Clownfish torn mouths?

[recoiljpr]

Okay folks, I have a problem that is perplexing me. I have had my two ocelaris clowns now for well over a year. They have always been together and have never had any problems. I have added no new rocks, coral, fish, etc to the tank in months. All of my other tank inhabitants (goby, tang, chromis, coral) all look perfectly normal. All my parameters are normal and just fine. I have not changed food, RO water, salt, chemicals, etc from what I have been using since day one.

My two clowns have what looks like torn flesh around thier mouths. They have also been fighting almost every time I look over at the tank. Both clowns are almost exactly the same size. They have never spawned before so I have no way of knowing if one is a female or not. I wouldn't think so though because neither one has ever acted more dominant then the other one. They are eating fine, they don't appear to be breathing heavily and their bodies do not have any marks (I checked everyone, no signs of ich that I can see). The problem is just around their mouths only. I do not have any anenomies, and they host in a frogspawn that they have been hosting in now for almost half a year.

Could these two have finally decided to fight for dominance and one is trying to become the female? I would have expected the dominance fight to have taken place a long time ago, not after a year together. But, I also know the longer I am in this hobby, the more I learn how much more I need to know!

[recoiljpr]

Anyone with any ideas?

[Kristy]

Hmmm.... my female clown sometimes gets something weird and rough looking near her mouth, just noticed it in the past few months. I wondered if it coincided with her new spawning behaviors.

My best guess for you is that it is part of the sorting out of dominance / gender issues as they mature. It was surprising to me how long it took my clowns to fully mature to be ready for spawning (a couple years), although you could clearly tell which was the female. Some species of clowns seem to make that more apparent than others and with maroons, you can really tell early on.

[Still Learning]

Divorce?