[Pszemol]

I saw many small (~2") maroon clowns in the LFS swimming in the strange way today. They looked like the have developed swim bladder disease or something other, making them "heavy" and forcing them to use their fins to sustain depth in the water. Normally, when I saw clowns swim, they hoover in the water and use fins to move forward only, but those used them like they were drowning, not getting any help from the swim bladder.
I have asked the store clerk if they are fine or sick, and I was told, that clownfish act this way when they are very young and they start to swim normally when they grow up... It is hard to belive since I have seen much smaller maroon clowns swimming normally, but since I am just starting to collect my knowledge about marine fishes I would like to hear the second opinion.

[Triggers]

mine is larger and havent noticed anything like that.
does the tank their in have a strong current that could be blowing them around?

You may want to hold off on the purchase and maybe go back in a week or two to see if there is any change. Or if like you mentioned you havent seen other behave like that you may just want to pass.

[Bughead]

Also, baby maroon clowns won't remain peaceful with each other very long. Unless they are a mated pair, one per tank is all you can have, even when they are very young. The swimming you describe doesn't sound normal.

[Pszemol]

Originally posted by Bughead
Also, baby maroon clowns won't remain peaceful with each other very long. Unless they are a mated pair, one per tank is all you can have, even when they are very young.

I was told quite an oposite: if you get two small ones they quicly choose the stronger one, who becomes female and grows bigger, and the other one becomes male and grows slower... is it true or not???

[Bughead]

Not with maroons. These are the feistiest of all the clowns. Two years ago I bought 2 baby maroons, thinking they'd grow up together and become mates. WRONG! Within 3 days I had to remove one battered little maroon who wouldn't have made it another day. And this was in a 100 gal tank.

To mate maroons (which I plan to do after I get my new 55 gal set up) you need to get a baby, or a fish 1/2 the size of your resident maroon. Use a plastic strawberry box or some sort of cage that only the little fish can get into to escape from the mean big maroon. It will take any where from 3 days to a week for the big gal to accept the little guy as her husband. But from then on she'll defend him with unequaled ferosity.

Perculas, false percs and Clarks are the ones you can get two young ones and together they'll sort out which one will become the dominant female.

[Bojinx]

Bughead is right...

To pair up Maroons, it is BEST to choose an individual that is 1/2 the size (at the largest) of the one you want to be your female. And keep an eye on the smaller one as it will be picked on until the larger clown accepts it as a mate. When I paired my Maroons, i did not use any sort of hide box, and my male showed it. Tattered fins... Split tail... nothing too major, but the larger clown could have easily killed the smaller one if it had wanted too. Use a hide box if at all possible. The hazing went on for three days and on the fourth, and from then on, you could not seperate the two of them. I do not know if this time period equals that of others who have mated maroons, but it is what happened in my tank.

[Rin]

In her book, Joyce W. described baby Maroon clowns as really feisty even as very small juv. where she kept 50 or so together. I think she said that her mortality rates for clowns at this age were higher for Maroons because of the aggression.