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I feel that my clown fish may be mating. They have recently become more aggressive, and one is now hiding in the crevace of my coral flapping its fins at what seems to be a more rapid pace, and the other is back and forth like it is checking on the one in the crevace. I have had these two clownfish for around 1.5 months, and they have been deciding who is the male and female since I got them. They are both eating very well. I have read about the mating rituals of clownfish and feel that they are acting similar to what i've read. Will they actually mate in my 12 gallon tank even if i dont have a host anemone? I have no other fish currently , but have six hermit crabs and a turbo snail. The clowns are only about two inches long. I hope they aren't sick. Any advice would be great!

"A fish swims through the sea, while the sea is in a certain sense contained within the fish."
-mewithoutYou

It does sound like they may have bred. It will be hard to tell if they did as the larve are super small.But you dont need a host anemone for them to breed. The female will be the bigger of the two, as the dominant fish will become the female. But I would'nt put anymore fish in that tank as your are full as it is, I'm not if your are planning but just incase.

Nope, they won't need an anemone at all. You didn't say whether your clowns were captive-bred or not, but many captive-bred clownfish don't even use anemones. Some prefer an alternative such as a large polyped coral, others just don't choose a host at all and live in a cave.

If you look closely near where the male is fanning its fins, you might be able to see a mass of orange or red eggs on a hard surface. They're pretty easy to see if you know what to look for.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."