LFS Says I should not... what do you say?

[snorvich]

That depends a lot on the tank mates and if they have an anemone or not.

I had an ocellaris pair in a flowerpot without anemone claiming an entire 750 liter tank its own private kingdom while a fully grown clarkii pair that lived in a 30 cm BTA only claimed about 20 cm around its anemone.

It was quite similar with the above ocellaris when I had them in an anemone in a smaller tank. They only claimed the anemone and its immediate surrounding and you could see that they felt extremely insecure as soon as they left that safety zone.

I see the same right now with my current percula pairs.

So if you want to keep your clownfish restrained to a defined range give them an anemone (ideally one of their natural hosts).

As one who does not subscribe to the Contadina style of fish keeping, for the average aquarist on this board, the guidelines I provided will be valid the vast majority of the time. Can you confine them to less space? Yes. Will it always work out? Not necessarily so. Especially if you choose one of the more aggressive species of clownfish.

 

[alwmh4]

as stated above, get different sizes and you want them before they reach maturity. If you don't, one will get killed. It could happen today or a year from now, but one will go

 

[tharkins]

My large maroon clown was one of the meanest fish I have ever had particular to me whenever I put my hand in the tank. That dude would bite relentlessly, and also push around my huma huma trigger. I have never had a pair but can imagine them being extremely territorial in that case compared to the oncellaris/percula.

Your mileage may vary depending on the individual but that would be my guess.

 

[snorvich]

My large maroon clown was one of the meanest fish I have ever had particular to me whenever I put my hand in the tank. That dude would bite relentlessly, and also push around my huma huma trigger. I have never had a pair but can imagine them being extremely territorial in that case compared to the oncellaris/percula.

Your mileage may vary depending on the individual but that would be my guess.

Not with maroon clownfish. I have never seen one in an aquarium or in the wild that was anything other than vicious. In the wild, they go after your eyes. :blown:

 

[tharkins]

Wow I would rather swim with lionfish in that case, not surprised.

 

[dcmatranga]

A pair of sexually mature ocellaris will want to control about 25 gallons of tank space; a sexually mature pair of maroon clowns will own 50 gallons of tank space and probably try to control more.

Interesting info....

 

[snorvich]

Wow I would rather swim with lionfish in that case, not surprised.

Swimming (diving) with lionfish is interesting. On night dives, a lionfish, being a smart predator will swim along with you waiting until you point your dive light at a meal and then whoosh, the meal is ingested. During the day, lionfish always turn sideways to you so their spines are pointing at you. However, they are not at all aggressive. By the way, a fulling grown lionfish is close to 18 inches tip to tip of their "wingspan".

 

[alwmh4]

Wow! really? I've snorkeled and seen lionfish but I guess I didn't get close enough to watch that behavior. Smart fish!