Clownfish Behavior

[Marcosreef]

I have 2 ocellaris clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris) in my reef. I got both a couple of months ago. During the day one clown chases the other and tries to nip it's tail. No damage. But at night, they both sleep together in the same spot!

Are these two paired off or just crazy? The clown doing the chasing is slighty larger and has a darker coloration on the top of its body.

 

[Mac1]

More than likely they are pairing up. Kinda like that girl at the playground who's hair you used to pull all the time... Courtship is weird stuff.

- Mac

 

[rBeOeBf]

Marco,

I'm experiencing identical behavior in 2 false percs I have. I just bought the larger of the two in February, and the smaller one in March. It's the larger one doing all the chasing and nipping, although the smaller one will occasionally put on it's own little "shaking" display in retaliation. The little guy has started to suffer some damage to his fins, so hopefully it won't go too far. Then they usually sleep peacefully together in an upper corner of the tank. It's probably too soon to know what, if anything, this behavior might lead to.

-Bob