I got a pair of false ocellaris around 10 months ago. When I bought them they were about an inch (smaller one) and inch and half (bigger one). I assumed their age was about 6-7 months.
They fought for a bit initially and the smaller one did the horizontal seizure dance in which he acquiesced to the attacks by the bigger one. I thought they were done pairing.
However off lately (guesstimate: 16 months age) the attacks by the bigger one are more intense and the smaller one goes into hiding on floor, behind the powerhead and other places where he feels safe. The bigger one swims around like a boss. A strange thing I noticed is that the bigger clownfish also does the seizure dance sometimes (less often than the smaller one). I looked this up and gathered that this means that the sex change isn't complete. Again, correct my assumptions here if I am wrong.
My question here is how long does this process of protandry (gender change from male to female) last?
Can I guess the correct age of the clowns from this behavior? When do they start laying eggs after this?
Basically I am trying to understand their life cycle with approximate time periods.
They fought for a bit initially and the smaller one did the horizontal seizure dance in which he acquiesced to the attacks by the bigger one. I thought they were done pairing.
However off lately (guesstimate: 16 months age) the attacks by the bigger one are more intense and the smaller one goes into hiding on floor, behind the powerhead and other places where he feels safe. The bigger one swims around like a boss. A strange thing I noticed is that the bigger clownfish also does the seizure dance sometimes (less often than the smaller one). I looked this up and gathered that this means that the sex change isn't complete. Again, correct my assumptions here if I am wrong.
My question here is how long does this process of protandry (gender change from male to female) last?
Can I guess the correct age of the clowns from this behavior? When do they start laying eggs after this?
Basically I am trying to understand their life cycle with approximate time periods.