Transgender clownfish?

[Cyclura]

I have heard that clownfish can change sexes based on a need in the environment to do so. Now, based on my research, in the wild when the dominant female dies in a group of clowns a male rises up to take her place and then permanently changes to female irreversibly. Having said that, if my true percula clownfish pair are of the same sex, can one of them change to the opposite sex and mate with the other and how common is that? How do you sex clownfish?

[CarmieJo]

My understanding is that they start as male and the dominate fish becomes female. This is a one time deal, no re-dos :). If you have 2 clowns then the dominate fish will become female and the other will remain male, giving you a pair.

[Cyclura]

so pretty much, as long as one of your clowns has not already changed sexes in the past, you are gauranteed a male/female pair with any given set of two clownfish? How do i sex my clownfish so i will know if this has occured or not?

[CarmieJo]

Yes that should give you a male female pair. I'm not sure if that will automatically mean a mated pair though. I think that if you had 2 females they would be fighting for dominance.

[Sloppygolf]

The best way is to start with young clowns. They start out "young", not really male or female...then the dominant fish will become female....the females are always larger, and of course dominant (kind-of-like humans:rotfl: ).
They cannot change back to male, that part is true.
Are yours different sizes? How old are they? Pictures?
Once they start mating....you will know which is which for sure.:D

[dreams]

the title of this thread really cracked me up...LOL

[Sloppygolf]

Yeah, it got my attention quick.......figured it was a gwen post actually.

[fat walrus]

No transgender issue. Just a struggle for dominance among sexes. Woman wins always with clowns. With non-clowns, it is a totally different situation. :D

[Rob]

i think the details have been covered, i just wanted to note that if you don't already have a "male/female" pair, it can take a long time for the pair to form out of 2 juveniles. even longer if there are more than 2 clowns in the tank.. :)

[Cyclura]

nope just two clowns, yes....pics here they are....
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/geckoguy14/DSC01247.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/geckoguy14/DSC01248.jpg

i hope yall like the new aquascape, and the DSB. It's about 2.5-3 inches deep. My clowns are extremely small so im guessing they are young, i really am not sure how big true percs get but from what i have heard, not very big at all which is what im basing my thinking that they are young on.

[CarmieJo]

Nice clowns. :) I like the aquascape, it looks like your fish will have lots of places to play.

By the way, in general a DSB is considered to be >4".

[Cyclura]

By the way, in general a DSB is considered to be >4".

Oh thanks....ruin my illusion for me :tongue2: . I Know, but i still like to call it my DSB, hey its deeper than it used to be, and i think it will have the same effect.

[Amphibious]

Cyclura,

I'm sorry to be the one to point this out but, I'm afraid you have misidentified your clowns as true Percula clowns or someone else has mislead you to believe they are the real thing.

In my humble opinion, what you have are Amphiprion ocelaris. The real Percula Clowns, Amphiprion percula have broader black borders surrounding the white bands. If you could count the spiny dorsal rays you'd find that A. percula has one or two more rays than A. ocelaris but that is impossible to do on living, swimming fish.

Here's a picture of a breading pair of Amphiprion percula. The color difference to yours is quit noticeable.

http://www.theculturedreef.com/Percula%20Clowns.jpg

It can be confusing because even respected authors use common names such as true percula, false percula, percula clown fish instead of the Latin names as I did above. If we all got into the habit of looking up the Latin names and used them in conjunction with the common names, I think there would be less confusion.

Now, don't take this post as there being anything wrong with your clown fish. They look like a fine pair and you should be proud to own them. I just think it wiser to call them what they are.

Respectfully

Dick

[fat walrus]

I agree with Amp, they do not look like percs.

Too often, ocelaris are labeled as "perculas", and perculas are labeled as "true perculas".

[Cyclura]

so....this means that my pair will get much bigger and i cant get as many fish? can i still get my yellow watchman and neon goby/royal gramma (still deciding)?

[dreams]

how large is your tank?

oh!...the female will quite a bit larger than the male

[Amphibious]

so....this means that my pair will get much bigger and i cant get as many fish? can i still get my yellow watchman and neon goby/royal gramma (still deciding)?Judging by the looks of your picture above, I'd say you could get all three of the fish you mentioned.

[Cyclura]

29gal sized oceanic biocube. 29.6 lbs of LR and 30lbs of Live sand.