Harem tank

Bendix

New member
Hello.
Some time decided to shutdown my reefer 250 and start it up as a clown tank with a young clutch of clowns, most likely gonna be a clutch of juvenile Ocellaris mis bars.
Everything think is up and running all except the clutch of clowns and my question is how big a harem can I keep in my reefer 250??
 
This is a RS 170, but same concept with a dirty dozen.

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I don't think Clowns form harems. They may shoal together as juveniles, as pictured, but as they mature they form pairs. Generally then, you could have as many pairs as you have anemones.
 
You'll see harems of clownfish in the wild but in most aquariums you'll wind up with just a pair. There are a few exceptions out there but for the most part once they get to the point of breeding you'll have just a pair.
 
IME a "harem" won't work/last.

I tried to do a small "harem"
3 black and 4 orange (purchased at the same time, quite small, blacks being slightly larger)

1 black died via powerhead in quarantine.
During quarantine, my display leaked and everything was crammed into a 150G tub.

After being released into the tub, all clowns were being hosted by my Magnifica.

1 orange perished within a couple of weeks.

The blacks were larger and formed dominance.
All clowns remain in Magnifica except the smallest orange was kept about 18" away by the second smallest orange.

Recently it would appear that the second smallest orange has now joined the smallest orange outcast. Looks as if they have bonded now and are hanging out by a powerhead.

The 2 blacks and 1 orange are rarely more than a few inches away from the Magnifica if they leave it at all.

Surprisingly, all clowns stay within 1 corner of the tub. Despite there being approximately 12 BTAs on the other side of the tub!!!
 
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