Hi, I am new to the saltwater hobby but I have had my tank for about 5 months. I got an established aquarium from a friend. It has 3 clownfish, a starfish, an urchin, some snails, and hermit crabs. My tank is 38 gallons, I want to add 1or 2 more fish but I'm not sure what to get. I want to get nonaggressive fish but sometimes my biggest clownfish is a bit of a bully toward the 2 smaller clowns, what should I do?
Clownfish help
- Thread starter emma61088
- Start date
LittleBeard
New member
Do you know what type of clowns they are? Some clowns can get rather large 5-6 inches, and they might not let you add more fish(like a maroon clown).
Regardless clowns, actually many fish often pair up and will kill the other fish. In this case, it's probably only a matter of time before they kill the smallest of the clowns.
Anyway, I would suggest looking around site such as www.liveaquaria.com and find species that you would like in your tank as well as fit the proper size of your tank. Then post your list and tank dimensions on this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2068112 they'll help you know if there are any incompatibility issues.
Regardless clowns, actually many fish often pair up and will kill the other fish. In this case, it's probably only a matter of time before they kill the smallest of the clowns.
Anyway, I would suggest looking around site such as www.liveaquaria.com and find species that you would like in your tank as well as fit the proper size of your tank. Then post your list and tank dimensions on this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2068112 they'll help you know if there are any incompatibility issues.
Last edited:
FTDelta
New member
Remove the third clown. IF they're Maroon clownfish, they will controll all of 38 gallons of your tank. Don't worry about the bully harassing one of the clowns because the larger one is turning into a female. Once that pair is established, they will settle down. The third one will be killed.
Aquaticfan
New member
Would that go for a 90 gallon as well? I have two small Perculas that are just over an inch and wanted to get another one. Would I be better off getting two instead of one? Or are they still small enough to be ok with enough room?
smalltowngal86
New member
Don't clowns need atleast 50 gallons once they pair off because they can be violent when defending what they consider to be their territory?
cet98
"feed ur reef...feed it!"
I would not add another Clarkii...Clarkii clownfish are typically more aggressive than the Percs so if you were lucky enough to add a Clarkii and it paired with your existing Clarkii, it would definitely spell doom for your Percs...
On another note, what you should also understand is that you can not keep two females together in that same tank...Females are the dominate sex in the clownfish world and there can be only one in an aquarium....They will fight to the death.
IMO you should re-home the Clarkii and maintain the pair of Percs
cet98
"feed ur reef...feed it!"
yes you can have other fish...
Just be sure you are aware of all your fish's temperaments...
be sensitive to what the size your selections will be as they mature and try to maintain a community tank by adding fish that are very similar in size...
38 gallons is not a large tank so I would not keep more than 6 or 7 depending on their size and available swimming space
Yes, that would be fine.
Would any of you recommend a type of fish to put in my 38 gallon with my 2 percs? I want to get 2 of the same kind of fish so they have a buddy. I am removing the clarkki clown as soon as I get the 10 gallon up and running, just need to get a filter and a couple other supplies.
OrionN
Moved on
You can add
Royal Gramma (make sure you don't add Bazilian Gramma)
Orchid dottyback (make sure you don't add strawberry dottyback)
One of the smaller angel Flame Angel or a other smaller Pigmy angels)
Fire fish
Bangai Cardinals
Randal shrimp goby with their pistal shrimps
......
and on
and on
Royal Gramma (make sure you don't add Bazilian Gramma)
Orchid dottyback (make sure you don't add strawberry dottyback)
One of the smaller angel Flame Angel or a other smaller Pigmy angels)
Fire fish
Bangai Cardinals
Randal shrimp goby with their pistal shrimps
......
and on
and on
So I removed the clarkkii from the 38 gallon and put him in his own 10 gallon yesterday. I fed the clarkii this morning, he's doing great. I fed the percs and the larger on grabbed the smaller ones fin and put the whole thing in her mouth and had it for like 6 seconds. Is that normal or is the larger perc a problem?
