Maroon clowns

[anblair]

I am absolutely in love with the gold striped maroon clowns but my LFS is steering me away b/c of their aggression. What are your experiences with them? Before saltwater I had aggressive FW fish and had no problems. What would be the ideal setup and tank mates for one of these beauties? LFS says just the maroon or pair of maroons purchased together but I've seen postings on here that include maroons in the livestock along with other fish.

 

[stevetcg]

He's not wrong. Maroons are very aggressive, especially if you have a mating pair. You will need a big enough system to give them significant space to themselves - I would say 75+ if you want to maintain anything else of significant size. I have a small pair in a 37 with nothing but CUC and a diamond goby and they go after him all the time. He is very fast though and mostly hangs at the opposite side so he has been safe so far.

 

[Blayz77]

+1 i had a white stripe maroon, he was mellow as far as i could tell to all my other inhabitants for a while, but once i put a gbta in there he became a huge bully. he would chase and bite anyone who swam near. i only had a 28g. may have been different in a larger system.

 

[tahoe61]

Clowns

Clowns

If you want a pair get both maroons at the same time. I had a large maroon clown that killed every fish I tried to introduce to the tank. I like maroons but the majority do get very aggressive.

 

[Adyn]

I have a gold stripe Maroon. Very Aggressive towards everything espically me! He also loves to knock over some corals when I'm not looking.

 

[DeathWish302]

It's been awhile since I had my GSM (~8yrs), but she was great with a couple yellow tail damsels that were as spiteful as her. Once she reached about 5+ years old (2 yrs after I purchased her as she alreday had her gold stripes), she went nuts and killed and the ~3" yellow tails and ate a couple peppermint shrimps.

Now I have a couple tomato females that react very similarly to the GSM. I don't know about the entire tomato complex, but ALL Maroons and large Tomato Clowns will give you the same headaches in a community tank.

I have to ask the question....why would you ever want anything but clowns in a tank? You don't have to answer. I'm a clown nut and a bit obsessive.

 

[anblair]

If I ended up going with a pair of GSM I had planned on it just being them but was wondering it was possible to keep a single one with other fish or not. I'm guessing a pair purchased together would be the best option looking at these posts

 

[Gold Stripe]

I've got a pair of GSMs, a YWG/Pistol Shrimp combo and a Sixline. They were in my 75 but are now in a 29 while my new 65H ages for a couple weeks. They get along fine but yes GSMs are very aggressive unless they are the last to enter.