 | Written by Matt Pedersen about 13 years ago.

Hey Walt, pretty much did the same thing you’re suggestion when I placed the male in the small specimen container – https://lightning-maroon-clownfish.com/?p=861 – see the last video on the post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EGFWc58qmQ0). You can see exactly how nasty the Lightning Maroon initially wanted to be towards the new male. Since that time, the outwardly aggressive behavior subsided, and more “female” behaviors like digging had kicked in, making me hopefully that it was now safe to release the male. Obviously, it didn’t work yet.
Still, others have also suggested tricks we use with Cichlids, including division by eggcrate, with or without access that allows the male, but not the “female”, access to a refuge on one side. Unfortunately, since the sizes are still so similar, that’s out. I honestly have the strong feeling that the only real viable solution is time, although some of my facebook friends have posted some pretty unique ideas ranging from putting the Lightning with another pair to “put it in it’s place”, aka. give it a beatdown, or to place not one but two maroon males in the tank which may force the Lightning to choose (but then you don’t have control over which male “she” chooses). No easy answers, no easy options, to this difficult challenge of pairing. Time is probably the only thing that will actually work.
#6 | Written by Lewis about 13 years ago.

Hi Matt, I’m trying desperately to pair my current maroon, with a new maroon male, i’ve had the exact same reactions are yours so far, and the old is now chasing the new, what should i do?
- #7 | Written by Matt Pedersen about 13 years ago.
  
  Lewis, I’d need more info to accurately frame a response, particularly the sizes of the respective fish. You may recall that with the Lighting Maroon and the current male, I actually had to sequester the larger, “female” in the pair, and that seemed to ‘fix’ the problems of “her” chasing the relatively similarly sized male. No matter what, the worst thing you could do would be to not intervene and “wait and see” – Maroons are known to be murderous to their mates, even in longstanding pairs. I don’t know when you posted this question (I wasn’t notified that it was sitting here pending), but I hope this advice doesn’t come too late.

#1 | Pinged by Rare fishes – Page 11 – RareClownfish.com about 13 years ago.

[…] But……………this attemp fail……..due Maroon Female agressivity……. Another Lightning Maroon Clownfish Pairing Attempt Ends in Separation – The Lightning Project The second attemp…..the Female was put in isolation……..while the Male………….remains in […]

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Another Lightning Maroon Clownfish Pairing Attempt Ends in Separation