[megahaus]

Okay.. the title was a hard one.. so it's probably confusing. I have an ocellaris that I got from a guy who had him for two years. He got it from ORA. He had three of them and he says this one was the smallest. Now, I've personally had this fish for a month now, like him a lot. heis about an inch and a half long.. not big at all. I walked into my LFS today and saw this beautiful clown fish.. ocellaris, and I thought, man.. Omen would love this fish (omen is what I named my clown... Nemo spelled backwards ) this fish is probably a good 2-3 inches, and apparently it is an aged fish as well.. came from a old leaky tank from around the area. now for the question.. can females become males again.. or do they only stay females? could omen be a male because he is so small? anybody think these fish could be compatible?
a good site with this type of information on it would be great. all answers are appreciated
thanks
andrew

[Jeremy0322]

I am pretty sure that they can change sex back and forth but you may want to wait for someone else to confirm this before you take it in as proven fact. I remember reading that in a post somewhere around here. I think the thread title was called "How to sex my clown fish" or something like that.

[gimmito]

Your first fish is most likely a male. The second one is hard to tell, but because of the size difference will become the dominate female. Once one becomes the dominate female they do not revert back to male. Recommend reading: Clownfishes by Joyce Wilkersen.

[megahaus]

Thanks for the info and suggested reading!

[jimw369]

now for the question.. can females become males again.. or do they only stay females? could omen be a male because he is so small? anybody think these fish could be compatible?
a good site with this type of information on it would be great. all answers are appreciated
thanks
andrew[/quote]

Huh? I always figured if people could do it...then again that takes surgery and hormones that maybe a fish doesnt have access to.

[thelastmucci]

LOL @ Jim....your a stich sometimes. But on a serious note to answer your question...I believe that the large clown usually is a female therefore you would be good to go as far as mating them.

[FINDING_NEMO]

once a female, always a female

[fperkins]

You may be lucky and Omen has not gendered and is still an indeterminate.

Otherwise Omen is now female as they don't become male until another has taken on the female role - but will become female when there are no other fish around.

Once female, done. The male can become female but this is not reverseable.

[CoralGeeks]

If you have 3 clowns, there will only be one female, the largest one. Then there will be 2 males, dominant and submissive. If the female kicks the bucket, then the dominant male will morph into the female, so there is always a female, then smaller male will take over as the dominant male. All clowns are born male and morph into females as needed. But never morph back to male once they become females. (Im buddies with a clownfish hatchery owner )

[fperkins]

From the Marine Breeders Organization website -

3.1 – Sex determination:
Sequential hermaphrodites (protandric);
Meaning that they start out life with undetermined gender. As a group matures, the most aggressive one becomes female and the next most aggressive one becomes male, her mate. The rest remain undetermined until one of the mated pair dies or is removed. If the male dies, he is replaced with the next most aggressive one from the group. If the female dies, the male becomes female, and the next most aggressive in the group becomes male. Males may change gender and become females, but once a female, always a female. However, exceptions have been reported…

3.2 – Sexual organization:
Pairs;
All other clownfish in a group are undetermined gender.

3.3 – Sexing:
The female is always bigger, sometimes 3 times larger than the male. Except for Clarkiis!

Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders :: View topic - Clownfish - Amphiprioninae - Breeding/Spawning Overview