Clowns

X

XxNewReeferxX

New member
I was just wondering if I could add another pair of clowns to my tank? I have a 135 gallon with about 150 pounds of live rock. I already have 1 clarkii clownfish and 1 true percula. I would really like to add a pair of snowflake clowns or picasso clowns. Will anyone of them be killed? Thanks in advance
 
I have a yellow tang, a flame angel, a trio of square anthias, sand sifting goby, purple firefish, and a pair of banggai cardinals as well as the clowns I just mentioned above. The percula clown is hosting a colt coral I think, and the clarkii is hosting a toadstool. I do plan on having a rose tip anemone in my tank. Some other corals I have are a hammer coral, a large frogspawn, and a torch. There is a little bit of aggression between the clarkii and the percula, but it is really only during feeding time Also the clowns I have are not really a pair from what I have seen. They do hang around together some times but I have never seen any mating behaviour
 
I've seen a pair of ocellaris and a pair of maroons do well for many years in a 60 gallon cube. Maroons had an rbta and ocellaris had a carpet.
 
So would the aggression be less severe if I introduce an anemone at the same time I introduce the new clowns? I wouldn't want to introduce it before because another clown might take it! What types of anemones are most "attractive" to occelaris clowns?
 
I have 6 captive clowns in my 180g. But all of them are different breeds of Ocellaris and percula. They have been together for about one year. I have no nems in the tank bc they will for sure fight if there aren't enough hosting nems. So it's either getting a crowd of nems or none. There was one guy that had nothing but 27 clowns and countless nems in the tank. Here was what he had.
5c36da78fe58bd4c1edb3ab6a3929c55.jpg
 
Thats really cool! So if I add say, 3 nems there would be no aggression? Do clowns move from where they are hosting? My clarkii is captive bred. My LFS has ORA snowflakes, black snowflakes, platinums, picassos, and premium picassos. They ordered a massive ORA shipment and have like 5 tanks packed with designer clowns :D I am still unsure whether as to this is a good idea
 
It is cool. That's why I saved the picture. But I will never do that bc it's just too much work to maintain all those nems. It's hard to say how many nems are needed for 3 clowns. You could have one 10" nem and that will take care of at least 2 clowns. It will also take time for nems to get used to captivity and they won't host until they are comfortable. Captive clowns will typically take longer to show interest in nems. They have never seen nems before. I used to have 9 clowns in my tank. platinum, Wyoming white, c-line onyx, phantom, ultra picasso, frostbite, snow onyx, ultra black ice, ultra perc. Over the past year, some show incompatibility so I relocated them.
 
Ok! Will clowns host smaller anemones? My LFS has these beautiful little rose tip nems. They are amazing coloration and what I think as a steal for 70$ even though they are small. So, is this a good idea? If I introduce a pair of snowflakes without a nem will they be beaten up by my percula and clarkii? They are still pretty small for clowns, but the clarkii is growing fast!
 
Clowns

It's too hard to say what's gonna happen. Clarkii hosts in different nems than perc and Ocellaris. See the following link for more info. What I recommend is to rehome the existing clowns and get baby captive ones. You don't need nems for them. I don't know what those small nems look like but $70 sounds pretty steep for a small nem. Ppl sell their split nems on this forum all the time so I'm sure you can find a better deal.

http://www.fishlore.com/clownfishanemonechart.htm
 
I didn't want them too bad, just an idea, so I don't think I will be moving my resident clowns. If the clarkii doesn't host the nems that occelaris host, wouldn't the new clowns have their nem and the clarkii wouldn't want it? I would be planning on getting two at the same time so would the newbys be able to defend themselves against one percula? Would getting a clown like a platinum have less aggression because they don't look alike? Sorry for all the rambling questions!
 
In my little experience with the 9 clowns, the platinum got picked on during the 1st day, the Wyoming white got picked on earlier this year, and the frostbite just last week. I had to rehome those. So it seems the color difference presents the biggest problem. Your plan could work, but it's a risk to mix in new and existing clowns.
 
Thanks for the info! Would've thought the exact opposite! I think I am going to go for the snowflake clowns if I decide to go through with this. Wyoming whites look very similar to platinum clowns! If I got a large acclimation box and kept the fish in there for a day or so would the resident clowns get a feel for them and then get bored? Thanks for being so helpful, it is greatly appreciated
 
No problem xxNRxx. That's what this forum is for. Sorry your screen name is long so I abbreviated it. I've used the acclimation box method and it did work for me.
 
Anecdotal evidence to the contrary, in my opinion, long term (once they sexually differentiate), only one pair of clowns will work in this sized tank.
 
Ok, next time I am at the LFS I will ask the owner his opinion. I have yet to find out if he is the type of guy to sell you something that won't work in your tank! I still have to give him back the bucket he put my school of moorish idols in (jk):lolspin:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rrrrob
Blue Damsel
Replies
7
Views
2K
rrrrob
rrrrob
G
percula pair
Replies
12
Views
1K
griss
griss
JeannineC
Fish suggestion
Replies
19
Views
2K
rwbroadnax
R
M
20 gallon stocking ideas
Replies
9
Views
2K
MC Blowfish
M
Ab129
Replacing a clown
Replies
11
Views
401
Uncle99
Uncle99
Back
Top