Clownfish turning black:

[REBridges]

One of my clownfishes in my secondary tank is starting to turn black on its top half. It used to be bright orange. It is a misbar clownfish. I purchased the clowns back in April. One was bigger than the other. The one turning darker is the bigger one, while the other one has had no color change and is still bright orange. The one turning darker has become very aggressive all of a sudden with the other clown. It picks on him all the time and chases him into hiding. The one being bullied has no bite marks, etc and both eat very well. Sometimes they will be swiming together like nothing is going on, then the big one is back to her old "new" ways. The smaller one does do twitching/dancing around the other sometimes when its being bullied.

I have read up on this and have got so many different scenerios.
1) maturity into a female
2) being coming a bonded pair
3) mating
4) someone wrote that not only is it maturing, but could be an oynx clown finally showing its colors and dominance
etc...

Can anyone chime in on this? I'll post a picture.
BTW: Tank parameters are all in line. Nothing out of normal. Also my other clownfish in my main tank havent done this. They host an anemone, while the other ones never have.

[REBridges]

NORMAL CLOWNFISH
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/rebridges/11-2.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/rebridges/media/11-2.jpg.html)
THE REST IS THE ONE CHANGING COLORS AND AGGRESSIVENESS.....SORRY ABOUT THE CRUDDY PICS.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/rebridges/111.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/rebridges/media/111.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/rebridges/1111.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/rebridges/media/1111.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/rebridges/11111.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/rebridges/media/11111.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/rebridges/111111.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/rebridges/media/111111.jpg.html)

[allan]

Looks like he's getting a tan.

[Southern Flame]

He/she is a really pretty fish

[Mr Cob]

Onyx are true percs so you can rule out onyx if it's an ocellaris which it looks to be. I would lean more towards a mocha than an onyx. Mochas are a cross between darwins (ocellaris) and regular ocellaris.

I would also guess that it is in the process of turning into a female which would explain the sudden aggressiveness. She will either accept or reject the male. If it is in fact turning female then the male will need to start doing the submissive fish dance that tells the female "stop...please don't kill me" and normally the female will accept him. In my experience if the male doesn't dance then she won't take to him. If the male just runs away like a little kid then that's the end of their relationship. He needs to be brave and submit. He should stay near her and just dance for his life. lol It's very interesting to watch this behavior with multiple pairs.

You can encourage this by keeping them close. I like to net the ones not getting together and tighten the net up so that they are forced to touch one another but have no room to fight. I will do this on and off when I see them fighting and keep them in the net for up to 15 minutes at a time.


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3791/9309419225_57d611f256_c.jpg




And sometimes I just give the male a break...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3762/9360023702_9483236aee_z.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Can you count the dorsal spines on the larger one to determine if it is ocellaris or percula? Taking a picture of the fish in your hand makes it much easier to count. Normally 10 for perc and 11 for ocellaris.

Also... lineage or where you purchased them would be helpful info.

[REBridges]

Rob: I counted the spines on both. They have 11 dorsal spines. I purchased them at the Austin Aqua Dome. I have no idea of the lineage. Just that they were labeled 'misbar' clowns. All had fantastic colors. Also the mail does occasionally dance and runs away. I'm doing what you suggested. I have them both netted together. They seem to be ok this way.

[REBridges]

The male...not 'mail'. Thanks to auto correct on my iPad. Gives the sentence a whole other meaning. Lol

[Mr Cob]

You can always ask the dome too. 10 would suggest that they are in fact perculas which means the one could very well be an onyx. Asking the dome could be benefitial, some stores will only purchase from one location such as ORA which will help rule out some assumptions....while other stores bring in fish from all sorts of places including hobbyist and even breeders who sometimes have no clue what their fish are... in which case that won't be helpful and means the fish could be anything...including hybrid and counting spines won't help.

I think it's worth tracking down as much information about them as possible especially if you ever plan to breed. Which I think I remember you mentioning the possibility to me.

[REBridges]

I had edit my post around your response time. I meant to put 11 and not 10. You think the dome would know from that long ago? I'll ask tho. Maybe they get them from the same place.

[Mr Cob]

I had edit my post around your response time. I meant to put 11 and not 10. You think the dome would know from that long ago? I'll ask tho. Maybe they get them from the same place.

Ahh, so that would mean that my original assumption that they were both ocellaris would be correct and that the larger one then is most likely not an onyx...more likely a mocha or some sort of hybrid. The dome will only be helpful if they tell you they only purchase clownfish from XXXXX and will at least maybe offer you some help in narrowing the options of what the fish could or could not be if that matters or not to you.

For me, I like to know what my fish are since I'm breeding for resell. If you ever plan to breed or even sell your current pair that info would be very useful to you and your buyer. For example if they started breeding and you wanted to sell them for millions of dollars I wouldn't buy them if you couldn't tell me with certainty what they were.




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[REBridges]

Well the mean clown died! So much for all that! He/She committed suicide. So guess I'm looking for 2 new clowns! Too bad the other one is really pretty. Almost naked.

[Mr Cob]

Bummer. Sorry Ryan. : (

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[REBridges]

Bummer indeed. Havent lost any fish in a really long time!