How many clowns?

[LinkinReef]

How many clowns could I get away with in a 210g? We just bought a mocha clown and a snowflake clown, both at about 1". They are the only pair in the tank so far. I was hoping to add another pair of A picassos. Could I get away with two pairs of clowns in a 210g?

 

[zeeter]

Might be difficult with those pairings since they're in the same Amphiprion complex. That means that they might all vie for supreme dominance.

Putting in a different Amphiprion complex like Clarkiis or a Saddlebacks might be better. Maybe even Skunks. Clowns like to stick with their own and as long as there's enough space they avoid fighting.

There's plenty of room, especially if you can make them territorialize (I made that word up) opposite ends of the tank. It is possible, but unlikely, that clowns of different complexes will try to pair up, but I'd say with that size tank this is a chance worth taking. Just not with the picassos.

 

[duncaholic]

There's always a risk with multiple clowns. I sgree that two different complexes would be easier, but with the right conditions, I think you could get away with it. I would only try it if your tank has lots of structure, and all the clowns were about the same size, and introduced at/near the same time.

Honestly, I think that if you put 4 clowns in a 1000 gallon tank, but it only had one rock in it, they would probably fight like crazy for that single rock.

Even with favorable conditions, I wouldn't expect that you will get the pairings to go the way you want them to. You might well have Mocha/picasso and snowflake/picasso.

One other note. I would stick with tank bred fish only. Just my 2 cents