- What's more fun than one fish in our reef?
Two fish in our reef.
A lot of the fish we keep in our tanks
can actually be paired up
with just a little bit of planning and luck.
Hi, I'm ReefMan, and this time, it's all about pairing fish.
So, not all fish can be paired.
Some just don't form lifelong bonds
and so, in those species,
you're unlikely to see pairs of those fish.
In clownfish, dottybacks, cardinals,
angelfish, some tangs, butterflyfish,
all of these fish can all be paired over time,
given a large enough tank and patience.
So in my tank, I've successfully created pairs
of both clownfish and Potter's angelfish
and I find their interaction together
to be much more interesting than
that of just a solitary fish.
Having a pair of fish lets you see
their full natural behavior,
and if you're willing to put in the effort,
a lot of these fish can even be bred in captivity.
Clownfish are really relatively easy to breed.
Angelfish are more on the difficult side,
but species like tangs are even more difficult.
As a rule, fish that broadcast their eggs
or that have a long larval cycle
are much more difficult than fish like clownfish
that have a short larval cycle
and lay their eggs on the glass.
But where there's a will, there's a way,
and it all starts with introducing two fish
and getting them to not only get along,
but create that pair bond between them.
A lot of fish, certainly clownfish and pygmy angelfish,
they start out their lives as one gender
and they only change into the other gender
if there's not already a dominant fish in the tank.
This makes pairing these fish very easy because
you really just need to find young fish to work with
that haven't settled into their adult stage yet.
Remember, not all species of fish change genders.
There are some, like the Achilles tang, for instance,
that are either born male or female
and they'll stay that way for their entire lives,
so it's important to do your research
before you dive in and try to pair a fish.
To pair these gender-changing fish,
you simply need to find a way
to get two fish of slightly different sizes.
Companies like LiveAquaria are a great help here
because you can buy a medium fish and a small fish.
And this sets up the dominance in the tank,
so that the larger fish will usually
end up being whatever that dominant gender is.
Similarly, for fish that don't change gender,
if you get a larger one
and a slightly smaller one of the other gender,
which is not always easy,
then there's maybe a little bit less a chance to see all
the threat and aggression that you might get out of pairing
just two Achilles tangs of the same size.
All fish are different, so the standard disclaimers apply.
So, that's easy for me to say, but how can you get around
dominance behavior and territoriality?
If you have an established pygmy angelfish in your tank,
it will generally be very unwilling
to allow another in its space.
The trick is to use your quarantine tank
and try to get both fish at the same time,
rather than having one for a long time
and then, adding another.
Buy a screen tank divider, like this,
so that you can split up your quarantine tank,
but you can still see each other, or the fish can,
and they can't access each other because of the screen.
You can also use a box trap like this.
They're a lot smaller, so not so great,
but this works well if one of the fish
is already in your display.
You can also use a mirror to distract aggressive fish.
Check it out.
There's a video link above.
So, get both fish at the same time if you can
and use a proper quarantine tank
that you can just divide up.
It makes it much easier.
You'll see, that at first, they're gonna squabble.
They're not gonna get along at all,
but the divider makes it so that they won't
be able to actually hurt each other,
and if you include some rock rubble or PVC pipes,
they'll be able to hide
and get used to each other over time.
And over time, you'll see the aggression dissipate
and eventually, you can remove the divider.
And they'll get along
and then, over time, they'll become a pair.
So that works really well for pygmy angelfish,
but for a lot of fish, like cardinals or clownfish,
you don't even need the divider.
They're not as territorial
and if you give them a lot of hiding spaces,
they'll usually just work it out on their own.
I would still recommend starting
with different size fish if you can.
It increases the chance of success.
So one note, and this might be obvious,
but be sure that the fish are the same species.
So that sounds really obvious,
but it's not always as easy as you think,
and it's even more true in the world of designer clownfish
'cause they can look completely different,
but be the same species.
So to recap, for the best chance of having luck
and creating a pair of fish in your tank, one,
you should be sure that the fish
that you're trying to pair up are the same species.
Two, start with two fish of different sizes.
Three, give them places to hide from each other.
Don't force it.
And four, divide the tank if you can,
or if you see some aggression, try the mirror trick.
And with some time and luck,
then, you'll end up with a pair of the fish
to observe in your tank.
And you might even get to see them spawning
in your aquarium, like my Potter's angelfish
do in the evenings.
(calm music)
Thanks for watching.
Think about subscribing if you haven't already
and leave a comment down below,
letting me know if you've paired any fish
or if you have some tips for people
that I haven't mentioned.
It's always super interesting how different people do things
and in the world of reef tanks,
there's a hundred ways to do the same thing.
So, I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you and I will see you next time.
Bye.