How can I add a clown to my existing tank, peacefully??

[WienerDog]

I have a false perc. I had two, but took a jump a few weeks back. I have a great Nem and a really healthy big clown now. BUT, I also have a blue jaw, flame angel, foxface, and some smaller guys. They are relatively calm and do not start too much trouble. I would like to add a mate for him..and for the Nem, GBTA. How do I do it without getting him hammered right away?

 

[WienerDog]

Anyone...would like to get one tomorrow.

 

[brian762]

Make sure you get one that is smaller. There is no way to do it peacefully. The established one will chase the new comer to establish that she is the boss. As long as the new comer is smaller that should only last a day or so with A. Occelaris. The smaller one will do his submisive "seizure" and then they will be fine.

 

[WienerDog]

I added a smaller one....they immediately hooked up with NO aggression at all. WEIRD. They are already inseperable. How and why did that happen?

 

[Gill_bucket]

:headwally:

I added a smaller one....they immediately hooked up with NO aggression at all. WEIRD. They are already inseperable. How and why did that happen?

This was my experience as well, in fact when I added my male the female actually protected him from the other fish. I always laugh now when I see two small clowns of the same size being sold as a "pair" because I know now that you actually should grow one out and then get a second.

 

[snuggle2me]

I actually added a big one to my little one but i knew the little one was a male and the bigger one was a female so they hit it off immediately with no problems. If you lose a mate its a good thing to get a replacement immediately so that you know what the sex is and there arent compatiability problems. Most of the time if the clown has been at the lfs for awhile by itself its a good probability its a female if that is what you need. but if your unsure then like others said get a little guy thats still unsex and they should hit it off.

 

[davocean]

There actually is a way to do it safely, which would have been to float the new guy in a specimen container for a day or few days and observe the females reaction, but sounds like you got lucky.

 

[Johanv]

I had a 4in female tomato for about a year by herself, never had a mate. I bought her a small 1in tomato and they bonded right away, the next day they were snuggling together in the condy anemone.