Maroon clown making a sand storm!!!

[Amritroy2003]

Hi Guys,

I brought a maroon clown fish from Aquatic Obession.. very nice store,.. anyways, I've noticed that the maroon clownfish will go into the sand bed and wiggle itself and cause a sand storm, does anyone know why he is doing this? He does host the anemone with the other maroon clownfish.. Any suggestions? (P.S, I am getting a 125 gallon tank soon.)

 

[Phyl]

Put that on my list of 5 things that someone should have told me before I had a tank. Oh... never mind. I bought the one I have because she was making a sandstorm in SOMEONE ELSE'S tank! I should have known that more space wasn't going to quell her nesting needs.

Luckily for us, putting an anemone in the tank quells that in mine. I do believe she (larger one?) is nesting.

 

[KennyZush]

My maroon did the exact same thing until the conditions were right for her to nest.

Actually, once the anemone moved up on the rock a bit, the sand storms stopped.

She would spend all day grooming a piece of land, only to have me mess it up when doing maintenance.

Kenny Z.

 

[tangdude]

i dont have sand in my tank or an anemone. my maroon hosts in my bubble coral. any other corals in the vacinity will be picked up and spit off the rocks. territorial little bugger but still a cool fish.

 

[JohnS_323]

. . . any other corals in the vacinity will be picked up and spit off the rocks. . .

Ours does this too. It's amazaing how big of a coral she can pick up and "throw"!

 

[chase33]

I too have one that was doing the same thing last week. I was told that it was a male and that he was cleaning a spot for a female to nest. I don't have a female nor do I have an anemone. In order to obtain a mate I was told to buy another of significantly larger size and it would become the female. Any truth or is the one I currently have the female?

 

[Phyl]

How big is the one you have now? It is very hard to tell when the clowns go from male to female, but I was always told to get the smallest mate you can find and that the one you currently have will change to female. My female is about 5". Her mate we purchased as a juvi and he quickly took on the role of male in the tank.

 

[chase33]

The one I have now is about 2" or less. I've had it for 3 months or so. Maybe that's why I was told to get a bigger one and it would become the female.

 

[Phyl]

Corrected my post above. I had said the one you have will turn to male, when what I meant was that the current (larger one) would change to female and the juvi would take on the role of male. Much easier to add the juvi to the tank than to add a larger clown (big problems if the one you have is already changing to female and you add a larger one to the tank since there's no going back).

By adding a juvi you're ensuring the heirarchy.

Maroons are notoriously difficult to pair. We had a male (?) and tried adding a juvi to the tank and thought the male was going to eat it alive. We had to pull the juvi out of the tank. At the same time we added another juvi to the tank with our female in it and she immediately took to the juvi and they paired. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the state of being (m-f-j) affected their willingness to accept a partner.

I would say that if your clown is digging in the sand it would be more likely female. My male has never done anything of the sort.

 

[chase33]

Thanks for the info Phyl. As I mentioned above, mine is currently about 2" long, still small. Would you recommend I wait for it to grow a little more before purchasing another Juvi? If so, about how big should it get before I entertain the idea of purchasing another?

 

[Phyl]

If you could get a juvi from a known breeder who could ensure that you were indeed getting a juvi, I would do that. I'm not sure what the best thing to do with a 2" maroon. It is likely to be at least male, and POSSIBLE, depending on age and a few other factors, that it may have begun the change to female.

You may be able to find a maroon breeder in the Clownfish breeding forum on RC that can give you solid advice. I'd look there before I made a move.

 

[chase33]

Thanks for your help.

 

[Amritroy2003]

So basically its normal? So do you think the female wants to lay eggs? I do have a male maroon clownfish (he is smaller in size compared to the female, he is like 1/3rd her size), they both host the anemone like crazy and they hardly leave it alone..

I think I bigger tank would help huhn?

 

[mladencovic]

Just to clarify the morphing/maturing process of clowns (only for those that do not know this already ;D ). From the group of sexually neutral (juvenile) one grows larges and becomes female, second in size becomes male and the rest of the group remains sexually neutral, until one of those two is removed (dies). If the female is removed, male grows and morphs into female, and one neutral becomes the male. If the male is removed, again, one of the neutrals becomes male. Females can't change the sex once matured as females. It is usually recommended (though obviously often impractical) to have a group of 3 or more juvenile clowns and letting them figure out who should be what. It is also recommended to have a one larger specimen (male or female) mixed with 2 or more, smaller juveniles, and let the bigger one assume the female role and choose its partner the best way she likes.

 

[Phyl]

The female may find that her desired nesting position is too close to the sand (hence wanting to brush the sand away). It is possible that they are preparing to spawn, but my female did it alone in a tank, so it just might be their nature. I believe you'd find this is VERY common among maroons.

A bigger tank won't help. My maroon did it in a 30g and went to a 120 where she had run of the place and still opted to stir the sand (after spending a month or two settling in). The only thing that helped us is putting the anemone in, but if you've already got that then ::shrug:: not sure what to tell you.