keeping a school of clownfish?

[AcroButcher]

Howdy all,
i was wondering what everyones take on keeping a school of clowns would be. the type of clowns in question would be true percs or false percs. id really like to keep say 6.

 

[beezer06840]

I have 6 false percs in my tank and there are no problems. In general 4 of them hang out on the right side of the tank and a pair hangs out in the center. When I introduced the fish exactly one year ago, it was comprised of 1 mature female and 5 juveniles.

 

[AcroButcher]

do you think true percs would live in that fashion also?

 

[snorvich]

I think you will eventually end up with 2 clownfish. Sexually differentiated clownfish are intolerant of conspecifics. In any case, clownfish don't school.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=#post target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
I think you will eventually end up with 2 clownfish. Sexually differentiated clownfish are intolerant of conspecifics. In any case, clownfish don't school.

+1

In the wild I believe clownfish do stay in family groups for a while, not the same as schooling by any means, however as each fish matures they are forced out of the area by the dominant female and move on to form their own group or join a female somewhere else.

It may work for a while as clownfish take a while to mature, but in all likelihood you will see the dominant female pick them off one by one when she can't drive them away. You would be more likely to succeed if you started with tank raised specimens, but in my opinion it is highly unlikely to work for more than a year or two. At best you'd have several pairs that each have their own territories.

 

[prodman]

it can be done check this out http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1259398

 

[trueperc]

I know my buddy was qting 4 and with in two weeks one we killed, but he has been very successfully in keeping 3, the last trio died due to a tank crash.

 

[MattL]

Re: keeping a school of clownfish?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14089313#post14089313 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AcroButcher
Howdy all,
i was wondering what everyones take on keeping a school of clowns would be. the type of clowns in question would be true percs or false percs. id really like to keep say 6.

This practice is not recommended, unless you have a large tank where different clowns can form different pairs.

Also, they won't "school". As others have noted, they may congregate initially, but the fish will be expelled as they mature, hence the need for a large tank. I imagine the process would be complete in one year. A sexually mature pair will not tolerate others.

Be very wary of claims of "success". Again, as noted above, unless you have a large tank, you will eventually end up with two. People keeping more than two clownfish often do so in large tanks where the clownfish exist as pairs, or haven't done so for very long.

Because they will not associate as they get older, you will lose the effect you desire of several clownfish around an anemone. You'll have the pair in the anemone, and other somewhere else.

Lastly, there is the issue of fairness to the third, fourth, etc. fish, as this fish is confined to a life of domination and agression from the more dominant fish.

There are many fish that will associate (shoal) in captivity (no fish school). If shoaling behavior is what you are looking for, choose these fish, not clownfish.

Matt

 

[espocrespo]

a tank at my local public aquarium has hundreds in

http://www.blueplanetaquarium.com/attractions/reef_magic.asp?css=1

 

[MattL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14090498#post14090498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by espocrespo
a tank at my local public aquarium has hundreds in

http://www.blueplanetaquarium.com/attractions/reef_magic.asp?css=1

Cool.

Those are all juveniles, though, and not a scenario that can be readily recreated in the home aquarium.

I also don't feel that the organization is wise with that stocking.

Matt

 

[snorvich]

Double posting, sorry.

 

[snorvich]

I totally agree with Matt! It is simply NOT a good idea. I have largish tanks and I can tell you it does not work. The only time I have seen it work is in a 500 gallon reef where there were two pairs of different species clowns and two different anemones of different species. But otherwise, it is a bad thing to do for the excluded clowns who will either die or be confined to an upper corner of the tank.

 

[Toddrtrex]

I've been keeping clowns for 15+ years now, and would recommend against doing it. Sure there is a case or two of it working, but that is not the norm at all.

Many years ago I tried 3 tank raised Clarkiis, it worked great for about 6 months, and then a pair formed, in short order the pair killed the other one.

 

[sunfish11]

I have a trio of ocellaris. I added a mature female I had who's mate got chopped up in a pump to two juveniles. Over the course of a couple months the dominant juvenile became male. They breed every 9-10 days and don't bother the little juvenile who lives right by them. I have seen them let the juvenile tend the eggs for short periods before. I also have a pair of Pink Skunks in the same tank. There are no issues there because the skunks stay on the other side of the tank. This is a 210 gallon tank. They have been together as a trio for just under 3 years now.

What is most anoying about my clowns is that there are 3 BTA's in the tank and the skunks host in anthelia and the ocellaris host in a giant mushroom. ***???

Lisa