Pairing

Besides getting juveniles and waiting 2 years for them to get to sizeable age, what are folks doing? Do you search for a very large fish and assume it's female, and then find a smaller fish that is either neutral or male? I'm having a hard time finding fish that are large enough to spawn. I'm lucky if I find a 2" occellaris. I find it hard to find anyone local who is willing to give up their large clownfish - they obviously have had the fish for a long time.

I have done both paired up a small fish with a larger one and also grown out small ones. I have had it work well both ways but also not so well. I don't really think either way has an advantage, both can take a couple years. If you want a fast way to get breeding pairs I'd say find pairs that are for sale. A good local fish store should be able to order a larger fish or a local club might help you find some.

It seems like you have a better chance of lining up an older clown with a 1.5 year old clown, since you are only waiting for pairing, rather than maturing + pairing.
 
Another question, large plain ocellaris are relatively inexpensive. Do folks grab those and pair with a fancy? The cost of two fancy varieties + the fact that they are usually young seems prohibitive. When you cross fancy with plain, do you still get some fancies? I'm going to do some reading, but I thought I remember reading that two fancies still produce a high percentage of plains.

I think the amount of offspring that have any particular pattern will depend on the genetics that are required for that particular pattern. Example, I have two "fancy white" ocellaris (also known as gladiator ocellaris). They produce approximately 25% normal ocellaris with three normal white stripes, 50% some degree of "fancy" with connected stripes or exaggerated stripes, and 25% wyoming whites. Im not sure what would happen if you added a normal ocellaris to the mix, probably something like 25% fancy and 75% normal. The latest Coral Magazine has a really good article about clownfish genetics and hybrids and morphs.