22 clowns; 2 separate species, 12 months
- Thread starter hypnoj
- Start date
I think it's the larger more aggressive Spotcintus clowns that keep the fighting among the Occe's to a minimum. This was planned. The number 20 is important because I wanted enough Occe's in the tank to spread the aggression from the dominant Spots around, so not any particular one could get picked on (schooling effect).
ponokareefer
New member
I'm assuming something like Clarki's, Cinnamon's, Maroon's or Tomato's would probably be too aggressive, or had you considered those over the Spotcintus? I'm not fully aware of how aggressive Spotcintus get.
Also, I'm assuming a grown up pair of Spotcintus would have been too aggressive as well initially?
Your thinking is exactly what mine was. I too felt that Cinnamon's, Maroon's or Tomato's would be too aggressive. I researched out the temperament of bicinctus clowns (spotcinctus are hybrids of these) and found them to be more aggressive then percs/occe's and less aggressive then the above named species. Any yes, I felt that if I had added the occe's (which absolutely have to be juveniles and small) to a tank with a large dominant pair, that the pair would have tore through them. I made sure that my small young spot's were paired up well and good and then as soon as I was confident, I added the juvi occe's. Let me tell you, I was sweating bullets when I added the occe's, because some of them were quite large and almost as big as the spots. But domination from the spots had already begun and they began keeping the occe's from reaching sexual maturity right off the bat.
ponokareefer
New member
I wonder what other types would be on a similar aggression level as bicinctus/spot's? I never see them around where I live ever.
That's a good question. I'm trying to think where I read about the different levels of aggression between the species. If I remember correctly, sebae's, trincinctus, bicinctus, allardi's, maybe some clarkii's, are all around the same more even temperament.
ponokareefer
New member
Had you considered using an adult pair of ocellaris instead of the juvi spot's?
no, but probably only because I would of rather had a full tank of spots (just couldn't afford it). We know that this has been done with perc's. So I assume that a tank full of ocellaris would work as well if done properly. Many people have tried it though and failed. One reefer on here tried it with 15 and had major problems with it. So you go into knowing that it could fail, it just requires massive amounts of homework and preparation. Even though Mobert did it with her 27 percs all starting at the same age, I would be very nervous to do this and watch who is able to fight their way to the top and survive. I personally feel that my method is what made it possible.. I feel at this moment that if I duplicated my method exactly with other species that I would get the same results that I have now. (who knows what 6 or 12 months will bring though).
One of the most common sayings in research is... "nothing ruins good results like long term follow-up" hehe.
I'll keep ya'll posted.
Aaarrrggg
New member
Great work! Thx for sharing! 
I'm planning on trying a multi-clown tank eventually, so I'm always eager to read of anyone else's experiences.
It's interesting that you only feed every other day. I'd always assumed one of the tricks mobert used it keep aggression down was lots of food. Good to know I can cut back if nutrients become a problem.
Keep us updated!
I'm planning on trying a multi-clown tank eventually, so I'm always eager to read of anyone else's experiences.
It's interesting that you only feed every other day. I'd always assumed one of the tricks mobert used it keep aggression down was lots of food. Good to know I can cut back if nutrients become a problem.
Keep us updated!
1st Pic is of my purple LTA and my second favorite fish; Hog fish! This the main nem that my b&w's sleep in during the night. For some reason my spotcinctus won't go into it.
2nd Pic is of my newly added LED's. I have the large single reflector over this tank after my original LED's bleached all my corals. I've since learned a few things about LED's and decided to use them for again for supplementation only . My only problem was that there was no where to put them with a free hanging reflector.
The reflector had 2 sections in the inside that were made for the mounting of fans to cool the MH bulb. Each intenal section has it's own reflector that covers the fan. Well, I mounted 8 RB's and 2 CW's LED's to each internal reflector plate (total of 20 LED's). Since these aren't heatsinks, I mounted fans behind each plate that run full time. No LED's even point at the water and none have optics. They only reflect within the reflector and then go straight down. It's awesome, I'm very happy with the results. I can now run these from 7am to 11pm and run my MH bulb for 6 hours in the middle. I'm running a 175w 20k xm bulb. I'm not very happy with how dark it is (when running solo) compared to the 250w 14k Phoenix I had before. But with the LED's on all the time, it's near perfect! Hopefully the nems will continue to respond favorably. I'll keep you posted.
2nd Pic is of my newly added LED's. I have the large single reflector over this tank after my original LED's bleached all my corals. I've since learned a few things about LED's and decided to use them for again for supplementation only . My only problem was that there was no where to put them with a free hanging reflector.
The reflector had 2 sections in the inside that were made for the mounting of fans to cool the MH bulb. Each intenal section has it's own reflector that covers the fan. Well, I mounted 8 RB's and 2 CW's LED's to each internal reflector plate (total of 20 LED's). Since these aren't heatsinks, I mounted fans behind each plate that run full time. No LED's even point at the water and none have optics. They only reflect within the reflector and then go straight down. It's awesome, I'm very happy with the results. I can now run these from 7am to 11pm and run my MH bulb for 6 hours in the middle. I'm running a 175w 20k xm bulb. I'm not very happy with how dark it is (when running solo) compared to the 250w 14k Phoenix I had before. But with the LED's on all the time, it's near perfect! Hopefully the nems will continue to respond favorably. I'll keep you posted.
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BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Aren't you guying to fry your LED's? LED longevity is directly tied to operating temperature. If they are 100 degrees or warmer they are too warm. I would think being in such close proximity to a MH bulb they would burn up?
I thought they'd be hot too, but surprisingly they're not. The 175 watt bulb just doesn't put out enough heat in that large of a reflector. I can place my hand around 6 inches from it without much heat. The LED's are around 6 inches and then have large fans blowing on them at all times. I had them run for a few hours and then placed my fingers against the aluminum plate that they're mounted to and it was warm to the touch, but not hot. I imagine if one of my fans go out I'd be in trouble.
more and more every day the B&Ws are moving in and out of the BTA's. The spots lay dominance to the left side of the tank and cruise the rest of the tank breaking up any "wiggles" occurring.
Ughh. Rimless tank. I love the look of it, but it's very problematic in general. I've been playing Modern Warfare 3 a lot at night time and I noticed that if I'm playing it on the xbox and the lights go out on the tank (at 11pm) I'll get a jumper. I quickly get the fish back into the tank. I thought that I'd seen all of them jump, but then I noticed my cat hanging around the tank a lot more with a smile on her face. I took a picture of the tank and started counting b&w's and I'm definitely missing at least 3; maybe more. It's hard to tell. Regardless, I've started turning on my overhead lights if I'm gonna have the TV on when the tank lights go out. I noticed that I don't get any jumpers when there is more light in the room besides that coming from the TV.
Question to you all.. Should I replace the b&w cat food (ouch.. too soon?) with more b&w's? Or should I replace them with some other juvi clown? Let me know what you think.
