Maroon or Tomato?

SidCat

SidCat

New member
Hi there,

I have a few questions about maroon and tomato clown fish please.

My husband and I are looking to get one pair of clown fish for our 55 gallon tank. They would be the only fish in it when added and we likely wouldn't add any more for some time.

I am quite interested in maroon clownfish. I love the way they look. My husband really likes the look of the tomato clownfish. I have researched both and have a few questions.

How big do both types get? (I see various sizes quoted on line. )

How easy are each type to keep?

I would like to have a pair, but I am concerned about agression in getting them to pair up. I know that Maroons can be very difficult in that respect. Are tomato clowns as agreesive this way?

I was also wondering what both of their temperments would be like?

What other factors should we be considering in this decision?

Currently we have some shrimp and various snails and a lone hermit crab in the tank. We are looking to add a few more snails and some feather dusters soon. Long term, we would like to upgrade our fish only lighting and have an anenome and perhaps some soft corals.

Thanks so much!
 
Both species are very hardy, especially if you get captive bred individuals and both are favorites of mine. Both are aggressive especially when nesting, but that shouldn't be a problem since you do not plan on adding any other fish to the aquarium. They will turn their aggression towards you :).

Female maroon's can get up too 6 inches long but 4-5 is more realistic, and the males get too half that size. Their are two color varieties of maroon clowns, the white striped and golden striped maroon clown. IMO the golden stripe maroon is the more attractive. Tomato females can get up to 4 inches long, while males are 2-3 inches long. Female tomato clowns get dark red/black as they age, while males usually stay bright cherry red. It makes for a nice color contrast.

If you can find the clowns in a mated pair that would be an easier route for you, but they will cost more. Maroons aren't necessarily difficult to pair up, it just takes a little caution on the part of the aquarist.

In the end one species does not have any significant advantage over the other and it is down to personal choice.

Just too note both species are notorious for digging/fanning sand in the aquarium.
 
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Thank you for answering my questions. I have a few more if you don't mind.

What can I expect aggression wise towards my husband and I while we clean the tank? Our massive cleaner shrimp always goes for my husband!

Is there such a thing as a captive bred pair?

Can tomato clowns be paired by putting two young ones together?

I am getting conflicting advice on how to pair maroon clowns from the places I am looking at ordering them from. One is suggesting putting two small ones together and the other is suggesting that I get one right away and let it become a her and grow large and then try putting a young fish in with her and hope that she accepts him.

Thanks so much!
 
I'd go maroon. IMO they look much better than tomato. Even the whitestripe is such a contrast to thier main color that it almost glows. The only thing I noticed when I bought mine was that I couldn't seem to find a pair that wasn't misbarred

As far as aggression, they can be pretty mean. My female maroon wont bother anything in the tank unless it gets too close to the anemone but she'll attack my hand anywhere in the tank.

As far as pairing, try to get a pair that is already together but if you can't do that, get one that is much larger than the other.
 
As mentioned above they will attack your hand when doing tank maintenance.

There is such thing as captive bred breeding pairs

Tomato clowns can be paired by putting two small ones together, but for a faster pairing add a larger one and smaller one together.

The best, safest way too pair maroons is too place a larger one and smaller one together. Two small maroons will fight viciously usually.
 
For maroons get the largest one you can find (more than 3 inches) and the smallest one you can find (less than 1.5 inches).

For tomatoes for the female get one that is greater than say 2.5 inches, while for the male you can get one that is 1.5 inches. For the tomato male you can get a juvenile too make things easier. Juvenile tomato clowns have two to three stripes as opposed to 1.
 
thank you very much for all your help.

We haven't decided yet, it sounds like both would be lovely. I'm hoping that both will be available when I'm ready to order.
 
I have a few more questions.

Would both of these types of clowns accept a Bubble tip anemone?

My 55 gallon tank is the standard size ( about 20 inches deep ), what amount of lighting would I require for this?

Thanks!
 
Yes both types of clownfish naturally host bubble tip anemones. Look into metal halide lighting (2x150watts), or t-5 ho lighting (4x54watt fixture, or 6x54 watt fixtures).
 
I would definitely recommend maroons. I have had a pair of the gold stripe variety for 4 years now and they are the greatest fish. I originally bought a pair, but my male died after about 6 months. I wasn't sure if she would accept another male after being alone for a few months, so when I bought a new male, I took the female out of the tank and put her in a bag just like the male, rearranged the tank a bit, and "reacclimated" her to the tank with the male at the same time. They bonded right away and have been getting along great since. They are in a 60g tank and my female is now about 7 inches long and REALLY thick and the male is only about 3 inches long. She's definitely bigger than I thought she'd get, but so pretty. So, if you can find a pair, great, if not, there is hope for a successful pairing later on.

Go with the maroons!
 
hey i had gold stripe maroons before but always bought em in a pair how would the pairing go over if i bought a decent size famale and put her in a tank and later down the road got a lil male out of a tank with other gold stripe you think they would fight alot ?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14805131#post14805131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lordmbsa
hey i had gold stripe maroons before but always bought em in a pair how would the pairing go over if i bought a decent size famale and put her in a tank and later down the road got a lil male out of a tank with other gold stripe you think they would fight alot ?
Click to expand...

Hard to say. All the pairings i have done with maroons have gone over well with no aggression, but one should always be prepared to separate the two in case of aggression.
 
I find maroons to be much more territorial, mainly towards humans though. Seriously take into consideration that they will move rocks/corals that are placed somewhere they don't like. Also they will bite (it does hurt) when you are moving things around in the tank. With that said they are awesome fish and I do love them.

The tomatoes are fairly similar but not nearly as territorial IME. They are also awesome fish.

Their are many ways to pair the maroons, if you can get them small (1-2") usually tank raised they will pair up. You can also do what other people suggested with a big one and small one or you can buy a pair. Same goes for the tomatoes.

I'm sure you'll be happy with whichever you pick. Let us know what you decide on.
 
I purchased a large and a small marroon from LA, but the smaller one arrived DOA. I then purchased another one. The larger beat the crap out of him for about 10 days, and then one day both were snuggled in the BTA and have been paried ever since. Good luck!
 
They're too cute! They're both still orange. The bigger one's stripes are slightly yellow and the little one's are white still.
 
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