Clownfish Pairing help

[CharlieFarndon]

About 2 weeks ago I added an oscellaris clownfish to my tank, then I ordered a black and white oscellaris clownfish to go with it. I received it today but I had been sent a black saddleback clownfish instead of an oscellaris. When I added it to the tank my oscellaris clown immediately started biting the saddleback clown. The saddleback is now hiding in the rocks. Will they pair? Will the kill one another?

 

[Andy Sager]

Clownfish are usually very territorial ( as their cousins the Damsels are) so depending on how large the tank is will determine if the two will eventually either get a long or kill each other. It's best with clownfish to put them all in at the same time for this reason. If you get young fish, they will sex themselves out so no need to know males and females. If they are older fish ( you can tell by their size) you will need to either put them in together or make sure there is enough space in the tank for two distinct homes for the 2 fish. If they pair off, all the better but if not, then the safety concern is somewhat mitigated.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Saddle back isn’t going to pair with a perc or occ

 

[Andy Sager]

Saddle back isn’t going to pair with a perc or occ

+1 to this...... kinda. Different species of clowns will usually not become a breeding pair ( although back in the 1980s(?), Julian Sprung had hypothesized to me a possible natural cross between the Skunk and Sebae clown making the A. luecokranus, and which has since been confirmed) but will, under certain situations, learn to accept other species in their tank as long as they are not consistently "in their face". IME

If the end desire is to breed, you will raise your chances exponentially by keeping similar species vs different species.