Started Introduction of new Yellow-stripped Maroon

[budsreef]

I've had a Yellow-stripped Maroon Clown for six months and am trying to mate it up once again. My first attempt from LiveAquaria didn't live through QT, but this time I got one locally and it has at least made it through QT.

I picked up a Kritter Keeper and glued a couple of pieces of acrylic to the back to attach a bracket and then drilled holes in the sides front and bottom. After a long drip acclimation I put the new guy in. The orginal goes up and tries to nip at it ocassionally through the plastic but otherwise seems unconcerned by its presence. I'm not sure when I'll actually dump him in, maybe tomorrow. Hopefully, they will get along ok.
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[stroid]

thats about the same size difference as mine Bud and it went really well for me as you know

 

[linda lee]

I want to do this, too!!! But with a Clarkii

Please keep us posted and good luck!

 

[suasati]

Maroons are the toughest.... smaller the male better the chances...

 

[budsreef]

Thanks Linda! What's keeping you from doing it with the Clarkii?

Linda Lee;92232 wrote: I want to do this, too!!! But with a Clarkii

Please keep us posted and good luck!

 

[budsreef]

Ok, I tried to let the little guy loose today and initially it looked like everything was going to be ok, but after a while the female got more and more aggressive and wouldn't let him out of the upper corner of the tank so after about an hour I put him back in the container. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[budsreef]

He didn't fare much better today. As a matter of fact it was a little worse since she actually got ahold of him at one time and didn't seem to want to let go. He is back in the container. I think I'll give him a day of rest and try again on Tuesday.

I'm building another cage out of egg crate and will try that if it doesn't go well Tuesday. I think he is small enough that he'll be able to go in and out but she won't be able to fit through the holes.

 

[blind1993]

Budsreef;92769 wrote: He didn't fare much better today. As a matter of fact it was a little worse since she actually got ahold of him at one time and didn't seem to want to let go. He is back in the container. I think I'll give him a day of rest and try again on Tuesday.

I'm building another cage out of egg crate and will try that if it doesn't go well Tuesday. I think he is small enough that he'll be able to go in and out but she won't be able to fit through the holes.

there is one thing that i see wrong with that, once she chases him, he will get rushed and might miss the holes.

 

[lorenk]

Bud,
I suggest contacting Jin (futureinterest)...he has been very successful in doing this. He wrote me a fairly long message when I had my second clown.

 

[stroid]

Thats totaly normal behavior....mine was pushed to the corner for a bout a day. After that they warmed up to each other....I think you might be over analyzing it. There is going to be aggression its normal but will pass. If you start seeing fins ripped off then yes its to much.

 

[budsreef]

balagan;92775 wrote: Bud,
I suggest contacting Jin (futureinterest)...he has been very successful in doing this. He wrote me a fairly long message when I had my second clown.

Will do, thanks!

 

[budsreef]

Today, I took out the Krtter Keeper container and put in the egg crate container. The little male immediately recognised that he could go in and out but that the female can't get in. A couple of times the female approached and he went out to greet her and she did not attack him so maybe she is getting ready to accept him.

 

[FutureInterest]

Suasati is right that the bigger the size differential the better for pairing them up. The females will generally be less aggressive when the newcomer is significantly smaller.

I like your idea of using an eggcrate cage to allow the male to move freely. I worry though if he gets far from it and she attacks. Maroons do not run... they typically just submit or fight. If the female does not relent on her attack then the newcomer will just die...

Here's my advice, its not the only way to do it, but it works:
Some maroons will accept other mates quicker than others, but its better to be safe than sorry here. So I suggest you put the critter keeper back in, and put the male back in there. Do not let him out at all for ~2 weeks. Keep moving the critter keeper around the tank... over this time period. You will find that she will attack him as he moves around the tank in the critter keeper... If she makes no attempt to attack him at all then you can let him out under observation, perhaps in the eggcrate cage? If she doesn't stop attacking when the male does the lil submission dance immediately put him back in the cage for another week. Anyways, you don't have to isolate for 2 weeks necessarily, but its not unusual to have to isolate maroons for up to a month or more. It took about 3 weeks for my female to accept my male... and then another 3 weeks before she let him in the RBTA!

 

[stroid]

dang i guess im just ballzy I just put my little guy in and after one day they were mated and sleeping in the RBTA. I watched for aggression but it is inevitable and is going to happen. Mine hid in the rocks for about a day then the next day sexy time!

 

[FutureInterest]

lol sexy time! Well some maroons are nicer than others... mine is devil spawn.

 

[budsreef]

Thanks, Jin et al! He was really doing well all day yesterday not venturing out of the egg crate. I had put the same piece of pvc in the egg crate that he slept in during QT and in the Kritter Keeper so I left him in there last night and after the lights went out he went on in and stayed. This morning the female went up to the cage and he came out to greet her. He did the shimmy and she turned her side to him and slowly started swimming away and he followed untill she got a little ways from the egg crate and then he went back to it. If he starts to venture too far away or she starts getting more aggressive I'll get him back in the Kritter Keeper like Jin said.

FutureInterest;93698 wrote: Suasati is right that the bigger the size differential the better for pairing them up. The females will generally be less aggressive when the newcomer is significantly smaller.

I like your idea of using an eggcrate cage to allow the male to move freely. I worry though if he gets far from it and she attacks. Maroons do not run... they typically just submit or fight. If the female does not relent on her attack then the newcomer will just die...

Here's my advice, its not the only way to do it, but it works:
Some maroons will accept other mates quicker than others, but its better to be safe than sorry here. So I suggest you put the critter keeper back in, and put the male back in there. Do not let him out at all for ~2 weeks. Keep moving the critter keeper around the tank... over this time period. You will find that she will attack him as he moves around the tank in the critter keeper... If she makes no attempt to attack him at all then you can let him out under observation, perhaps in the eggcrate cage? If she doesn't stop attacking when the male does the lil submission dance immediately put him back in the cage for another week. Anyways, you don't have to isolate for 2 weeks necessarily, but its not unusual to have to isolate maroons for up to a month or more. It took about 3 weeks for my female to accept my male... and then another 3 weeks before she let him in the RBTA!

 

[FutureInterest]

Wonderful. I think they'll be paired up shortly!

One of the things I failed to mention was that my female was wild caught. I've noticed a fairly significant difference in aggression between wild/captive raised. So not everyone has to go through 6 weeks of total acclimation as I did. However, if I can pair a mate with el Diablo, using containers, then any other evil clown can be paired!

 

[budsreef]

Thanks, I hope so. He's still hanging out in his egg crate and whenever she goes up to him he shimmies at her, but doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave with her. Mine was also a wild caught female but she seems to be somewhere between Stroid's, I'll take any guy you give me, and Jin's She Devil!

 

[mkinna1]

How canj you tell the difference in the male and female? I have wanted to do this as well. I have a yellow striped maroon, but it is medium sized wait till he grows up or what? Thanks guys

 

[FutureInterest]

Female maroon clowns turn darker in coloration. Typically if its the only GSM in the tank then it will turn into a female within a few months. Even if it is a male still you can still pair it up, you just have to make sure your new clown is a male. Putting females together never works as the highlander effect occurs rather rapidly.