Are these Onyx clowns?

J

Jeep_guy

New member
I got them from saltwaterfish.com and they claim to be proAquatics Onyx clowns. I like them and all but I always thought percs such as Onyx have red eyes and there's seem dark. Thoughts?


 
yes, Onyx clowns will typically have more Orange and less black around their eyes. In today's clownfish market there are breeders that push Photon clowns as Onyx. Some will go as far as selling Darwin clowns as Onyx. It has gotten diluted and many people are falling victim. To your question, I'm 70% convinced that these are Photon. I'm leaving 30% chance for Onyx because the pic is a little dark. I am posting two pics for reference: one of current wild Onyx clown and the other is Tank bred Onyx (c-quest lineage) that I owned previously.

 
Last edited:
Its really hard to tell from your picture, but I have had wild caught onyx clowns that didn't show the classic orange iris especially in certain light.
Here's and example:
picture.php
 
Black photons are quite wide spread these days and often mislabeled as onyx percula.
The fish in the OP's picture look quite like photons to me, not just based on the eyes, but also based on the first dorsal fin height and shape as well as the middle bar shape.
Especially the dorsal fin height is more in line with typical ocellaris or a percula-ocellaris hybrid than a pure percula.

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If you were in my position how would you approach saltwaterfish.com? Like I said I like the fish but my purchase was based on getting real Onyx clowns. Unfortunately I live in a rural area so I'm forced to order online or drive a few hours to a LFS. We do have a Petco near by but I'd never purchase livestock from them.
 
Yea I'm calling them tomorrow and demanding a full refund with shipping for false advertising. They can even have them back but I doubt they will let me ship them back.
 
Well I spoke to them on the phone today and to my surprise they were very helpful. I was told to send them a few pics and a short video if possible so they can show there in house Marine Biologists, if he confirms I'll get a full refund. Should know by tomorrow.
 
Jeep_guy said:
Well I spoke to them on the phone today and to my surprise they were very helpful. I was told to send them a few pics and a short video if possible so they can show there in house Marine Biologists, if he confirms I'll get a full refund. Should know by tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Lol, good luck. Curious to hear what their "marine biologists" have to say.
 
I recently purchased some "neon green star polyps" from them. The picture representation was the bright neon green that you think of when you hear that name. When I received them, the polyps were brown and had maybe a hint of some pale greenish white on the centers. I'll never order from them again.
 
Well they actually refunded my money and confirmed that they are not Onyx clowns. So at least they have good customer service. I gave the pair to a buddy of mine and will be ordering C-Quest Onyx Clownfish from Cultivated Reef in the next few days.
 
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