Can you have 3 Clowns?

lewismw

New member
I am about to get a second clown to pair with my a. percula and I was just wondering if you can get 3 or 4 ? Is there a reason to only have 2 ?
I am getting a Stichodactyla haddoni for them to play in and i thought it might be nice to have a few if they will live in harmony that way. :beer:
thanks
 
the reason you really don't want more than 2 is because once 2 become a mated pair they will kill the others.
 
I have keep 3 Ocellaris from small one time. Another time, 3 Pink Skunks together. I do not want to do this any more. It was like having a pair and a third wheel. The smallest one got abuse quite a bit and often can only be in the anemone at night or if there are threat to the clowns (hand in the tank or the like)
 
Well from my experiance you can but it is potentialy risky. I had 3 clowns, two were mated, and one was I think another species but anyway the one that wasnt mated would get picked on here and there but nothing to severe. My tank is 75gal. I think the only reason they did get along is because I also had three rose bubble anemones in there at the same time. I did split two of the anomones and one did that on its own and they all survived and when I had thar many I saw almost no aggresion between them. I did sell those three clown because they were the black and white kind and I got two true percs. I would personaly not even consider unless you have a minamum of three anemones and even then there are no promises.
 
It does not always work out. There are circumstantial instances where it works perfectly.
Other times you are left with a dead clown :(
 
i have two clarkii and one sebae in my tank 120g which was setup 4 months ago (new to the hobby). initially i bought two clowns one clarkii and one sebae thinking they were both clarkii along with one rettri anemone which they were hosting in. then i bought another small clarkii to decrease the aggression of the sebea on the clarkii since its a bit bigger and it worked will in fact they are getting along better now even with the other fish. but reading what the guys wrote in here i guess i have to remove one of them probably the sebae
 
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A. Percula and A. Ocellaris are generally some of the more docile clowns. There are examples of them working with more than 2 but it is normally ill advised. For one if you do go this route it would be a good plan to get them as juveniles, three already sexed fish will fight almost for sure. The smallest one will still most likely get picked on though.

As for having three clowns with only one anemone, I would not reccomend it, simply because there is not enough territory for them, even if the anemone is large the clown pair will claim the whole anemone as theirs and will not want the "third wheel" in the anemone with them. I would also reccomend against an S. Haddoni becaues not only are they hard to keep they are known fish eaters (I my self have lost two puffer fish and a trigger to a large Haddoni). They have one of the most potent stings and have occasionally eaten a. ocellaris and a. percula clownfish (it is not their natural host).

S. Gigantea while still very hard to care for is a natural host, if you are stuck with going with a carpet anemone.

There are some examples where more than 2 clownfish work, these are shown by members such as Mobert who kept many clowns together, but these clowns have numerous anemones and are not in competition for them.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to keep 3 clownfish together, 1 A. Perucla/A. Ocellaris pair, and a third A. Ocellaris. But I also have multiple anemone for them to go in. The Pair stick to the Magnifica and the snowflake keeps to the BTA's, they spawn and still leave the snowflake alone in his own nems, despite the fact he is only a couple inches away from the clutch of eggs.
 
Completely random but isnt there a video on this board of three maroons in the wild acting as a trio? Or maybe it was clarkii's?....not meaning to hijack thread but if someone can find the video maybe the op would wanna see it :P.... Just sayin
 
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