Clown Family

[brownsugar]

Apologies if this is a wrong place to post

I changed my pair of gold striped maroons recently for a pair of saddle back clowns.

During my visit to the fish store i saw two Clown family for sale consisting of 5 clowns in each family. One family was of Clarkiis and another of Saddle backs

I very much liked the idea of a clown family in my tank the current pair are doing nicely and a hosting in a white singapore serbae anemone.

Is it possible to add more clowns of the same species that are not in a family so that they could join up into one family?

Or is it better reccomended to remove the current saddle back pair and start off with a Clarkii or a Saddle back family with no established clowns.

My tank is a 150 gallon and if i do decide to purchase more clowns do you reccomend another anemone purchase ?

These guys would obviously overide any previous extra livestock additions i was planning .


Anyone have a family of clowns that were succesfully built up on separate introductions or is it a recipe for disaster ?

I am aware you cannot mix species as a golden rule but do clowns of the same species react differently to new additions of the same species ?

Also if i was considering to purchase a new tank specific for housing a clown family of 5-6 and a host anemone what tanks size should i be looking at ?

Thanks your help is much appreciated

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Normally, clownfish do not live in "families", just pairs. They will tolerate each other as juveniles. But when one male morphs into a female, she will pair up with the strongest male. The others will be chased away or killed if their isn't enough room. This LFS is trying to pull a money making gimick. Don't fall for it.

 

[WaterKeeper]

As Travis indicates, Clownfish are protandric hermaphrodites meaning they are born as males and morph into females. If you can be sure you have only one female and the rest juvenile males then they do form small shoals. That is pretty hard to do however and don't be surprised to have problems. Here is a full treatment of the subject-Quit Clowning Around.

 

[Agu]

It might work short term but once you have a mature pair most tanks aren't big enough for the remaining immature males.

 

[brownsugar]

so could i add another clown and have 3 in the tank ?

or is it better to keep in pairs hence have two different pairs of the same species ?

Obviously would consider another anemone or is that too much potential for disaster having two pairs of the same type of clown ?

 

[jer77]

I have three anemones in one tank with two families of clarkii's. I started with only one clarkii, but added three. I believe since they were all tank-bred they accepted each other a little better than if they wern't. So be sure to make sure they are, or it may be harder.

 

[WaterKeeper]

I also hear that not all the converted females are dominant enough. Only if she is really dominant will other males feel less inclined to change sex and remain male. Not sure if that is true but it does make sense.