Clownfish replacement?

[tracyclifton]

I bought my first pair of oc clowns 2 months ago. They had paired up nicely, but yesterday the female decided to jump ship. I immediately bought some 1/8" acrylic and fabricated a cover for the back 6" of the tank so it can't happen again. The cover comes right up to my lights and the other 3 sides of the tank are covered by the canopy so I think it will be impossible for another fish to get out. Anyway, I want to replace the female but I'm not sure what the little one's reaction will be. Is it possible to add another and they will pair up? Should I get a larger or smaller one than the one I have now? Thanks.

 

[OrionN]

It is not hard to pair Ocellaris. If you add a second clown quickly (weeks) then you can add either larger or smaller since you know that your current fish is a male. If you wait for months then it is best to add a smaller clown. Try not to add one of about the same size as this will prolong the fighting to determine dominant.
It really not important in Ocellaris as long as you don't have two females in the same tank.

 

[tracyclifton]

We got a clown last night. We went late and added her lastnight just when the lights went out. They did not fight at all and this morning they are swimming together. I know someone will say I should have QTed it, but in this case I wanted to get her in the tank asap. We'll see what happens. We also took the plunge and got a medium size BTA. It was attached to a small rock so we didn't have to detach it. She fed it for us at the store so I could see that it is healthy. I placed it in the tank after drip acc. It has moved to the under side of some of the rock but is looking good. I am waiting to see where it goes once the lights cycle today.

 

[tracyclifton]

The bta seems to have settled on a spot. It is looking great. I tried to feed it this morning. I put a jumbo krill on its tentacles and it took it it. But, my cleaner shrimp climbs on it and tries to take the krill. They battled for a few minutes then the krill finally floated away. I assume that when the bta is hungry it won't let the shrimp take the krill.

 

[OrionN]

Anemone are almost all water. Their actual mass is very little. They don't require much food. Feed them small pieces of food. Jumbo krill is likely much too big. Feed BTA about 1/2 pencil eraser head size pieces.