Clownfish: Sex determination

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Phyl

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When does a male become female? In February I took the F from a tank and put her in my 120. Then a couple of weeks ago I took the "M" in. I'd like to put the F back in with her mate... except that I have no way of knowing how to know if the M is still a M? Will the lack of F cause a M to turn F if he's by himself, or is it the dominance thing that triggers the sex change?

TIA,
--p
 
I may be wrong, but what I've heard is the dominance factor is what triggers a male to switch. In example, pulling two males from a group of subordant males with a single dominant female, and dropping those two into a tank without the rest -- the more dominant one eventually changes. Such as in my tank, two identical false clowns, after two months one of them is much larger than the other. coincindence? I think not. ;)
 
So will one single M left in a tank alone stay M then? Or would he make the natural progression to F? If the latter and not the former, then how long would that process take to begin?
 
If its a solitary male, given there are no other competing males nor an already established female -- I would assume nothing is forcing him to change or stay the same -- such would be your outcome.

If he gets significantly larger in a short period of time, he will probably be a she.

My guess is he'll stay male unless another male is introduced.
 
Phyl said:
Will the lack of F cause a M to turn F if he's by himself, or is it the dominance thing that triggers the sex change?
It would be highly unlikely for a solitary mature clown to remain male. If a solitary clown it is most likely to become female, not remain male or neuter. It would also depend on what time frame had passed.

What species of clowns? Some (very few actually) do have a slight dimorphism.

Cheers
Steve
 
The species is Gold Striped Maroon. The time frame has been about 5 months. Thanks in advance!
 
mine appeared to change when i added an anemone to the tank, one became possessive of the anemone for a few weeks and headbutted any fish that came near, now she is much bigger than the other one. they were the same size when i got them.
 
Phyl said:
The species is Gold Striped Maroon. The time frame has been about 5 months.
Size will be your main indicator then. The female will be a little less color intense than the male but it's usually not that noticable unless side by side. If near/larger than 2" I'd say female though.

Cheers
Steve
 
My "Female" is about 5". My hopefully "Male" is probably between 2 & 3". Sounds like he's probably a she now. I was afraid of that...
 
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