Mixing Clown Species..Tank Size Needed?

[MatthewLaw]

Greetings All- I have two false perc clowns in my 60g reef tank. I also have 2 smaller black ocellaris clowns in a 15g tank. I would like to put my ocellaris clowns in the 60g tank but am worried that will be a fatal mistake. I know clown species typically CANNOT be mixed except in larger tank. is 60g too small (48" by 15" by 18"). Thanks!

 

[Toddrtrex]

IMO, if you do this you will end up with just one pair of clowns. It may work for a while, but when one of those pairs starts to spawn they will go after the other pair.

 

[velvetelvis]

The only times I've heard of/seen this work was in tanks that were huge--as in hundreds of gallons. I know of a pair of ocellaris and a pair of chrysopterus that share a tank peacefully (after a settling-in period), but they're on opposite sides of a 700-gallon system and each pair has its own anemone.

 

[Pimps]

All signs point to NO. Your tank is too small and like someone stated, you're most likely going to end up with one pair. Not worth the risk imo.

 

[MatthewLaw]

thanks for the help everyone. it would clearly be best to keep them separated!!

 

[phender]

The general consensus is that it might be dangerous, but it can be done. I have a pair of percs and a pair of orange skunks(sandaracinos) that have been living together and breeding in the same 60 gal (48") tank for several years.
What worked for me was to have the first pair of clowns and their anemone establish their territory in one corner of the tank. The other pair and their anemone can then be introduced to the opposite side of the tank. I'm not saying this will always work. The personalities of individual fish will vary, but it worked for me.

 

[MatthewLaw]

hmm interesting. i do not have any anemomes in the tank at this point. i wonder if that helped your clowns.

 

[ExtremeClownfish]

BTW all of your fish are ocellaris. So you're pretty much putting 4 ocellaris in one tank. Most likely you'll end up with one pair.

 

[phender]

hmm interesting. i do not have any anemomes in the tank at this point. i wonder if that helped your clowns.

Personally, I think that was the key. I started off with a pair of perculas in a S. gigantea and a mixed chrysopterus x sandaracinos pair(trying to create white caps) in a H. crispa. Gigantea is a preferred anemone for perculas and not for the other clowns while crispa is a preferred anemone for the other two.

After a year or so the chrysopterus killed her mate, but never bothered the perculas. I moved the chrysopterus out and put in the sandaracinos pair without a problem. Now that they have their territories established it doesn't seem to matter what the anemones are. For the last couple years, because I can't seem to keep a gigantea for more than a year, the perculas have the purple H. crispa and the orange skunks have a purple based H. magnifica. At this point they are actually living in the other clowns preferred anemone species, but they care more about their territory than the type of anemone. BTW, they don't actually defend their territories against each other and the percs usually eat in the skunks territory and then return to their own side.

 

[phender]

hmm interesting. i do not have any anemomes in the tank at this point. i wonder if that helped your clowns.

Personally, I think that was the key. I started off with a pair of perculas in a S. gigantea and a mixed chrysopterus x sandaracinos pair(trying to create white caps) in a H. crispa. Gigantea is a preferred anemone for perculas and not for the other clowns while crispa is a preferred anemone for the other two.

After a year or so the chrysopterus killed her mate, but never bothered the perculas. I moved the chrysopterus out and put in the sandaracinos pair without a problem. Now that they have their territories established it doesn't seem to matter what the anemones are. For the last couple years, because I can't seem to keep a gigantea for more than a year, the perculas have the purple H. crispa and the orange skunks have a purple based H. magnifica. At this point they are actually living in the other clowns preferred anemone species, but they care more about their territory than the type of anemone. BTW, they don't actually defend their territories against each other and the percs usually eat in the skunks territory and then return to their own side.

Here is a quick pic of the set-up. (sorry I didn't bother to wipe the glass) The spots on the glass are little starfish. It used to be a very diverse tank, but what the anemones haven't stung as they grew, the klein's butterfly has eaten. I do have a blue tang that thinks he's a clown (you can see his tail in the crispa). Both clowns are current guarding nests.