A family of clowns question....

[reefman13]

Right now in my 50g I have a mated pair of O.clowns and a 4-5" RBTA. I was just wondering if people think it would be okay to go ahead and add a really little O.clown and see how the set of three would do. Three is really all I want, I don't want to go bigger, but if it is best, I will just settle with my pair.

Thanks in advance for the advice

 

[phender]

I have tried this with ocellaris and orange skunk clowns with small baby clowns. Both times the small clowns were driven into the rocks and died from stress or were killed outright.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but clowns are born to defend their territory, even against other clowns.

 

[ArgonDreams]

It may or may not work. I personally wouldn't do it. They are built to stay largely in pairs. Rarely in tanks will they accept another addition. It does happen, but it's a crap shoot. I would take phender's advice.

 

[fingerwrinkles]

One of the main issues may be the presence of a single outsider, which causes both members of the pair to chase it away. I (and several of the folks that my clowns have gone to) have had good success with a larger family group (5-6 min) since no one fish is picked on all the time. Additonally, all the fish in these groups are of the same age / size, so there's not the problem of a true "outsider" being introduced. Note I've only done this with percula and ocellaris; tomatoes and clarkii tend to be much more pugnacious juveniles that do not take well to the family group setup.

But ... I would definitely not keep just 3.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

Has anyone ever tried to add a couple of very tiny juvies that have just gone through metamorphosis? Just a thought I have been toying with... Maybe they would not be considered as outcasts completely? Especially since that is how they live in the wild so that the juvies remain sexless.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10765467#post10765467 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xxpipedreamxx
Has anyone ever tried to add a couple of very tiny juvies that have just gone through metamorphosis? Just a thought I have been toying with... Maybe they would not be considered as outcasts completely? Especially since that is how they live in the wild so that the juvies remain sexless.

The ones I tried to introduce were raised by me. They were several weeks past metamorphosis, but they were still very small and had just started to take normal food.

FWIW: most of the wild "family of clownfish" videos I have seen are not a very peaceful sight. There is always someone going after someone else.
I like to have a relaxing tank. I'm not sure that would fit the bill.

 

[Tiggsy]

i have tried all variations on this:

wild pair of percs - added baby perc, got beaten up

tank pair percs - added baby perc, got beaten up

tank commons - added baby commons, got beaten up

tried group of 6 baby commons alone - one pair formed, beat the others up!

i should add i have also tried the same with and without nems and with huge nems and small nems and lots of nems and one nem.

whatever i did, they fight - so i gave up and went for the nicest nem and nicest clowns and left ot at that

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

The strongest shall survive! hehe

 

[reefman13]

Okay, I am just going to stick with the pair.

Thanks guys.